Page images
PDF
EPUB

which Rider Haggard undeniably is master, will not be disappointed in this last romance, which is fresh in subject matter, and is lacking in none of the old power to thrill the imagination. Doubleday, Page & Company.

A most interesting treatise is "Heredity in Relation to Eugenics," by Charles Benedict Davenport. The science of heredity is comparatively new, and people in general are for the most part indifferent to its potentialities in its application to man. As the author states, an immense amount of investigation must be carried on before definite instruction in the subject can be given. The book seeks to explain the new methods of investigation, and to develop an interest in further research. Various problems are considered, such as the transmission of some human traits and susceptibilities to disease. In its attitude the book is conscientious and unassuming; it suggests the most probable conclusions for its experiments, but does not claim finality for those conclusions. The chief value of such a work at the present stage will be to arouse general interest in the subject, and to induce individuals to give data about their inheritance to the Eugenics Record Office, thus conferring a favor upon the State and posterity. The manner of the book inspires confidence and respect, and it is written in such a way as to be comprehensible to the average reader. Henry Holt & Co.

Marked by the author's characteristic originality and catholicity of mind, the second volume has appeared of A. Maurice Low's work on The American People, entitled "The Harvesting of a Nation." In the present book the author continues to trace the development of the American consciousness, and succeeds in showing us as no other ever has, in what manner the Americans are a distinct people. History regarded psychologically brings us to a

new view point, and the chief value of the present work is that it shows us how to look at historical events logi cally and with detachment. Several chapters are devoted to the development of the people in the period immediately preceding the Revolution, and present the rather original idea that the Revolution itself was rather an episode in history than a dramatic climax in American development. Mr. Low's treatment of the Constitution is profoundly interesting. He says, "The American Constitution changed the whole thought of mankind; it affected all the world; it introduced a new system of political philosophy; it gave to man the individual a dignity he had not before possessed; it re-created the relations between the individual and society." An entire chapter is devoted to American contempt for law. Mr. Low considers that for this characteristic, "democracy per se is not to blame," but a "mistaken political philosophy, and the pressure of material expansion." One of the most valuable sections of the book is that given to the subject of immigration. Far from being a menace, the immigrant is regarded by Mr. Low as a mental stimulus, and he considers the complete amalgamation of the foreign element into the American, which takes place in a single generation, as one of the most unusual phenomena in all history. In this book for the first time the psychological effects of the Spanish War are considered. Mr. Low attributes to this war the breaking down of America's continental isolation, and the broadening of our vision. With keen analytical powers the author lays bare the virtues and defects of the American People. In regard to certain particulars there will naturally be differences of opinion, but as a whole, the reader's views cannot but be influenced by this philosophical, optimistic treatise upon our national life. Houghton Mifflin* Co.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small]
[graphic]
[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]
« PreviousContinue »