January 2, 1885. J 



SCIENCE, 



15 



absence among the parents of the individual 

 studied. The results of this inquiry are tabu- 

 lated. To illustrate what he means by char- 

 acteristics, the author cites three famous men 

 whose lives are well known, and mentions their 

 dominant traits, — Louis XVI. (fifteen char- 

 acteristics), Napoleon Bonaparte (thirty-seven 

 characteristics) , and Charles Darwin (twent}*- 

 nine characteristics) . All this part of his essa}* 

 is full of interest. 



His conclusions are these : — 



1. HeredhVv is a general law which admits 

 but few exceptions. 



2. The interruption of heredity through one 

 or more generations (atavism) is rare, perhaps 

 five or ten times in a hundred. 



3. The more remarkable a person is for good 

 or ill, the more numerous and pronounced are 

 his characteristics. 



4. Women show fewer distinctive character- 

 istics than men. 



5. All groups of characteristics are more 

 likely to be transmitted b} r fathers than by 

 mothers. 



(3. It is difficult to determine whether char- 

 acteristics which have been acquired by edu- 

 cation and other external circumstances are 

 transmitted by heredity. 



7. The most marked characteristics in an 

 individual are generally those received from 

 both parents, especially those received both 

 from parents and other progenitors. 



The main portion of the volume, in the sec- 

 ond as in the first edition, is a study of what 

 might be called the origin and distribution of 

 scientific men during the last two centuries. 

 The author's views are based upon the selec- 

 tion of foreign members by three great acad- 

 emies, — in London, 1750-18G9 ; Paris, 1666- 

 1883; and Berlin, 1750-1869. Asa rule, these 

 associations bestow the honor of foreign mem- 

 bership, from time to time, upon men of all 

 countries, and of all departments of study, 

 who have exerted most influence upon the 

 progress of science by their publications. 

 Such elections may be regarded as indications 

 of impartial judgment respecting merit; and, 

 although there ma}* be errors or prejudices, 

 he believes that the aggregate lists include the 

 names of those most worthy to be honored for 

 their scientific investigations. From the facts 

 thus collected he points out the proportion 

 of mathematicians and naturalists at different 

 epochs ; the increasing devotion to a single 

 subject ; the rarity of feminine contributions 

 to the progress of science ; the social classes 

 from which savants come ; special influences 

 which affect the number, the studies, and the 



successes of scientific men ; national distribu- 

 tion of scientific leaders. Many valuable com- 

 ments follow on the outlook of modern science, 

 and the favorable and unfavorable influences 

 which are at work. Toward the close of the 

 volume, there is given an investigation (which 

 was only approached in the first edition) re- 

 specting the academic recognition of men 

 devoted to the moral and social sciences. 



" The secret workings of nature which bring 

 it to pass that an Aeschylus, a Lionardo, a 

 Faraday, a Kant, or a Spinoza is born upon the 

 earth, are as obscure now as the}* were a thou- 

 sand years ago." These are the words with 

 which Pollok introduces his life of Spinoza, and 

 they have occurred to us after a perusal of 

 the book we have described. The origin of 

 genius or of talent is as fascinating an inquiry 

 as the origin of species. But there is some- 

 thing in the intellectual or spiritual nature of 

 man which eludes analysis, and hides itself 

 from the most penetrating researches of the 

 ps}chologist and the plrysiologist. Never- 

 theless, a volume so full of learning, so 

 sparkling with bright ideas, so controlled b}* 

 scientific habits, is a thought-inspiring book, 

 for which every one must be grateful, even if 

 it serves onty as an introduction to an unex- 

 plored continent. 



DR. HACK TUKE ON HYPNOTISM. 



Dr. Hack Tuke can hardly be said to have 

 written a book on sleep-walking and hypno- 

 tism : it is a collection of papers which are full 

 of repetition, and which are written in a style 

 that is decidedly undress. But hypnotism is 

 at present such an interesting subject, that any 

 exact information about it is very welcome. 

 The author's main object is to point out the 

 resemblance between natural and induced 

 somnambulism, which latter term lie uses as 

 another name for hypnotism, and to call atten- 

 tion especially to the former mode of aberrant 

 mental action as an important aid to the study 

 of mind. Llis own article on natural somnam- 

 bulism, based on answers to a circular sent 

 out six }*ears ago, contains little that was not 

 known before ; but his examination into the 

 mental condition of the hypnotic subject is of 

 greater interest. He finds that consciousness 

 may persist, or that it may pass rapidly or 

 slowly into complete unconsciousness ; the 

 manifestations are not dependent upon its 

 presence or absence. One subject. Mr. North, 



Sleep-walking and hypnotism. By D. Hack Ttjke, M.D.. 

 LL.D. London, Churchill, 1884. 6 + 119 p. 8°. 



