S°4 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



veloped part of the doctrine ; never per- 

 ceived its relation to the whole, nor its 

 purely scientific interpretation. The works 

 of the former are, therefore, most referred 

 to here." 



" The doctrine of Evolution, as devel- 

 oped by Mr. Herbert Spencer, is not an 

 empty hypothesis excogitated as a plausible 

 account of the phenomena of the universe, 

 but a great philosophic system, founded 

 solidly on carefully-corrected experience of 

 the things and forces of the universe. And 

 it becomes a subject of the deepest interest 

 to compare the priori theory of the uni- 

 verse, contained in Scripture, with the pos- 

 (oriori doctrine formulated from the facts 

 of our uniform experience." 



We cordially recommend this volume to 

 all who are interested in that aspect of the 

 question to which it is devoted. 



Descriptive Sociology. Part I. The So- 

 ciological History op England. By 

 Herbert Spencer, assisted by James 

 Collier. Price, $5. D. Appleton & Co. 



It has been repeatedly explained in the 

 columns of the Monthly that Herbert Spen- 

 cer has been engaged for some years in the 

 formidable undertaking of collecting and 

 classifying the data required of the scien- 

 tific study of human society. For this pur- 

 pose he divided the races of mankind into 

 three great groups, or divisions : I. The 

 Savage Races ; II. The Extinct, or Decayed 

 Civilizations ; and III. The Existing Civil- 

 ized Races. The part now published be- 

 longs to the third division, and in it Mr. 

 Spencer applies his method to the Social 

 History of England. If it be asked why he 

 did not begin with Division I., presenting 

 the simpler phenomena of uncultivated so- 

 cieties first, the reply is, that, while the 

 publication of the whole series is by no 

 means certain, and will be contingent upon 

 the reception of the earlier parts, it was de- 

 sirable to begin with a branch of the sub- 

 ject on which there cannot fail to be the 

 most general interest, while it, moreover, 

 subjects Mr. Spencer's method to the se- 

 verest test. Besides, it is quite immaterial 

 at what point the exposition is commenced, 

 as it is perfectly simple and complete in 

 each case. 



The present work is free from all hy- 



pothesis and speculative views. Only the 

 facts are given, and the authorities for the 

 facts. Mr. Spencer expresses no opinion, 

 and draws no inferences ; he only classifies 

 his materials in such a way that at one view 

 we can take in all the great social facts of 

 any epoch, and compare them with the 

 phenomena that precede them, and out of 

 which they grew, and those which follow 

 them, and to which they give rise. In the 

 "Principles of Sociology," upon which Mr. 

 Spencer has now entered, he will work out 

 the inductions and generalizations from this 

 vast body of social facts in his own way ; 

 but, meantime, they have an independent 

 value for all students who choose to draw 

 their own conclusions. 



The work is in a folio form, which was 

 made necessary by the structure of the 

 tables, the very first condition of which is, 

 to bring into convenient comparison many 

 series of facts. For all his statements made 

 in the tables the authorities are given in a 

 corresponding classification, the text con- 

 sisting of quotations and extracts, which 

 constitute the chief portion of the work. 

 The material here published would form a 

 large octavo volume of eight or nine hun- 

 dred pages. 



We consider this work one of very great 

 public importance, as it is undoubtedly a 

 large step forward in the direction of that 

 knowledge which is more needed than any 

 other. The question, What are the natural 

 laws by which human societies have origi- 

 nated, been developed to their present state, 

 and must still further advance ? — the laws, 

 therefore, by which their destiny is gov- 

 erned — is supreme at the present time. Our 

 ideas upon the subject have hitherto been 

 chaotic, and, for want of any fixed princi- 

 ple, the social field has been given over to 

 quacks, dreamers, and swindlers of every 

 quality. If science has any light to shed 

 upon this matter that can help in the prac- 

 tical guidance of affairs, the world is in de- 

 plorable want of it. The work before us is 

 only preliminary, but we think no candid 

 mind can examine it without being con- 

 vinced that it opens a new dispensation of 

 social study, and paves the way to a more 

 scientific consideration of social phenomena 

 than we have ever before had. If in this 

 it may be thought that we are writing under 



