specialized adaptation of the early telescope to terrestrial observations, notes the movements in his microcosm and prophesies their results in the development of characters in the bodies of the next generation. The microscope has thus become a test instrument of all our theories of heredity and it is not too much to say that future improvement of the human stock may depend upon the degree and accuracy of our analysis of those microscopic bridges of protoplasm which connect parent and offspring.

Indeed it is a difficult matter to put any limits upon the influence which the microscope may have upon human welfare and happiness. Ignorance can be bliss only to those for whom reasoning holds no charm, and, such as they find existence bearing more heavily upon them as the world moves on.

There are those, of course, who see in this appeal to the realities of life a lowering of standards of thought. To such there is a charm in the naked contact of the mind with great problems, they have a sympathy, bordering upon devotion, with those peoples who sought a solution of the problems of existence through the method of abstract thought.

It has always seemed to me that such people take a very narrow view of life. In some way all of our understanding is based upon what comes to us through our senses. It may be that many of those things which we evolve from our inner consciousness show no immediate relation to sense impressions, but they are certainly the result of some action through the senses upon our material substance. We are such a reservoir as it were, of the sense impressions of our ancestors, near and remote, that we can never dissociate our minds from reality and truthfully speak of abstract conceptions. The best the mind can do is to project itself somewhat beyond the point of material contact and to infer the natural course of events. But by the mere comprehension of the substance within which these mental processes occur there is opened up the prospect of an objective analysis of the conditions of thought.

Here again the microscope must be our dependence. We examine the brain and find it made up of nerve cells and fibers.

By many means we connect the function of thought with the cells. These are found to be proportionate in number to the mental stature of the individual, they are traced in their development and found to correspond in time of their differentiation to the appearance of definite reactions of the body; some groups are experimentally connected with the performance of certain mental acts, and finally within the cells discrete parts are found to decrease with mental activity. In other words, a precise connection is established between material change and thought. It is, in truth, a mere beginning, but of most fundamental importance. We have reached a state where mind can look in upon itself and perceive something of the objective nature of its processes. Who can say where such a study will lead us-who would dare put a limit to the analysis of the processes of thought?

The significance of such enquiries into the nature of mental operations can not be overestimated. By all our studies we are convinced that the human mind is the culmination of a progressive series of evolutionary steps, leading from a very simple brain up to the exceedingly complex organ within which our thinking is done. This marvelous structure, however, shows nothing that is strictly unique, but only a greater development and refinement of simpler elements in lower forms. But apparently it has led to a new situation, for through this instrumentality, a product of the evolutionary forces is able to look back upon the steps of its past history and to comprehend, in some measure, the nature and meaning of these. It conceives an instrument for the enlargement of its perceptions and turns this upon itself for the purpose of self analysis. The mind here does not practice thought to perfect itself in the act of thinking but subjects its operative mechanism to objective study. When this can be done thoroughly the result will be that we can say: A certain change in the substance of a cell is followed by a definite process of thought, by experiment it is found that a given procedure facilitates the extent and character of this substance and so renders easier and more exact its form of action.

Let us suppose that by the microscopical study of the brains of men gifted with constructive imaginations of high order we discovered the material basis of this faculty in the cells and learned how to increase or strengthen it. In time there would be produced men who could more fully comprehend the course of evolutionary processes until finally there would be those capable of consciously directing them. We hear much of the superman, but little of his method of coming into being. It is generally supposed that he will fortuitously happen into existence, or that ordinary man, merely by taking thought unto himself, may rise to heights of superexcellence. A calm dispassionate study of the past history of living things shows very clearly that the measure of progress upward is the development of the brain. Man stands at the top of the series, comparatively weak in many ways, but incomparably strong in the possession of a brain by which he more fully comprehends the nature and relation of things. Because of this he commands, or will command, all other creatures; and because he is capable of producing instruments which immeasurably enlarge his native powers, he may hope to gain a much fuller control of his environment.

Important as this is, however, it is much more necessary that he come to an understanding of his own inherent nature. For many centuries he has sought to do this by empirical means, trying every plan that suggested itself. Notable progress has been made, and this method is still our main reliance, but it has demonstrated very clear limitations and no very great advance in the understanding of the human mind and its processes by this means has been made in recent times. This so impresses some of our thinkers that they constantly urge the study of the classical authorities as the only way of maintaining even their standard. But such a view disregards our new methods of acquiring a more exact knowledge of the material basis of our life processes. So long as the mind had only its unaided senses with which to gain experience its progress was necessarily restricted, but with a new eye through which to regard itself and external objects there is nothing yet to indicate any limitations to its advance in understanding.

By the use of the microscope we have penetrated into the mystery of heredity and now perceive much of the character and operation of its processes. Also by the use of the microscope we have learned something of the mechanism of thought so that we may hope, by further refinements of method and study, to control and develop its higher manifestations. When we shall have arrived at such a stage that we can recognize and select the best type of brain and can hand it on to future generations for further development, through an understanding of the methods of heredity, we may hope for an advance in the native character of the human mind-something that has made slow progress through historical time. Eventually there will be developed a type of mind capable of understanding and of directing, in some consistent manner, the further evolutionary processes. It is no wild imagining to predict this because it merely carries forward a line of development upon which we are already entered. The hope of a better and mightier race lies distinctly in this direction and not through a reworking and restudy of the accomplishments of former civilizations.

It is with this thought in mind that I have asked you to consider with me this afternoon the instrument upon which so much will depend in this future progress. In itself it is mighty and fully worthy of your serious thought, and it is moreover, a symbol of an altered method of arriving at a conception of Nature and of our place in it. Regarded in this way it must have an interest for any one concerned with the larger things of life. Nothing surely can touch the imagination more strongly than to think of having a conscious part in the unfolding of the great plan of things wherein we find ourselves involved. Toward such an end we may confidently look, and as a means of reaching it, our dependence is largely in such products of the mind as the modern microscope.

GOVERNMENTAL PROVISION FOR THE FAMILIES

OF SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

BY CARL KELSEY

Professor of Sociology

When it became evident that the United States would be drawn into the war and would have to build up an enormous army, the question of the arrangements which could be made on behalf of the dependents of the men in service became extremely important. Inasmuch as it was proposed to raise the army by a draft, it was recognized that all classes of people would be affected. In view of the experiences of the government with reference to pensions after the Civil War, which amounted to a sum deemed absolutely impossible by those who introduced the system, it was sought to devise some scheme which would meet any situation that might subsequently arise. Furthermore, it was believed that the war into which the United States was entering would be relatively short.

Prior to our entrance into the war, the government had devised a scheme of insurance on boats and cargoes. It was easy, therefore, to amalgamate with this a plan for the care of the soldiers and their families under the general title of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. We are not here concerned with the operation of the insurance on boats and cargoes, so nothing further will be said about it.

As devised, the plan of the government may be divided into three parts:

1. Allotment and Allowance.

2. Compensation.

3. Insurance.

These will be considered in detail.

(1) Allotment.-The term "allotment" is used to describe that part of the pay of the enlisted man which he requests sent