468 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 667 



we are confronted witli problems, and to sup- 

 pose the statement fraught with solutions is 

 to pay ourselves with words. In this very 

 connection, the worst foes of pragmatism may 

 be of its own household. The arrant rubbish 

 now being piled up by certain pedagogical 

 chiffonniers, for example, may prove far more 

 fatal than all the flouts of the " genuine Kant- 

 ianer " (p. 249). To the collectors of this 

 stuff one can only exclaim with Touchstone, 

 " truly, thou art damned, like an ill-roasted 

 egg all on one side." 



It surprises me, too, to see that Professor 

 James exhibits some mievte in his attitude 

 towards the " rationalistic " school. " In in- 

 fluential quarters Mr. Schiller, in particular, 

 has been treated like an impudent schoolboy 

 who deserves a spanking" (pp. 66-Y). Mr. 

 James seems to have forgotten his previous 

 remark : " No one can live an hour without 

 both facts and principles, so it is a difference 

 rather of emphasis; yet it breeds antipathies 

 of the most pungent character" (p. 9). He 

 can hardly be oblivious of the fact that a 

 regnant intellectual or theological ^(ay, and 

 scientific) group will stick at nothing to 

 compass its ends. When its inner history — 

 the pragmatic account of its persons — comes 

 to be written, outsiders will be startled and 

 disgusted to learn that the high-toned gospel 

 of " self-realization " has been advanced by 

 very common and very human methods. In- 

 nuendo, calumny, intrigue and even worse 

 have played their several parts, while such 

 persecution as the modern world permits has 

 had free course. I am vexed to see that Mr. 

 James has not learned to treat all this with 

 the contempt it deserves, and has not preserved 

 his charming humor to the extent of observing 

 that it is as natural to man to " idealize him- 

 self into dirt " as into heaven. And this is 

 the more to be regretted that British thinkers 

 rather than American have been the marks for 

 this refined mud-slinging. 



Let me add, in conclusion, that pragmatism, 

 as here outlined, may or may not be excellent 

 science. Readers of Science must judge for 

 themselves; those of them who are addicted to 

 the fallacy of reification will find it a good 



cathartic. It is only raw material for phi- 

 losophy. And, as I indicated above, I hope 

 that, undeterred by pontifical anathemas. Pro- 

 fessor James and his allies will proceed to 

 articulate the philosophy which they believe 

 themselves to possess. In any event, they are 

 entitled to the satisfaction of knowing that, 

 more than other contemporary groups, they 

 contrive to keep the philosophical stream in 

 sweetening motion. But whither it still re- 

 mains for them to tell. So far as it has re- 

 ceived voice, then, pragmatism is an avowed 

 compromise. It is not beatified into a com- 

 plete creation, attained and to be maintained. 

 On the contrary, it rests a method of approach 

 to thinking, especially from one incidental 

 side. Whether it can overcome age-long an- 

 tagonisms time alone will tell. In any case, it 

 represents a real attempt at accommodation — a 

 stage which, in the nature of the case, will 

 pass away ere many moons. And then ? Why, 

 then, friend and foe alike will proceed to the 

 Bearheitung der Begriffe, a task rejected by 

 these Lowell Lectures in rather cavalier style. 



E. M. Wenley 

 University of ]Michigan 



Catalogue of the Crosby Brown Collection of 

 Musical Instruments of all Nations. III. 

 Part I., Africa. New York. The Metro- 

 politan Museum of Art. 1907. Pp. xxii 

 + 79; pi. 26. 



This is a new volume continuing the series 

 of catalogues of this fine collection, to which 

 there have been various references in Science 

 from time to time. Gallery 37 is devoted to 

 the " instruments of savage tribes and semi- 

 civilized peoples " ; those from Oceanica and 

 America will be dealt with in future volumes ; 

 the present one relates wholly to Africa. The 

 " Egyptian type case " shows that most types 

 of African and even European instruments 

 were weU developed thousands of years ago. 

 The plates show a great variety of harps, lyres 

 and lutes, as well as many forms of the curi- 

 ous Negro Zauze, sometimes misleadingly 

 called " nail-fiddle " although the metal tongues 

 are plucked, not bowed. (It is to be hoped 

 that in a later edition the incorrect name 



