Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 15.djvu/287

This page needs to be proofread.

NEW BOOKS. 273 Psychology : An Exposition in Popular Form, Designed for the Use of Students and of Readers in General. By ALFRED COOK, Ph.D. New York : Hinds, Noble and Eldredge. The quality of this book may be illustrated by the quotation of its first paragraph : " It is a curious fact that we exist on this earth as part mind and part body, a fact not sufficiently taken into account. More curious still, the body is a machine of the mind by means of which the mind has sensations. What, then, are sensations ? Nervous tinglings in the mind whereby it has intimations of things." The most striking feature of the book is the number of platitudinous remarks and illus- trations, e.g., "If we try to accomplish too much, like the boy who put his hand into the jar of filberts and grasped so many that he could not get it out, we accomplish nothing. It is known that if one learn but five words a day he will in two years learn three thousand," or again, " Learning a vocabulary is like going over a mountain step by step we approach the other side, but we cannot jump over the mountain ". The author is not content to attempt to expound the accepted doctrines, he aspires to originality, e.g., he bases his chapter on memory on the great principle of multiplicity, the principle that " it is harder for us to re- member many things than a few," apparently regarded as a new discovery of some importance. It is to be hoped that no one will be so misguided as to spend his time over this book when so many infinitely better books on psychology are in the market. W. McD. Congres International de Philosophic, 2me Session, Tenue a Geneve du 4 au 8 Septembre, 1904. Rapports et Comptes Rendus. Publics par les soins du Dr. ED. CLAPARfeDE, Secretaire General du Congres. Avec 17 figures et 5 portraits hors texte. Geneve : Henry Kiindig ; London : Williams & Norgate, 1905. Pp. vii, 974. It must suffice to give here an indication of the varied and valuable con- tents of this large volume, which contains all the papers, except four, actually read at the Congress, and, in addition, some half-dozen written for it but not actually delivered. The opening address by Prof. J. J. Gourd, the President, was followed by one from the honorary President, Prof. E. Naville, who selected as the abiding problem of Philosophy the one formulated by Aristotle : how to admit the plurality given by the senses along with the unity conceived by the reason. Under the heading " Seances Generates " we have the following papers with an indication of the discussion which followed them : Prof. Boutroux, " R61e de 1'histoire de la philosophic dans 1'etude de la philosophic ". The study of the history of philosophy may awaken philosophic ability, and teaches the individual to unite his thinking with universal thought. Prof. Ludwig Stein, " Was heisst Philosophic ? " It has to discover and systematically present that unity of nature and spirit of which other sciences have only a partial insight. Prof. J. J. Gourd, " La definition de la philosophic ". Prof. Windelband, " Die gegenwartige Aufgabe der Logik und Erkennt- nislehre in Bezug auf Natur- und Kulturwissenschaft ". Increasing importance of the science of history. History is only possible as a science if there are universally valid values which contain the ground for the selection and synthesis of facts. Prof. Vilfredo Pareto, " L'in- dividuel et le social ". Prof. J. Eeinke, " Der Neovitalismus und die Finalitat in der Biologic ". What Mechanism proclaims as a dogma is to