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Observe uncivilized persons of the torrid zone. The fact that they are lazy has its natural cause. With them impressions come and go without arriving at associative or even thought relation with contemporary and past experiences. This poverty of associations in great warmth, i. e., the fact that an impression does not recall all the relations attaching themselves at a normal temperature to it in earlier

experiences, is very important. As it explains to us the slight mental development of the inhabitants of the tropics, their thoughtfulness and feeble power of imagination, it enables us also to understand that aversion to all thinking is revealed, further, in a certain one-sidedness of our known conduct in heat; avoidance of

so characteristic of the "sweaters." Its reach

complex impressions, antipathy to combinations. At the same time, the suggestibility of the individual also increases. He is more open to external influences than usual; decides and acts on the spur of the moment, though little satisfaction befall his convictions and deep laid plans. the ener

"Most favorable for the progress, gy and fruitfulness of the psychic life," says this writer in conclusion, "is a moderately warm temperature, a temperature of which we are not especially conscious save by expressly directing our attention to it; one, finally, that comes near to our organism's own temperature."

CELLULAR ACTIVITY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

PHYSIOLOGY has demonstrated that the nervous system dominates the whole human organism. All the mechanics of life are controlled by it, and all the forms of activity of the mind are expressions of its energy. During the past decade an almost incredible amount of investigation of the structure and mode of action of the nervous system has been carried on, but without securing results to correspond with the effort made. To-day, in the foreground of scientific interest, stands the question of the processes that go on in the elements making up the nervous system, especially the processes by which stimuli are conducted along the nerve fibers.

This subject is reviewed in the last number of the Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Physiologie (Jena).

ing others. In addition to this the ganglion cells are the seat of special nerve processes.

The vital activities of these cells induce chemical changes that in the case of excessive activity may cause the accumulation of the products of metabolism, which produces a paralysis of the cell and results in fatigue, or there may be loss of energy through lack of nutrition, that produces exhaustion.

It is well known that the number of ganglion cells in the nervous system does not increase after birth, but the individual cells grow larger under the influence of their functional stimulí. The importance of the rôle played by these stimuli in the development of the cells was shown by some experiments made upon kittens and puppies whose eyelids were sewed together and never allowed to open, so that the effect of withdrawing the stimulus of light could be observed upon the nerve cells of the visual center in the brain.

Our impressions are received as stimuli which in some way are conducted along the nerve fibers, and in the nervous system are interpreted as the sensations that make up all Subsequent examination of these brains. our knowledge of the outside world. The showed that this group of cells had not defirst step toward finding out what takes place veloped as it does under normal conditions. was to untangle the apparently inextricable Another proof of this relation between stimnetwork of cells and fibers that make up the ulus and growth is shown by the fact that central nervous system. The network has the cells of the spinal cord which are conbeen partially resolved into an orderly sys- cerned in the movements of the muscles of tem of elements, among which at least some the leg atrophy after the cessation of motor important groups of cells and their connec- impulses that follows amputation of the leg. tions have been clearly demonstrated. Of As for the processes in the nerve fiber, it the two kinds of structures,-ganglion cells is apparent, from the characteristic results, and fibers, that make up the system, the nerve fibers serve as conducting tracts, while at definite points along these tracts are stationed the ganglion cells, which not only control the passage of impulses over the fibers, but sort them out, transmitting some and inhibit

that the electric stream plays an important part in their activities, but the mode of action is not known. It is not a simple physical process, but there is change in the nerve matter itself, in which the consumption of oxygen is of fundamental importance.

THE NEW BOOKS.

NOTES ON RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.

The Hon. Theodore E. Burton, member of Congress from Ohio, has contributed to the American Statesmen" series (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), a life of John Sherman. Mr. Burton, from his long service in the House of Representatives and his special familiarity with Ohio politics, is peculiarly qualified to form a wise and just estimate of the public services rendered by Mr. Sherman during a period of more than forty-three years. The resumption of specie payments in 1879 was the one achievement with which Mr. Sherman's fame as a statesman has been permanently associated. His name has gone down to history as that of the greatest Secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton. Appreciation of that one service, however, should not blind us to other important achievements in Mr. Sherman's long and varied public career. It has been Mr. Burton's task to review all of these and to point out their true significance.

