May 1, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



659 



of feeling-tones only. And while such pictures 

 are easily available their application is lim- 

 ited, for they are usually regarded by observ- 

 ers as pleasant or indifferent, seldom dis- 

 tinctly unpleasant. Their use is thus con- 

 fined almost wholly in one direction, viz., that 

 of esthetics. It is quite desirable to secure 

 material capable of stimulating a wide range 

 of feelings if we would make appreciable 

 progress in their study. It appears that the 

 advent of the picture postcards with their 

 standard size, well-nigh endless variety and 

 low price have more than supplied the experi- 

 mental deficiencies of the classic pictures. 

 The picture postcards make an appeal to the 

 whole gamut of human affections. The tech- 

 nique for experimental purposes consists in 

 selecting, adapting and in manipulating the 

 cards so as to bring specific feelings into re- 

 lief. To indicate uses as well as difiiculties a 

 few examples are submitted. The emotions 

 that may be produced under laboratory condi- 

 tions will always be rather feeble and so diffi- 

 cult to describe. The difficulty may be. par- 

 tially overcome bj' the use of picture postcards 

 as material, some appropriate device for ex- 

 posure and the law of dissociation as a 

 method. According to James^^ the law of dis- 

 sociation by varying concomitants holds for 

 feelings as well as for sensations. The law 

 states : 



What is associated now with one thing and now 

 with another tends to become dissociated from 

 either, and to grow into an object of abstract con- 

 templation. 



By alternating one picture with various 

 others it is possible to bring to notice obscure 

 feeling responses that would otherwise go un- 

 reported, e. g., if a picture of children at play 

 is alternated with that of a beautiful woman; 

 it is often hard for an observer to say any- 

 thing further than that the pictures seem to go 

 well together. But if the picture of a drunk- 

 ard be substituted for that of the woman, not 

 only does the disgust at the new combination 

 serve for an interesting study, but the former 

 feelings can now be more readily described. 



11 " Psychology, Briefer Course," p. 251. 



We are thus furnished with a key to discover 

 which feelings inhibit each other, which rein- 

 force each other by contrast, and which fuse 

 into one of a more general attitude. In short 

 we are on the road to an analysis and synthesis 

 of feelings. 



The feelings aroused by the senses that re- 

 spond to the stimuli of the outer or external 

 world are usually objectified, i. e., referred to 

 the source of stimulation. For this reason ob- 

 servers are often at an utter loss to give an 

 account of their attitude or to describe their 

 feelings in response to a picture.^^ The psy- 

 chologist's only refuge here is to call for re- 

 peated descriptions of the picture and to in- 

 terpret the description in psychological terms. 

 It is not difficult to devise conditions for 

 readily repeating observations of the cards, 

 and thereby enable the observer to carry the 

 description a little farther each time. These 

 descriptions, when carefully made, not only re- 

 veal the observers' feelings and attitudes but 

 demonstrate the way in which apperception 

 depends upon attitudes. These studies with 

 the picture postcards have a practical bearing 

 upon certain problems such as the order in 

 which pictures should be hung in galleries, 

 and the proper sequence and time exposure of 

 lantern slides in illustrated lectures. 



Linus "W. Kline, 

 Chester E. Kellogg 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



The seventh annual meeting of the Illinois Acad- 

 emy of Science was held in the engineering build- 

 ing of the Northwestern University, at Evanston, 

 February 19 and 20, 1914, under the presidency of 

 Frank W. DeWolf, director of the State Geolog- 

 ical Survey. At the Friday session the following 

 addresses were given: 



' ' Recent Investigations of the Mineral Ee- 

 sources of the Country, ' ' by the president. 



' ' Earth Tides, ' ' by Professor A. A. Michelson. 



' ' The International Phytogeographieal Excur- 

 sion, " by Professor H. C. Cowles. 



' ' Recent Theories of Fertilization and Parthen- 

 ogenesis, ' ' by Professor F. R. Lillie. 



12 G*. Santayana, ' ' The Sense of Beauty. ' ' 



