He was one of the founders of the new university in Brussels, where he taught philosophy and sociology. His sociological works included a two-volume Introduction à la sociologie, 1886-89; Sociologie générale élémentaire, 1895; L'évolution des croyances et des doctrines politiques, 1895; Le transformisme social, 1900; Les lois sociologiques, 1902; La sociologie économique, 1904; Sociologie, la structure générale des sociétés (3 vols.), 1908. In 1900 he was elected president of l'Institut international de sociologie. The Sociological Society of London.-The Conference on Living Religions within the Empire at Wembley from September 22 to October 3 was arranged in co-operation with the School of Oriental Studies. It is proposed to publish the transactions of the Conference in two volumes, the first to contain the papers on "The Sociological Aspects of Religion," by Sir Francis Younghusband, Professor Fleure, Professor Geddes, Professor J. Arthur Thomson, Mrs. Rachel A. Taylor, Mr. Victor Branford, Mr. Christopher Dawson, and Mr. Loftus Hare, and the second to be devoted to religious papers on Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Parseeism, the Ahmadiyya movement, the Bahahi cause, the Brahmo Samai, Arya Samaj, and some of the primitive forms of belief. Mrs. McKillop has succeeded Miss D. C. Loch, who resigned as secretary of the Sociological Society. Columbia University.-Professor Ernest R. Groves, of Boston University, is to give at the summer session, Teachers College, Columbia, two courses on the home: "Social Conditions Influencing Home Life" and a research course in problems of the modern home. Michigan Agricultural College.-Dr. Kenyon L. Butterfield has resigned the presidency of the Massachusetts Agricultural College to accept the place as president of this institution. President Butterfield has been for years a leader in the field of rural sociology and is now the president of the American Country Life Association. University of Missouri.-D. Appleton and Company announce the publication of the fourth revised edition of Professor Charles A. Ellwood's Sociology and Modern Social Problems. A German translation of "The Social Problem: A Reconstructive Analysis" by Professor Charles A. Ellwood, will be published February 1, in Germany under the title "Unsere Kulturkrise, ihre Ursachen und Heiltmitel." The publisher is W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart. Oberlin College.-Professor Newell L. Sims, head of the department of sociology, has a new book entitled Society and Its Surplus, a Study in Social Evolution just off the press of D. Appleton and Company, New York City. The department of sociology here has at its disposal a unique endowment known as the "Jerome D. Davis Fund." The income of this gift of Mr. Davis and others is used to encourage first-hand study of labor conditions. Students qualifying for the prize must enrol in the department of sociology, and must spend a summer's vacation as actual laborers in the occupation studied. The prize is being offered for the first time this year. Randolph Macon Women's College.-Mr. Harold A. Logan, of the University of Chicago, has been appointed professor of economics and sociology. Texas Christian University.-Dr. Cloice R. Howd, formerly acting associate professor of economics and sociology at Franklin College, has accepted appointment to a professorship in economics and sociology. REVIEWS The Writings of Mankind. Edited by CHARLES H. SYLVESTER. Chicago: Bellews-Reeve Co., 1924. 20 vols. $93.50; sold by subscription. The comparative student of culture will find a mine of information in these volumes. They are selections from the writings of all ages and all nations with extensive historical notes, comments, and criticisms. The selections have been so made as to illustrate the customs, character, arts, philosophies, and religions of the nations which have contributed most to civilization. The work opens with a brief survey of the literature of the Oriental nations, especially India, China, and Japan. The bulk of the work, however, is taken up with selections from the literatures of European peoples, though, properly enough, only three volumes are devoted to English and American literature. This is a popular work, the wide circulation of which would do much to overcome the provincialism of our people. It is still a prevalent superstition with us that worth-while literature is confined to a few leading European nations. These books will help the average American to understand the culture of the non-English-speaking world. A corps of able advisers have made the work more valuable than collections of its class. The editor has been careful to give the historical and social setting of practically all the selections. It should be added that the work is handsomely bound and well illustrated. UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI CHARLES A. ELLWOOD The Mystery of Religion: A Study in Social Psychology. By EVERETT DEAN MARTIN. