The Principles of Sociology. By EDWARD ALSWORTH ROSS. New York: The Century Co., 1920. Pp. xviii+708. $4.00. The following observations are supplementary to a review of this work published by Dr. Small in the July number of the Journal. Professor Ross's book, so vivid and epigrammatic in style, so mature in its conclusions, so brilliant, so interesting, so original, must appeal to sociologists everywhere, as well those who study social structures as those who study social forces and processes. In this seven-hundredpage treatise, however, the author scarcely touches on anthropological topics, except in the chapters on the "Race Factor" and the "Influence of the Geographic Environment." If there is little anthropology in the volume, there is equally little history, i.e., historical summation setting forth the actual line of development followed by some custom, belief, or institution. Professor Ross, to be sure, has entire right to be more interested in present things than in past things; his work would not be so uniquely valuable if it were not so strictly "up-to-date." But no one must expect to find in it any such detailed exposition of the genesis and historical development of society as is contained in Spencer's three volumes or in Professor Gidding's Principles. There are many opportunities for expansion along anthropological lines, in case Professor Ross decides to add to the bulk of his book in future editions. The two chapters above noted are very brief and sketchy; yet it would be hard to mention any others equally important for the right understanding of human society. Especially does this seem true of racial subjects, which are likely to assume an ever larger place among contemporary questions. Very much more might be said, also, on the geographic background of social life, particularly to show how occupations and customs are affected by environmental conditions. A wide field of inquiry upon which Professor Ross does not enter is that of culture-criteria, classification, transmission, and development. Anthropologists just now seem to be more interested in this subject than in anything else, to judge from the stream of discussion in technical journals and from recent books by Professor Elliott Smith, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, Dr. R. H. Lowie, and others. Some topics which might profitably be expanded include: the discussion of the roots of the religious interest (pp. 54-55); social grouping (pp. 77-78); suicide (pp. 104–15), to present the evidence from primitive society; the rôle of the festival (pp. 398-400), about which sociologists have had far too little to say; and the origin of the state (pp. 617-19). ་ It may also be worth while to note here certain points which appear open to anthropological criticism. Professor Ross (pp. 59 ff.) uses the word "race" far too loosely, applying it now to the primary divisions of mankind, now to peoples, such as Frenchmen, Germans, etc., and now to the divisions of peoples, such as North Italians and South Italians. Again, does he not speak too assuredly (p. 60) concerning "veritable differences in race mind"? Compare pages 132 f., where national characteristics of Hindus, Greeks, Armenians, and other peoples are accounted for by purely social considerations. He accepts without question (pp. 77, 122) the time-honored theory of the universal priority of maternal kinship over paternal kinship in the evolution of the family; many anthropologists in good repute now definitely reject such a theory. The discussion (pp. 77-78) of the earliest social groupings might have profited by some consideration of the Lang-Atkinson hypothesis (now adopted by Mr. H. G. Wells), which resolves truly "primitive" society into isolated groups of females dominated in each case by an old male, much as herds of cattle are ruled. In the chapter on the "Genesis of Society" (pp. 86 ff.) the author has not sufficiently emphasized the distinction between the origin of various historic societies, concerning which fairly definite information is available, and the more general and more theoretical question of the origin of human society. The whole subject of human gregariousness and association needs to be thoroughly treated in the light of our present knowledge of anthropology. When Professor Ross has given us so much, it is somewhat ungracious to dwell on the lapses and lacunae almost inevitable in such a work of synthesis. The reviewer has read it with great interest and enjoyment, and he cordially acquiesces in Dr. Small's judgment that in this book sociology "has at last arrived." He would also express his approval of Professor Ross's thoroughly pragmatic and even utilitarian point of view, which was that of the founder of economics and socialized ethics-Adam Smith. It seems to the author of Principles of Sociology, as it seemed to the author of the Wealth of Nations, that social science should more and more influence the legislator, the reformer, the humanitarian, and the common man himself. