January 7, 1887.] 



SCIUJVGU. 



21 



and classification of the feelings, are chapters on 

 the feelings of sense, feelings originating in asso- 

 ciation, feelings for self and for others, feelings 

 originating in comparison, intellectual feelings, 

 and feelings of action. Four chapters are devoted 

 to volition, the last treating briefly of the free- 

 dom of the will. 



As we said above, the book is an excellent one, 

 and few serious sins of commission can be charged 

 against it. We question somewhat the advisa- 

 bility of the abrupt divorce of perception and 

 sensation as kinds of mental conditions. Mr. 

 Sully, in his ' Outlines of psychology,' agrees 

 with the author in his separation of these 

 states or actions. It seems to us that a sensation 

 is nothing more than a nervous stimulus un- 

 less it is perceived. Perception is the perception 

 of a sensation, and nothing more. When we 

 pass beyond the perception of sensations to a 

 knowledge, say, of objects, we may explain that 

 knowledge either by the association of the per- 

 ceptions, or by the union of the perceptions in the 

 act of conception. For this reason we believe that 

 those who, with Sir William Hamilton, use the 

 term ' sense-perception,' use an awkward term, 

 but one which is scientifically accurate. 



The author's treatment of the process of rep- 

 resentation is one of the most unsatisfactory parts 

 of the book. His account of association is not 

 sufficient to give information about all that we 

 call popularly 'memory.' We also fail to find 

 any chapters on reflex action or on the highly im- 

 portant subject of unconscious mental modifica- 

 tions. On the other hand, Dr. Murray's simple 

 and interesting account of illusory cognitions de- 

 serves high commendation, and his classification 

 of the feelings seems to us to be both natural and 

 scientific. 



The author (p. 23, et seq.) appears to view with 

 but little favor the results of investigation in the 

 department of psj'chophysics. We have no space 

 to discuss the question how far his caution or 

 scepticism is justified. On both sides of the At- 

 lantic this branch of psychology is enjoying a 

 very extraordinary share of attention, and sugges- 

 tive and interesting results have been reached. 

 We are inclined to regard these investigations as 

 of less importance than those engaged in them are 

 disposed to attach to them, and we confess that 

 we await with some expectancy results commen- 

 surate with the amount of labor expended in 

 gathering the statistics which form so prominent 

 a part of the periodical literature on philosophy. 



Dr. Murray's closing chapter on the freedom of 

 volition, we regard as perhaps the least scientific 

 part of his book. His doctrine is suggested in the 

 sentence, "The very nature of volition, therefore, 



would be contradicted by a description of it in 

 terms which brought it under the category of 

 causality " (p. 417). 



1 le book, however, is admirably adapted for 

 teaching the elements of psychology to classes in 

 schools and colleges. 



TWO VALUABLE PRIMERS OF POLITICS. 

 It has been said that greater ability is needed 

 to develop and elucidate fundamental principles 

 than to deduce from them an elaborate set of con- 

 clusions. This is doubtless true ; and for that 

 reason most primers, whether of literature, his- 

 tory, science, or politics, ai'e failures, in that they 

 are the work of well-meaning but insufliciently 

 and narrowly informed students. That leading- 

 specialists can use their talents to good purpose in 

 writing primers, and thus bring their influence 

 directly to bear on the generation in process of 

 education, has been amply demonstrated by Pro- 

 fessors Huxley, Eoscoe, Balfour Stewart, Geikie, 

 Michael Foster, Jevons, and others. The two 

 little books to which we have reference in the head- 

 ing of this notice rank, with the works of the au- 

 thors just mentioned, as primers that are worth 

 something. They have something in common, in 

 that they are written primarily for English read- 

 ers by an English woman and an English man 

 respectively. There the resemblance ceases. Miss 

 Buckland's primer^ is a summary of existing Eng- 

 lish institutions, and we are free to say that we 

 have never seen them more clearly, more con- 

 cisely, and more accurately pictured. Miss 

 Buckland draws to a large extent from the books 

 in the ' English citizen ' series on particular insti- 

 tutions and phases of English politics, but the com- 

 pleteness and articulation of this little book are 

 peculiarly her own. She treats of the constitution 

 in general, of the sovereign, parliament, the house 

 of lords, the house of commons, the privy coun- 

 cil, the national budget, the English church, edu- 

 cation in England, local government, and so on. 

 The careful reader will obtain from the book a 

 very thorough knowledge of the workings of Eng- 

 lish governmental institutions ; and it is just such 

 a book as a teacher should use for a few weeks 

 with a class that has completed the study of Eng- 

 lish history, in order to enable the pupils to follow 

 and discuss inteUigently current English politics. 

 We do not recall an inexact or wrong statement 

 in the book, considered simply as an exposition. 

 On p. 34 is an obvious misprint, £71,000 being 

 given as the amount of the annual allowance to 

 the Queen's family. The correct sum is £171,000, 

 and it is so stated by Miss Buckland on p. 9. 



1 Our national institutions : a short sketch for schools. By 

 Anna Buckland. London, Macniillan, 1886. 16°. 



