is at odds with himself. There was never anything more absurd in the dialectic philosophies than we have seen over and over again under the rubric "exact scientific method." Two thousand years before modern science, "cobbler, stick to your last" was proverbial wisdom, but modern scientists have frequently to be told that a microscope does not lend telescopic vision, and a test-tube is not a pair of calipers to measure infinity. If somebody should decompose hydrogen, it is not at all unlikely that he would thereupon invite the world to accept his authority on cosmic philosophy. M. Metchnikoff seems to have contributed his quota to the humors of science by doing substantially this very thing. In the first eleven chapters of the book he either traverses familiar history of thought, or discusses quite special topics in biology, mostly exploiting facts notorious among biologists. In the twelfth chapter, entitled "Summary and Conclusions," he slips his anchor, discharges his ballast and soars. Instead of summarizing and concluding, he speculates and dogmatizes. The processes of the brain are "incompatible with the existence of an immortal soul" (p. 286). It would have been more modest and more scientific if he had said "I cannot understand how these processes can be compatible," etc. So far as any evidence or argument appears in the previous discussion, the dictum, even thus brought within the limits of good taste and good logic, would still be wholly gratuitous. A stranger to the author is at a loss to decide how far he takes himself seriously in this chapter, or wishes to be so taken by his readers. As a specimen of pseudo-scientific license it is spectacular, but as a digest of premises contained in the book it is ridiculous. Perhaps he assumes that biologists will understand him as merely indulging in a dream, but they are not the market which the present version is likely to supply. It is to be hoped that M. Metchnikoff will continue to make discoveries in the field where he is eminent. It is possible that he might successfully emulate Jules Verne, if his ambition should run in that direction. The present volume does not encourage the hope that he will contribute much to general philosophy. The serious element in the book is set forth with just enough stage business to charm the galleries. It will not be surprising if the flights of Metchnikoff's fancy presently pass into the bric-a-brac of popular science, but really there is no immediate occasion for a new cult. A. W. S. An Examination of Society from the Standpoint of Evolution. By LOUIS WALLIS. Columbus, O.: The Argus Press. Pp. 325. POPULAR education has produced a multitude of amateurs who have just enough rhetorical knack, commonplace information, and conceit of wisdom to afflict reviewers and the public with a flood of superfluous books. This evil is acute in the field of social science. It should not be surprising, therefore, that workers in this field are skeptical about the merits of a new publication, unless its author has an assured academic position or previous scientific standing. The assumption is that it is merely another weariness to the spirit of specialists, always overtaxed in keeping up with the work of their colleagues who have something to say. Mr. Wallis has almost estopped me from expressing my judgment of his book by giving me excessive credit in connection with it. At the risk of seeming to offer a quid pro quo, I record my opinion, however, that the book cannot fairly be ignored by sociologists. It deserves to be read, and read respectfully. It is very far from being a mere rendering of common knowledge. It is virtually a thesis, which may be stated quite briefly, with support from a long historical arguThe thesis itself is less novel than the author thinks, and it does not go so far toward the end of the sociological problem as he sup poses. At the same time it carries an element of original emphasis which is not altogether misplaced, and there are few philosophical monographs in our day of which more than this is true. Mr. Wallis shows both analytic and synthetic ability that entitle him to a thoughtful hearing. He has fairly earned recognition as a sociological ment. thinker. In a word, the argument of the book is this: 1. A considerable fact in all civilizations is social "cleavage" into two principal classes, upper and lower (p. 47). 2. A second principal fact is that "the integration of society rests upon concomitant integration of capital," both material and intangible (p. 51). 3. Social cleavage is one of the principal factors in the capitalization of social development (p. 51); i. e.. Cleavage actively enlisted the egoism of the upper class in the tremendous work of social development. A large part of the appropriated labor of the masses was converted into the material and spiritual tools whereby humanity conquers its environment and struggles upward along the path of progress. By promoting the growth of capital, the upper class uncon sciously served the lower classes, and freed the different sections of the humble folk to serve each other. Civilization, to all outward appearances, is based on exploitation; but in its deepest essence it is founded on the law of service. Cleavage is a paradoxical involution of the law of service (pp. 84, 85). 4. The social problem has always been how to prevent the abuses of cleavage from outweighing its benefits. The greater part of the book (chaps. v-viii) is virtually expansion of this proposition. The teleology more or less evident in the discussion may be reduced to the formula: The inevitable reforms, or adjustments, which will distribute the benefits of progress more widely than at present, will consist very largely of better socialization of the different sorts of capital which cleavage has accumulated. The influence of Henry George crops out very plainly, but this ought not to prejudice the main thesis. sense. The historical material with which the argument is fortified is handled with a degree of intelligence entirely out of the common. I have not been able to test his accuracy in details, but the author's quest of the underlying meaning of events always shows keen historic The book is consequently a successful contribution to social analysis. Mr. Wallis's interpretation, however, is mediate rather than