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It was to be expected that the year which marks the centenary of General Robert E. Lee's birth should be signalized by the publication of appreciations and reminiscences of the great Confederate leader. The first of these to make its appearance is a volume entitled "General Lee: His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861-1865, with Personal Reminiscences (Norfolk: Nusbaum Book & News Company), by Col. Walter H. Taylor, who served on General Lee's staff from the beginning of the war to the surrender at Appomattox, first as aide de camp and later as adjutant-general. These memoirs by Colonel Taylor form an invaluable addition to the rapidly growing list of tributes to General Lee by his old officers and fellow-soldiers.

Another Confederate hero is commemorated in "The Life and Services of John Newland Maffitt," by Emma Martin Maffitt (Washington: The Neale Publishing Company). Captain Maffitt was a daring naval officer and blockade runner during the Civil War. It is said that as commander of the Florida, in 1862-'63, he captured and destroyed more than $5,000,000 worth of federal property. Captain Maffitt was born at sea, was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy in 1832, and for thirty-five years he sailed upon all the oceans.

"The Life of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd," who was Imprisoned for years in Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas Island, for alleged complicity in the assassination of President Lincoln, has been compiled by his daughter and is now published, with a preface by D. Eldridge Monroe of the Baltimore bar, by the Neale Publishing Company of Washington. Dr. Mudd was the physician who set John Wilkes Booth's leg during his flight into Maryland after the assassination. His family have sought to remove the stigma that was put upon his name by the military court that tried the alleged conspirator. Dr. Mudd's letters and a number of statements by his relatives and

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fighting qualities of this famous band of rangers will be interested in the record of their daring deeds as set forth by one of their own number.

Alexander Wilson, the Scotch naturalist who shares with Audubon the honor of having laid the foundations in America of the science of ornithology, is the subject of an interesting memoir by Prof. James S. Wilson, of the College of William and Mary (Washington: The Neale Publishing Company). Wilson was a poet as well as a naturalist, and several of his poems are appended to the present volume. It was in his correspondence with Wilson that Jefferson developed his interest in views upon bird life.

This volume gives many indications of the high scientific rank attained by this Scotch weaver after his migration to the New World. The author concludes with an analysis of Wilson's poetry.

Dr. Amos S. Hershey's "International Law and Diplomacy of the Russo-Japanese War" (Macmillan) is a particularly useful volume. Dr. Hershey, who, it will be remembered, is pro

effort to abolish tuberculosis, and in like undertakings, that we may hope for the final extinguishment of the war passion of nations. This newer humanitarianism, bold and courageous, will at last engulf the war spirit in its onward progress. It is in the adjustment of our morality and creeds to our present social and industrial developments that we may hope for the real uplifting of the race. These ideas are illustrated and amplified by Miss Addams in chapters on industrial legislation, group morality, the protection of children, and the passing of the war virtues. On the whole, Miss Addams has given us a presentation of the peace argument from a wholly new point of view.

Secretary Taft's Yale lectures on the responsibilities of citizenship are published by the Scribners under the title "Four Aspects of Civic Duty." Secretary Taft in his own personal experience has had to look at public matters from the four points of view of the university graduate, the judge on the bench, the colonial administrator, and the head of an executive department. In his Yale lectures he approaches his topic from these several points of view in succession.

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PROF. AMOS S. HERSHEY.

fessor of political science and international law in Indiana University, has made a special study of the diplomatic gain of recent armed conflicts between great powers. The work in question is a fairly complete history, from the viewpoint of international law and diplomacy, of the war between Japan and Russia. The material is cast in a general narrative form, although each chapter is more or less complete by itself. The rights and duties of belligerents and neutrals are, of course, the main theme, although the questions of war correspondents, wireless telegraphy, and submarine mines come in for treatment. Copious notes and explanatory references, and, last but not least, an excellent index, make the contents of the volume very accessible.

