REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 261 



language in twenty-four hours : — "Divide the language into twenty- 

 four parts and learn one each hour." In the case of Chinese, the 

 student will be well-advised to make it twenty-four months ; but he 

 should master the material in this manual in much less time than 

 that. A useful dictionary of three thousand characters, most of 

 them defined with a single English word, is provided. Dr. Darroch 

 has a gift of making the salient features of a linguistic problem 

 stand out, and of expressing the facts he wishes to convey in language 

 that is racy and clear. Many an old student will find much that is 

 new and interesting and useful to him, if he will spend an hour or 

 two looking throught these lessons. H. K. W. 



The Economic History of China with Special Reference to Agri- 

 culture. By Mc bel Ting-hua Lee, Ph. D., New York, Columbia 

 University. 



In a recent article in a well-known American magazine a writer 

 pointed out that ambitious American students were "Ph. D. 

 mad." Everybody of this class was so bent on obtaining this coveted 

 degree that evidently the Chinese students of brilliance who study 

 in America are smitten with the same desire, and in order to obtain 

 it produce Theses of various degrees of value. Ph. D. reminds them 

 so of the old Hanlin doctorate, and they wish to be able to add 

 "Po Shih" after their names on their return. The present volume 

 is, however, peculiar in that it is the Thesis prepared by a Chinese 

 lad,/ at Columbia University. She is to be congratulated on the 

 choice of her subject for the thesis, viz : — The Agriculture of China. 

 Chinese have always looked upon agriculture as the backbone of their 

 Country's prosperity. It may be said that the majority of her 

 scholars were brought up on the farm. The young lady shows an 

 interest in the condition of her own people. She reminds us that 

 political storms pass serenely over the heads of the people while 

 the farmers still go on with their work. 



The first portion of the volume is a running account in a some- 

 what sketchy way of the fortunes of the farmers during the various 

 dynasties down to the present time. This is followed by a note-book 

 account of source material derived entirely from a copy of the Chinese 

 Encyclopaedia which apparently the University library could boast of. 

 Of course, the material for her study was exceedingly scanty. This 

 criticism applies with equal force to everything that Chinese students 

 have produced in the way of theses for this same degree. 



