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other four lectures, "The Financial Burden of Today and Tomorrow," "Conscription or Proscription of Capital," "The Period of Financial Transition," and "Ten Years After," deal with problems of finance. The studies are scholarly and convincing. Historical parallels and antecedents are cited frequently. Little new material is presented, in the way of either theory or fact.

The author looks for no decisive immediate results from a League of Nations. "It would be on its trial for many years," and, meantime, "each Power must continue to provide for its own defence." The final conclusion is that "the most that can be said for the scheme at present is that it is a favourable uncertainty, against which is to be set an unfavourable certainty."

In the matter of war finance the position is taken that neither the characteristically English system of taxation nor the characteristically German system of financing the war wholly by bonding is satisfactory, but a combination: taxing nearly to the limit of endurance, and borrowing for the balance, revenues from taxes to be sufficient to develop a sinking fund for the retirement of the bonds.

PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

ROBERT FRY CLARK

Matrilineal Kinship, and the Question of Its Priority (Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, Vol. IV, No. I, January-March, 1917). By E. SIDNEY HARTLAND.

Mr. Hartland, who ranks among the contemporary founders of social anthropology, returns in this monograph to a subject already treated by Bachofen, McLennan, Sir John Lubbock, and Lewis H. Morgan. All these investigators made matrilineal kinship universally prior to patrilineal kinship in the development of social organization. Mr. Hartland agrees with them and argues that the evidence recently adduced for the priority of patrilineal descent among certain tribes of Australia and North America does not invalidate their conclusions. Where patrilineal reckoning now exists, Mr. Hartland either finds clear traces of a previous system of matrilineal reckoning or proves to his own satisfaction that the patrilineal folk for various reasons are not in a truly primitive condition. He considers that the burden of proof rests on those "who deny that female descent has in any particular case preceded the reckoning of kinship exclusively through males" (p. 87).

American anthropologists profess to be much shocked by this attempt of one of their British brethren to revive a theory supposed to have

received its death blow. The curious may be interested in the discussion between Mr. Hartland and Professor A. L. Kroeber (American Anthropologist, October-December, 1917 and April-June, 1918).

HUTTON WEBSTER

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

American Charities. By Amos G. WARNER, Ph.D. Revised by MARY ROBERTS COOLIDGE, Ph.D.; with a biographical preface by GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD, Ph.D. New York: Thomas W. Crowell Co. Pp. xxii+511.

The appearance of a new edition of Warner's American Charities is sure to be greeted by a chorus of approval. Since the first edition appeared twenty-five years ago, this book has remained the standard summary statement of problems and methods in this field. In no field of human knowledge, however, does detailed information so speedily become obsolete as in the field of the practical treatment of the dependent and defective classes. New discoveries in collateral branches of science, in psychology, biology, etc., make necessary repeated examinations even of so-called fundamentals; so that one feels that two revisions since 1894 are none too many. It was, however, a merit of this book from the first edition that it embodied such a sure grasp of the great principles underlying the case of these abnormal groups that much of it is as valuable today as a quarter-century ago.

Professor Coolidge has wisely utilized the book as a going concern. She has made modifications only where changes have occurred in social technique and in our information on certain important fields, notably those of heredity and of the nature of feeble-mindedness, blindness, and insanity. Furthermore, the attitude of a large part of the social workers of the United States has changed. While striving vigorously for improvement in technique, they have all become painfully aware of the fundamental maladjustment in our social system and are backing with energy the social, rather than the individual, attack on these age-old evils. This attitude the book reflects. It is not so philosophical in its outlook as Professor Parmelee's Poverty and Social Progress, but it is very much more useful, especially for students.

The particular modifications to be noted are those introduced in connection with the discussion of the causes of poverty and pauperism. While no exhaustive résumé is offered here of the work of the eugenists and the scientific students of genetics, the important facts are well

summarized. Two entirely new chapters are introduced, one on "Heredity and Degeneration," and another entitled "The Attack on Poverty." Both appear in Part I, "Historical and Theoretical."

The book contains, as before, chapters on the destitute sick, the insane, the feeble-minded. The reviewer has sometimes felt that to include these groups here was to focus attention on a secondary factor of their situation. They are dependent and hence the objects of "charity" only as a result of the primary fact of their mental and physical handicaps. The constant contact which the "charity worker" establishes with these classes is, however, a sufficient practical reason for their inclusion as objects of discussion. There is appended, as before, an excellent bibliography, which is arranged topically. An index adds to the usability of the volume.

WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

C. E. GEHLKE

RECENT LITERATURE

NOTES AND ABSTRACTS

History, Psychology, and Culture: A Set of Categories for an Introduction to Social Science. There are three standpoints from which a set of social data can be envisaged: (1) the standpoint of level: objective and psychological data; (2) time: successive and contemporaneous data; (3) linkage: the deterministic and the accidental. These six concepts grouped into pairs from the standpoints of level, time and linkage result in eight categories which represent angles of vision for culture and the historic process. The categories are: (1) Objective-historical-the description or reconstruction of a successive series of past events; (2) Objective-contemporaneous -a series of objective co-existential facts and events (any non-psychological record of pure enumeration, classification, representation, belongs to this category); (3) Psychological-historical-the attempt to reconstruct the history of art, literature, religion, philosophy, science, and social movements deal largely with facts belonging to this category; (4) Psychological-contemporaneous-the concept of the so-called "cultural setting" belongs to this category; (5) Deterministic-historical-the domain of socio-psychological principles embraces a vast array of facts of the deterministichistorical category; (6) Deterministic-contemporaneous-the phenomena of group action, the positive correlation between common functions exercised by a group or social unit, the feeling of solidarity, etc., fall into this category; (7) Accidental-historical-the relations of the individual to the cultural content and to the historical series of events; (8) Accidental-contemporaneous-this category somewhat overlaps the preceding one and no sharp line can be drawn between them.-A. A. Goldenweiser, The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, October, 1918. C. N.