ON "AMERICAN PROBLEMS."

Among the half-dozen recently published books dealing particularly with American problems of the day, the volume on "Newer Ideals of Peace," by Jane Addams, in the Citizen's Library (Macmillan), is one of the most thoughtful and inspiring. The ideals presented by Miss Addams may well be called "newer" in contrast to the nerveless peace propaganda of past decades, for the arguments to which Miss Addams gives expression are aggressive and positive in the highest degree. It is in the phenomenon called by Miss Addams the substitution of nurture for warfare, as instanced in the international

ROBERT P. PORTER.

trading is an undesirable element in state and local government and a menace to progress and to society. This volume by Mr. Porter will attract attention, since it is practically the first popular presentation of that side of the discussion. Mr. Porter is a trained investigator and statistician, and presents his case in an attractive and entertaining way.

In "American Problems" (Longmans), President James H. Baker, of the University of Colorado, presents a number of essays and addresses depicting American ideals and discussing problems of sociology and education.

Mr. Harold Bolce, whose graphic, trenchant articles in a number of the monthly magazines

HAROLD BOLCE.

recently have called attention to his picturesque and vigorous grasp of international problems, has written "The New Internationalism," which is brought out by the Appletons. Mr. Bolce's theme is the "financial and commercial amalgamation of the nations."

An important monograph in the "Harvard Economic Studies" (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) is entitled "The Lodging-House Problem in Boston." The author, Prof. Albert Benedict Wolfe, of Oberlin College, collected the material during a residence of two years as Harvard fellow at the South End House. Perhaps in ordinary American usage the term "lodging-house is applied more often than otherwise to the institution known in New York as typical of the Bowery. Dr. Wolfe's treatise deals with the class of dwellings that are known in many cities as rooming-houses or furnishedroom houses, and with the mercantile employees and skilled mechanics who are sheltered in these houses. Oddly enough, it appears that there has never been, heretofore, anything like an adequate investigation of lodging-house conditions in any of our great cities. Dr. Wolfe has gone into the subject very thoroughly, studying the economic and social causes producing this great class of roomers," and also analyzing the structure and evolution of the lodging-house district in Boston. Several chapters are devoted to the characteristics of the lodger and the hygienic and moral problems involved in lodging-house life.

66

Volume VII. of the Proceedings of the Con

gress of Arts and Science at the Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904 (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), is devoted to economics, politics, jurisprudence, and social science. Many papers of permanent value on specific topics in these general departments are presented in this volume, which is well supplied with bibliographical aids to the student and general reader. A useful feature of the publication is the brief biographical sketch of each contributor which is presented at the head of his paper.

BUSINESS AND ITS PUBLIC ASPECTS.

"The Investments of Life Insurance Companies," by Lester W. Zartman (Holt), is a work that has an important bearing on the solution of some of the problems that have been conspicuously before the public during the past two years. The question of the improper use of life-insurance funds having been fully investigated by the New York legislative committee, Mr. Zartman lays little emphasis in his book upon that phase of the subject, but devotes most of his attention to the beneficent influences which life-insurance accumulations have exercised upon the economic development of the country, and the relation of these accumulations to social welfare. There is much information in his book concerning the character and cost of insurance investments.

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Mr. Franklin Pierce, of the New York bar, attempts to show in The Tariff and the Trusts (Macmillan) how the Dingley tariff has been the direct cause of the rise and growth of hundreds of oppressive capitalistic combinations. In the course of his argument he institutes comparisons with foreign governments and deduces many illustrations from the tariff history of those countries, particularly England and Germany.

A compilation defining and describing "Modern Business Corporations," by William Allen Wood, of the Indianapolis bar, has been brought out by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. This includes a discussion of the organization and management of private corporations, with financial principles and practices.

"The Federal Power Over Carriers and Corporations," by E. Parmalee Prentic (Macmillan), deals with the nature and extent of powers belonging to the general Government, and not with Congressional legislation. This work does, however, consider at length the so-called. Sherman Anti-Trust law of 1890.