conclusive. What he means by "cleavage" is merely one of the phenomena of social differentiation 'in general, and in no other sense a "factor" (cf. pp. 12, 51, etc.) than is the case with every other institutional development. It is rather an incident in the operation of forces which are themselves the principal concern. This mode of their operation seems to have impressed the writer unduly: i. e., by regarding it more as a cause than as an effect he has obscured more ultimate causes. In his theory, therefore, "cleavage" takes the place of a deus ex machina. This by no means vitiates his argument; it merely qualifies the importance of the conclusions which the argument contains. A great cloud of scientific witnesses might testify that this was their experience too in proposing generalizations. Mr. Wallis has demonstrated his right to be heard, and it is to be hoped that he will pursue the studies so creditably begun. A. W. S. Essai d'une philosophie de la solidarité. Conférences et discus sions présidées par MM. LÉON BOURGEOIS et A. Croiset. THE addresses and discussions brought together into this volume were presented in a series of conferences held during the winter of 1901-2 at the École des hautes Études sociales, and consider the idea of solidarity from the point of view of the publicist, the economist, the educator, the moralist, the sociologist, the historian of philosophy, and the socialist. The addresses were as follows: Bourgeois, "The Idea of Solidarity and its Social Consequences;" Darlu, "Solidarity and Moral Personality;" Rauh, "Individual Property and Property in Solidarity;" Buisson, "Solidarity in the School;" Gide, "Economic Solidarity;" Léon, "The Rational Basis of Solidarity According to Fichte;" Fontaine, "Socialism and Solidarity;" Bontroux, "Rôle of the Idea of Solidarity." The contribution of M. Bourgeois, who gave three addresses, is the most extended, and presents very forcibly the conception of a "social debt" which each man owes to society. The point of special interest is the effort to give this debt a quasi-legal status without extending the power of the state. It has been common and easy to speak of a man's debt to the past or to his fellows, but this does not interfere with the most complete ignoring of any such obligation by many whose debt is the largest. To pay this debt may properly be regarded as a matter of justice, not as a charity. This is to extend the notion of legal right and duty. The practical difficulty is to estimate the proper amount of social debt, and this evidently cannot be done unless by a device similar to that of insurance societies, i. e., by "mutualizing risk and advantage." The man who would seek for himself the advantages of society and leave for others the risks would be doing an unsocial act and put himself outside society. The law might then regard all who desire to continue in society as accepting voluntarily a quasi-contract to pay their social debts, and might enforce this as it enforces any other contract. The mutualization of burdens and advantages would mean (1) support of common charges due to organized society; this is already generally accepted; (2) sharing in the knowledge which society has acquired; this would mean not merely free instruction in all grades, but also that the mature man should have sufficient leisure to continue education to the degree necessary to the development of his powers; (3) limitation of the hours of labor sufficiently to enable a man to live a moral life in the proper sense to enjoy liberty of mind and of heart; (4) not an equal distribution of pay, but a guarantee of a minimum of existence for those who by reason of age or infirmity cannot maintain themselves. Admitting the justice of the above requirements—and I do not see how a society claiming to regard itself as moral can set any lower standard-the question still arises, to the mind of the present writer, whether the enforcement of (3) would remove as much of the present inequity as the author seems to hope. For the limitation of hours tends to raise the price of goods, and this makes a burden which may fall heaviest upon the poorer class of consumers. Shorter hours in many occupations are undoubtedly a primary necessity, but a more equitable distribution of the goods of life will still remain a problem. The three papers nevertheless give an admirable presentation of the growing feeling that the moral feeling cannot be satisfied to remain as a mere sentiment when confronted by individuals or social and economic institutions which not merely ignore but actually oppose it. M. Darlu in his paper emphasizes the value of the subjective aspects of the moral life; solidarity may be an evil unless moral personalities are developed. M. Rauh attempts a modification of the socialist view of property which shall secure the end of social justice and democracy, while not requiring the material unification of property and production. He offers as the formula for justice "the eminent right over property of society organized democratically." Gide discusses the economic relations of competition, exchange, and division of labor which are sometimes regarded as involving solidarity, and finds neither in these nor in trades-unionism as satisfactory a basis for solidarity as in what he calls "co-operative consumption." The papers and discussions as a whole afford a very interesting illustration of the extent to which the thought of social obligation is pervading the various fields represented. J. H. TUFTS. American History and Its Geographic Conditions. By ELLEN CHURCHILL SEMPLE. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1903. Pp. 466; maps. INDIVIDUAL teachers of history, committees from various educational associations, and experts on pedagogical principles have united in recent years in demanding a closer connection between the subjects of history and geography. The result is seen not so much in a collaboration of texts as in a clearer appreciation of the influence of topography on the life of any people. The political elements in American history so long overshadowed the movements and development of the people that only recently have teachers begun to realize. the value of a census report or a railway map as aids in ascertaining the true causes of American nation-building. The first volume of |