March 1., 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



)87 



In his address delivered at the centenary of 

 Fechner's birth. Professor Wundt does not at- 

 tempt to give a full outline of the philosoph- 

 ical and scientific views of this last of the 

 great German philosophers of the nineteenth 

 century. He states at the outset that his 

 object is to speak of the relation between 

 Fechner the philosopher and Fechner the sci- 

 entist, and he succeeds admirably in showing 

 the fundamental connection between the reli- 

 gious mysticism of Fechner and those rigor- 

 ously exact investigations which led to the 

 establishment of the science of psycho-physics. 

 He shows with a delicate touch, a keen insight 

 and in masterly form, how originally purely 

 metaphysical ideas resulted in the establish- 

 ment of principles which lifted this new sci- 

 ence for all future times above the danger of 

 any subjective views. Professor Wundt de- 

 fends Fechner the scientist against Fechner 

 the philosopher and Fechner the poet, and 

 apparently does not believe that the meta- 

 physical speculations of the 'Innere Psycho- 

 physih' will have many adherents in the 

 future; he compares these aptly with Kepler's 

 mystic 'world-harmony' now forgotten, but 

 valued by its author more than his immortal 

 third law. The lasting service of Fechner, 

 according to Wundt, consists in the fact that 

 he for the first time introduced 'exact meth- 

 ods, exact principles of measurement and 

 experimental observation into the investiga- 

 tion of mental life' and that, in consequence, 

 he was the first to make a scientific psychology 

 possible. 



Wundt's pamphlet contains, besides, several 

 interesting 'Addenda': Personal Reminis- 

 cences, an essay on Fechner's relation to the 

 natural philosophy of Oken and Schelling, on 

 his philosophical method, his psychology, his 

 attitude towards spiritism and a list of his 

 principal works. Wundt's essay will serve as 

 an excellent introduction to the world of 

 thought contained in the worlts of Fechner, 

 which are far too little known in this country, 

 and which even in Germany are only begin- 

 ning to take the rank which is due to them 

 in the study of the history of philosophy. 



If a further guide to the study of Fechner 

 should be desired, we would suggest to take 



up after Wundt's essay, R. Seydel's paper on 

 Religion und Wissenschaft (Breslau, 1887), 

 W. Bolsche's Characterbild {Deutsche Rund- 

 schau, Sept., 1897), and K. Lasswitz' critical 

 Biography (1896), which last is still unsur- 

 passed and far preferable to the biography 

 compiled by Kuntze, written from the one- 

 sided standpoint of an orthodox theologist. 

 EwALD FlOgel. 

 Stanford University, Cal. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Plant World for January contains an 

 illustrated article on 'The Missouri Botanical 

 Garden,' by the Director, William Trelease; 

 'A Visit to the Eoyal Palm Hammocks, 

 Florida,' by Charles T. Simpson; 'Plant Agen- 

 cies in the Formation of the Florida Keys,' 

 by Charles L. Pollard, besides the usual briefer 

 articles. The Supplement, devoted to the 

 families of flowering plants, contains the first 

 portion of the Orders Opuntiales and Myrti- 

 florse. 



Bird Lore for January-February opens with 

 'Recollections of Elliott Coues,' by D. G. 

 Elliot and C. A. Curtis, in which we are told 

 something of his youth and of his first army 

 detail. 'The Western Evening Grosbeak' is 

 described by Wm. Rogers Lord, and in 'Bird 

 Clubs in America' Francis H. Allen tells of 

 the Nuttall Club, the article being accom- 

 panied by a capital plate showing the Presi- 

 dent, Mr. William Brewster, and a number of 

 the members. Frank M. Chapman contributes 

 the second of the papers on 'How to Name 

 the Birds,' which runs through the Corvidse, 

 and then follows ' The Christmas Bird Census ' 

 taken in many parts of the country, while 

 Fred T. Morison contributes 'The Prize Crow 

 Story.' In 'A Midwinter Meditation,' M. O. 

 W. intimates that nature study may be so mis- 

 directed as to be decidedly harmful to the 

 birds. 



Popular Astronomy for March includes a 

 paper entitled 'A Laboratory for General 

 Astronomy,' by Miss Mary E. Byrd, of Smith 

 College, and an illustrated article by Per- 

 cival Lowell on the north polar rifts and 

 the arctic canals on Mars. Other articles are 