A timely little book by R. C. Richards, the General Claim Agent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, is devoted to the subject of "Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and Prevention." Mr. Richards, who is himself an experienced railroad man, adds his testimony to the general consensus of expert opinion that under present conditions it is the man, not the safety appliance, that must be depended upon to prevent railroad accidents.

A timely little book is Prof. J. W. Jenks' "Great Fortunes: The Winning and the Using" (McClure, Phillips & Co.). This is a calm and sane discussion of the ethical principles involved in the exploitation and control of wealth, and contains helpful suggestions regarding the utilization of great fortunes for public purposes.

In "The Pitfalls of Speculation" (New York: The Moody Corporation, 35 Nassau street) Mr.

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Thomas Gibson deals with marginal speculation and analyzes the causes of many failures, with a suggestion as to the remedies. Mr. Gibson maintains that more fallacies, superstitions, and distorted logic are connected with speculation than with any other business on earth." Careful study and a clear understanding of the machinery of the exchanges will, he holds, correct many of the errors now so commonly made.

Credit and Its Uses," by William A. Prendergast (Appletons), is an attempt to demonstrate the all-powerful influence of credit, to explain the principles involved, and to show how the practical application of credit to mercantile life depends upon a correct knowledge and observance of those principles.

OF MILITARY INTEREST.

In a comprehensive survey, which takes up 568 pages of a new volume just brought out by the Duttons, the Rt. Hon. H. O. Arnold-Forster, M. P., considers "The British Army in 1906,A Policy and a Vindication." For nearly thirty years Mr. Arnold-Forster has been an interested student of military questions, in more or less touch with army conditions in England and other European countries, particularly during the South African War. In 1903 he became Secretary of State for War, serving for more than a year in that capacity. His discussion of the military forces of the British Empire, therefore, has the weight of authority.

A valuable footnote to the history of the South African War and the reconstruction period immediately following is W. Basil Worsfold's "Lord Milner's Work in South Africa" (Dutton). The volume, which is illustrated with portraits and maps, contains a good deal of hitherto unpublished information throwing light on the official labors of Lord Milner in South Africa from 1897 to 1902.

"The Book of the V. C." (Dutton) is an il

lustrated record of the deeds of heroism for which the Victoria Cross has been bestowed from its institution in 1857 to the present time, compiled from official sources by A. L. Haydon, author of "With Pizarro, the Conquistador."

The standard German work on "Cavalry in Future Wars," by Lieut.-Gen. Frederick von Bernhardi (commander of the Seventh Division of the German Army), has been translated by Charles Sidney Goldman and published by Dutton, with an introduction by the British Lieut.Gen. Sir John French, K. C. M. G., K. C. B., G. C. V. Ŏ.

In "The Enemy at Trafalgar" (Dutton) Edward Fraser, author of "Famous Fighters of the Fleet," has given an illustrated account of this world-famous battle from the narratives of eye-witnesses and letters and dispatches from the French and Spanish fleets. In the preface, Mr. Fraser gives generous credit to the French and Spanish commanders and stoutly maintains that a proper tribute to the gallantry of Nelson's foes in this engagement will only serve to add to the glory of the great sailor who won the battle. DESCRIPTIVE OF COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES. A handsome descriptive work on the artistic and historic charms of southern France is the two-volume Cathedrals and Cloisters of the South of France" (Putnam), .by Elise Whitlock Rose, with illustrations from original photographs by Vida Hunt Francis.

In two elaborately pictured volumes Mr. George Wharton James describes "The Wonders of the Colorado Desert (southern California) " (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.). Mr. James, as our readers are well aware, has written often and entertainingly on the great Southwest, and long sojournings in that region have brought him into close touch with the subject. For the illustration of the present work, in addition to the full-page illustrations from photographs, there

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(Illustration in Fraser's "The Enemy at Trafalgar," after the painting by T. Whitcombe.)

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