El Darwinismo y las Naciones. Scientific societies need to pay attention, especially in their international relationships, to a correct interpretation of the Darwinian doctrine. The truth or falsehood of certain principles of the evolution of the life of society is undoubtedly demonstrated with much clearness in the present world-crisis. With the overthrow of Weismann's conception of the transmission of acquired characteristics we have made decided progress in our ideas of evolution and the hereditary problems of society. The preservation and perpetuation of the species is accomplished by natural, sexual, and social selection.

According to German philosophy every nation should attempt to increase its domain in order to obtain its highest place in the world. Its argument, however logical, that the nations, like individuals, are subject to natural selection in their struggle for existence, does not necessarily need to be true. The mutual dependence of national groups and of individuals within groups, by co-operation and division of labor, is a factor that dominates natural selection. There arises from this a type of character that is necessary in the establishment of international relationships. The military demonstration of Germany with respect to dominance and absorption of other nations, and the justification of Prussian "Kultur," as something above law, is contrary to the whole current of social evolution. Little perception and comprehension of a moral relation existing between nations is found in such an obsession. The lesson lies in the conformity to natural laws with a moral and sympathetic comprehension of all humanity.-Maynard M. Métcalf, Inter-América, September, 1918. G. E. H.

The Great War and the Instinct of the Herd. Some of the outstanding features of the behavior of nations in the war are to be explained by reference to the instinct of gregariousness. The fact that a nation is a herd is none the less real because it

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is only dimly revealed in normal times. The recent war, then, was a conflict of herds, and it was to be expected that the usual and primary characteristics of the herd would be manifested. "First, then, the herd unites in the presence of danger.' Conspicuous examples of promptly uniting against danger are found in the North at the firing on Fort Sumter and in Russia at the invasion by the French in 1812. Thus the herd instinct is sufficient to explain the unity in the counties recently at war. "A second characteristic is its susceptibility to suggestion." This explains German atrocities when we reflect that war infinitely heightens susceptibility to suggestion and that German fury was fired at the very outset of the war by the reports purposely spread among the Germans by their newspapers that foreign spies had poisoned their rivers, infected. their water supply with cholera microbes and instigated the assassination of some of the more or less distinguished German citizens. "A third characteristic of the herd is its docility in the hands of leaders. . . . . In the light, of the susceptibility of a nation to suggestion, and its disposition almost blindly to follow its leaders, it is foolish to say, as some do, that nobody was responsible for the great war. We were all responsible more or less, perhaps unconsciously. But the responsibility lay primarily with those who willed it, and immediately with those who, because of their position, power, and prestige, were able to make their will effective."

It is true that this herd instinct is a strong factor in the preservation of a nation, and it is to be noted also that the tendency is toward the formation of larger and larger social groups. "But, be that as it may, and admitting the value of this instinct as a factor in group survival, it forms no satisfactory basis for a distant unity of nations, or for the unity of a nation of today. But while instinct is itself a product of evolution, it does not produce evolution. Blind instinctive social action of whatever kind is evidence of a low stage of development. Each nation therefore should strive, no matter what the exciting circumstances may be, to order its activities exactly as an intelligent individual controls the impulsive activities of his own life."-I. W. Howerth, International Journal of Ethics, January, 1919. H. F. S.

War and Family Solidarity.-Evidence gathered by correspondence with workers in the Home Service Section of the Red Cross is summed up and presented under six heads: (1) The unstable husband and father, who Canadian workers think is being made worse by the war while Americans perceive signs that he is being made better. (2) The danger of family disintegration is greater where the mother, rather than the father, is weak. "Where both have shown marked weaknesses there is always a chance that the wife will be able to do better away from the husband than with him." There are instances, however, in which the unstable wife in the absence of the husband has gone to pieces morally. Sometimes, a skilful rallying of better influences and associations has aided in the recovery of a sense of moral values and restoration of interest in her family. (3) In the case of those who were married not long before the husband's departure, the danger of his absence, before time-tested habits and traditions have been fully established in the new home, demands special attention. The coming of the first baby is likely to increase the young wife's tendency to nervousness and morbidity which call out all the courage she can summon. (4) For the unmarried soldier or sailor the war can easily mean postponed marriage and, in some cases, an acquired restlessness and loss of contentment with the quiet home life. However, the relation to mother is strengthened and proves in many cases to be the basis of increased pride and devotion-a real holding-point. (5) It is only when the stable and responsible head of the family is removed that the importance of the father is realized. The family, theretofore so dependent upon him, is at a loss to know which way to turn and the lack must be supplied as far as possible. "There is opportunity here not merely for service, but for stimulation of the power of self help. (6) The suggestions of what we can do now are best summed up in caring for the family, keeping them employed and keeping them in familiar touch with the absent member. The work of draft boards, of the War Risk Insurance Bureau and of the Red Cross is bringing to light weak spots in our marital and social relations which renew the call for removal of the inconsistencies from our marriage and divorce laws, for their intelligent administrations, and for denying the mentally unfit the privilege of propagating their kind.-Mary E. Richmond, Address before the Division on the Family of the National Conference of Social Work, May 21, 1918. Russell Sage Foundation. H. F. S.

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