516 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 18. 



choice reallj' unfairlj' predetermined and so 

 deceptive. If, he thinks, the supernatural 

 powers let us alone to choose for ourselves, 

 then our inductions, properly guarded, will 

 inevitabl}' lead us in the direction of true con- 

 clusions, whatever the arrangement of the real 

 world. But has Mr. Peirce made all the 

 necessary admissions? Would a devil be 

 needed to confuse my efforts at sampling, so 

 as to make m}' choice unfair ? Would not an 

 instinctive interest in one class of cases serve 

 to vitiate the fairness of my observations in 

 cases where this instinct controlled me ? Sup- 

 pose that by instinct I took such interest in the 

 cases of M's that are P that I noticed no 

 cases, or very few cases, of M's that are not 

 P, however many there might actually be : 

 then, unless I were conscious of this instinc- 

 tive preference, I should go on neglecting 

 numberless cases that I ought to have taken 

 into account in forming my induction ; and 

 yet, not knowing my own natural defect, I 

 should think that I was choosing mj' cases 

 wholly at random. Here would be a constant 

 error in the process, whose magnitude might 

 be enormous. Yet the error could ne\'er be 

 discovered, save by some one to whom a new 

 mental growth made possible the discovery of 

 the instinct. But this case is no factitious 

 one. Our observation of nature is doubtless 

 determined throughout by our natural interests 

 in things. These interests are instinctive, 

 and the}' may exclude from the very possibility 

 of notice very many facts. Thus, a person 

 that bj' nature is indisposed to notice the 

 double images in the binocular visual field will 

 stud}' his field of vision for a long time, and will 

 assure j'on that there is no doubleness there. 

 Might he not sa}', that after making at random 

 man}- trials, and finding no double images, he 

 was warranted in the conclusion that for him 

 the proportion of double images in the visual 

 field must be extremely small ? Yet once begin 

 to notice the doubleness, and the double images 

 will be found in multitudes, like the chariots 

 and horses that Elisha's servant saw when his 

 eyes were ' opened.' 



When we conclude that continuous random 

 sampling of a given natural class must lead us 

 towards discovering the true proportion of 

 cases of the presence of a predesignated char- 

 acter in individuals of the class, must we not 

 base our conclusion on the ultimate a priori 

 assumption that our instinctive tendencies to 

 observe natural facts are such as, in the long- 

 run, will lead us to actual choice at random, 

 and not to a choice unconsciously vitiated by 

 unknown preferences for cases that favor the 



conclusion that we reach ? And is not induc- 

 tion, therefore, still dependent on an a priori 

 assumption about the nature of reality? ^xa 

 But these inadequate negative suggestions 

 must not give the impression that the fore- 

 going is the whole substance of this very com- 

 pact essay, which is full of valuable thoughts 

 upon scientific method, and which must be 

 read in detail to be appreciated. We hope for 

 much more such work as this book contains, 

 for the result cannot fail to be of value alike 

 to American science and to American philoso- 

 phy. Those who oppose a purely empirical 

 philosophy must still be aided by finding so 

 able a defence of some of its doctrines, and 

 those who believe in other forms of logical 

 doctrine cannot afford to remain ignorant of 

 the advances of symbolic logic. 



THE RACES OF MEN. 



Les races humaines. Par Abel Hovelacque, pro- 



fesseur k I'ficole d'anthropologie. Paris, Cerf, 



1882. 159 p., illustr. 16°. 



This rather attractive work is written on a 

 practical plan, which is specially useful in tend- 

 ing to correct the false impressions generally 

 entertained, connected with the term 'race.' 

 It is strictly limited to ethnography as distin- 

 guished from ethnogeny and ethnology, and 

 simply considers the actual divisions of man- 

 kind, with their geographical areas, and their 

 physical, intellectual, and moral characteris- 

 tics. In the classification of races, the old 

 division by color — as white, yellow, black, 

 etc. — is repudiated ; the fact being established, 

 that other characteristics, such as those relat- 

 ing to the hair, to the shape of the cranium, 

 and to height, are equally important, and that 

 none of them can be exclusively adopted in 

 class arrangement. Failure likewise attends 

 a merely linguistic and a strictly geographical 

 grouping. The attempt to discuss races in 

 the order of their development toward civiliza- 

 tion would seem to be philosophic, but meets 

 with the difficulty that bodies of men, who, by 

 all other considerations are to be included in 

 the same race, are at wholly diverse degrees 

 of progress in civilization. Admitting, there- 

 fore, that no single criterion is possible, the 

 author decided to take account, with due 

 weight, of all the different elements of classi- 

 fication, and to leave to the presentation itself, 

 by its success, the responsibility of justifying 

 its own order. 



Professor Hovelacque' s arrangement, as 

 distinguished from strict classification, is as 

 follows : 1. Australians ; 2. Papuans ; 3. Mela- 