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1924. Pp. 383. $3.00. Psychology of Religious Experience: Studies in the Psychological Interpretation of Religious Faith. By FRANCIS L. STRICKLAND. New York: The Abingdon Press, 1924. Pp. 314. $2.00. Both books are characterized by a concern for the practical interests of religion. Both are skeptical as to the ability of behavioristic psychology to get into the secrets of religion. Professor Strickland confessedly is interested in promoting Christian pedagogy and worship. To this end he restates and shows the practical value of the work of such scholars as Coe and Pratt. This practical interest is carried through in orthodox, evangelical terms. There is no first-hand contribution to the psychology of religion. After chapters on the nature of religious experience and the method of psychology discussion is given to the phenomena of childhood, adolescence, conversion, the subconscious, faith, worship, mysticism, and immortality. The Mystery of Religion does not attempt to deal with so great a range of phenomena or in so conventional a manner, but limits itself to the discussion of religion as a mystery which expresses itself in symbolism arising from the unconscious. The method of psychopathology made familiar by the Freudians is employed for its interpretation. Religion is thus classed with art and dreams. Its function is not practical or directive, but rather that of a means of escape from reality. It is not itself abnormal, but the study of abnormal phenomena aids in understanding it. The author does not indicate acquaintance with recent criticism of the Freudian analysis, but displays the utmost confidence in the method. Some of the extensive quotations which he makes might serve as illustrations of the extremely conjectural character of these interpretations: for example, the comparison from Brill between the compulsive actions of neurotics and religious rituals, on page 286. But the inquiry is suggestive and need not be spurned because in some instances it is evidently overworked. The book contains much real insight. It rightly views religion as the unconscious unfolding of the hidden wishes of the masses of men. It is a product of the vulgus and not an imposition of priests or rulers for their own power and security. It is not the work of the intellectuals, and intellectualism in the form of liberalism becomes empty and barren. Every great religion, however, has had its intellectuals who become an esoteric group within the deeper culture of a race. The point of the book seems to be the justification of such esoteric thinking, while at the same time seeking to make it sympathetic with religion by recognizing that religion is essentially a mystery born in the emotional dream-life of the race. In order to achieve this end, the symbolism must be understood for what it is and explained without explaining it away. Some symbols are directive and practical, like the map of our country, while others are emotional in their value, like the flag. The latter arise from free association and are expressive of inner wishes. These may be viewed as survivals of infantile emotional interests. The very terms in which they are pre sented indicate this. The notions of birth and rebirth, of the father and the family, so common in all faiths, are illustrations. By means of these notions religion leads men out of their inferiority complexes of the consciousness of sin and condemnation, into the feeling of redemption and salvation. Religion does not create moral values but it ceremonializes the values which develop in the natural relations of life. It creates above the real world a spiritual retreat. The only question is whether such a development of religion shall include and comprehend the higher cultural ideals of a time like the present, or whether it shall become a revolt on the part of the ignorant masses against the discoveries of science and the fruits of our new social order. A revival of religion seems by some signs to be imminent. The question is whether it shall be destructive of the achievements of the best souls among us or whether it shall enhance and cherish their creations. The answer depends on relating the powerful forces of the mystical elements of the unconscious to the highest values of the noblest men. "The spiritual 'revival' which the world needs is an awakening in which those who are capable of self-criticism, and of appreciating the values of civilization, find themselves and one another, and perform the task which such as they have carried on in every age" (p. 381). UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO E. S. AMES Human Origins: A Manual of Prehistory. By GEORGE GRANT The announced intention of these two volumes is to tell the whole story of man from the beginnings of the Old Stone Age to the dawn of recorded history. Seldom is an author so well prepared to undertake an important study. For more than twenty-five years Dr. MacCurdy has served as teacher and museum curator at Yale University; for twenty years he has been a field worker in European archaeology; he has written many papers dealing with various phases of this subject; and since 1921 has been director of the American School of Prehistoric Research in Europe. He is thus able to present the viewpoint of the specialist while having in mind the needs of teacher and student. In the first chapters we are given a clear presentation of the methods of establishing the chronology of prehistory, and the reliance of archaeology on geology and paleontology. It is in this field that Dr. |