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THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVIII 



Biometry emphasizes the enormous importance and significance of 

 variation in all living things ; historiometry reveals the enormous 

 importance of heredity in human life and the affairs of society. 



After an introductory chapter stating the need of a new inter- 

 pretation of history and of new methods of getting at this inter- 

 pretation, and a following general chapter further elaborating 

 and expanding his views concerning "the philosophy of history 

 and historiometry," Dr. Woods plunges into a series of compact 

 histories of France, Castile, Aragon, United Spain, Portugal, The 

 Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Turkey, 

 Scotland and England. In each of these he presents a swift sum- 

 mary of the economic and political conditions (success in wars, 

 increase in territory and prestige, prosperity, advance, failures in 

 war, loss of prestige, poverty, retrogression) of these nations in 

 the various reigns of a period of about 500 years for each country, 

 together with a statement of the personal traits of each monarch. 

 In all, three hundred and sixty-eight monarchs, regents or other 

 rulers, royal or non-royal, and correspondingly, three hundred 

 and sixty-eight sets, or periods, of national conditions, are pre- 



From these data is derived the very positive and important 

 conclusion that the dominant causal influence in determining the 

 character of national, political and economic conditions has been 

 the personality of the monarchs, and that the prime determinant 

 of this personality is heredity and not environment. 



A host of possible criticisms and objections to the method, its 

 results and their interpretation, leaps into every one's mind. 

 Well, they are all — or all that I have so far been able to formu- 

 late — anticipated, and ingeniously, and usually convincingly, 

 answered. At least they are anticipated and discussed. In this 

 the book reminds one of Darwin's "Origin of Species." 



To all who have read "Heredity in Royalty" this new book of 

 Dr. Woods will need no recommendation of its interest and im- 

 portance. To those who have not, and are interested either as 

 historian, biologist, or natural philosopher in human history and 

 the bionomic factors that control it, "The Influence of Monarchs" 

 may be strongly recommended as an original and very suggestive 

 treatment of the subject. To students of heredity the book is a 

 necessary librarv addition. 



V. L. K. 



