1896.] Recent Literature. 569 
uncultured. The bibliography at the end is thorough, if not exhaus- 
tive ; it consists of over 550 titles, covering the entire field. 
The author claims no originality of investigation ; but he has culled 
his material from a host of authorities, and his selections are well made. 
He has no conclusions to draw; he simply presents the material as 
data, with a view to a complete survey of the subject. The chief critic- 
ism that can be made upon his method is that it frequently leads to a 
curious intermingling of fables and traditions with actual race customs. 
Thus in the chapter on the Children’s Food is described (p. 150) the 
practice which holds among several tribes of placing food on the grave 
of a dead child, to refresh its soul on the way to the spirit-land, and 
almost immediately after follows the legend of how the infant Hercules 
obtained immortality. The book is exceedingly interesting ; it treats 
its subject as thoroughly as the breadth of the task together with the 
limits of the volume permit ; and it is wonderfully conducive to further 
reading. —H. ©. WARREN. 
Stockham on the Ethics of Marriage.‘—This book is written 
with the view of securing an excellent object, the increase of the 
happiness of marriage. As the authoress is an M. D., and as she 
treats the subject at the outset with a seeming respect for scientific 
truth, we anticipated something valuable from her point of view. But 
we are compelled to say that the grains of truth are overlaid with such 
a quantity of error, rhapsody and sheer silliness, that we can only 
recommend the book as a study in feminine psychology. That there 
is one element of common sense running through it we are glad to 
admit. The authoress sees nothing degrading or indecent in the sexual 
relation. For this we must praise her ; but it was surely not necessary 
for her to apologize for her good sense, by pages on pages of religious 
rhapsody. The gist of her method of promoting marital happiness is 
that sexual intimacy may take place without completing the act. This 
proposition is as old as the rational faculty of man ; but, as rationality 
is usually less directed to sexual subjects than to any other, it is quite 
possible that her advice on this point may do some good. There 
are some amusing passages. Fearing to appear to fall into the 
Charybdis of “ hedonism ” she runs high and dry on Scylla, as follows : 
“ Before and during the time some devotional exercises may be partici- 
pated in, or there may be a formation of consecration of an uplifting 
character in which both unite!” 
t Karezza ; Ethics of Marriage, by Alice B. Stockham, M. D., Chicago. A. B. 
Stockham & Co. 