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA HUTTON WEBSTER Health and Social Progress. By RUDOLPH M. BINDER. New York: We have grown familiar with attempts to explain history in terms of some one factor such as "race," "religion," and "climate." It has remained for the present author, who is professor of sociology at New York University, to emphasize health as the cornerstone of social welfare. This he has done, and done well, in this "A Non-Medical Book, Dedicated to the Medical Profession." Regardless of the reader's acceptance of the author's thesis he will be glad to have so many interesting and important facts put in convenient form. The volume opens with a general discussion of the relation of health to civilization in which the conclusion is reached that inasmuch as "progress is possible only with a surplus of vitality over the immediately necessary activities of life," we may state as a law of general development: "Individuals and societies develop in proportion to their growth in self-reliance; and this depends upon their ability to attain health with the resultant confidence in their ability to control nature and their own destiny." Then follows "Specific Cases of Health in Relation to Society," in which ancient Greece, Rome, and the Tropics are considered. Under the caption "Health and World-Progress" the author marshals his facts to show the necessity of attaining and maintaining health if civilization is to progress. In the last chapter, "Results and Prospects," the author describes the health program of The United Fruit Company and the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission. While all students have glimpsed the importance of health Dr. Binder has done a real service in stressing it and the volume will repay careful reading. CARL KELSEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA The College and the New America. By JAY WILLIAM HUDSON, PH.D. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1920. Pp. xi+202. $2.00. This book is a trumpet call to college and university teachers to recognize more fully their social obligations; and, as President Burton of Michigan has said, it should be read by every professor in America. The logical implication of the book would seem to be that all who enter the profession of college and university teaching should be trained in the social sciences, though the writer is careful to point out that specialists in these very sciences are not always fully alive to their social responsibilities. The specialists in the social sciences, he points out, cannot continue to hand over their responsibilities to a special group of men other than themselves a special group of "applied" social scientists. "If the body of knowledge embraced in the social sciences is to be rendered most of value to the world of concrete life, the experts themselves are best equipped to transform it into that value." The only reason why they do not do so is owing to that peculiar tradition which has grown up among college and university teachers which we call the "academic mind." That is the real source of the divorce between thought and practice, between the academic world and the actual social order, which we so often find. The remedy, of course, lies in the fuller recognition by academic men of their responsibility to the social order in which they live. The book is decidedly worth while, and it is to be hoped that it will be followed by many other studies of the relation of our system of higher education to our social life. It is to be regretted that Professor Hudson does not take up in detail certain vital points in this relation. It would have added to the value of the book, for example, if there had been a chapter discussing the responsibility of colleges and universities in training social and political leaders. Unfortunately, too, Professor Hudson seems to hold to a very narrow conception of what "education for citizenship" would mean and its place in our whole scheme of education. He speaks of it as a "limited ideal," though its leading exponents would hold it to be synonymous with that education for social efficiency, for general social and political intelligence, which the book seems to urge as the main function of the American college. In spite of such minor defects the book will be welcomed by all who are interested in the promotion of the social sciences in our colleges and in the socialization of our higher education, and especially because it is written, not by a professional social scientist, but by a philosopher. CHARLES A. ELLWOOD UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI The Principles of Education. By JESSE H. COURSAULT, PH.D. New York: Silver, Burdett & Company, 1920. Pp xii+468. $3.00. Dean Coursault has succeeded in producing a text in the philosophy of education which not only breaks with the conventional treatment of the subject, but which will be of interest to sociologists as well as educators. The book undertakes to synthesize the psychological and sociological approaches to the principles of education. It discusses, accordingly, first "the individual process," then "the social process," and finally "the educational process. Under the section on the social process there is a chapter devoted to the analysis of the social process, another to the function of social studies, and still another to social development. The point of view maintained is, moreover, that of control over the individual and social life-processes. Students of sociology will be especially interested in this attempt to rewrite the philosophy of education from the standpoint of social development. The book is well organized and the main principles are so simply and clearly developed that it should find a large use in colleges and normal schools as a text. If it does, it will certainly aid in the development of a socialized education. CHARLES A. ELLWOOD UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI Schooling of the Immigrant. By FRANK V. THOMPSON. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1920. Pp. 408. $2.00. Now that immigration has risen to its pre-war rate of a million a year, quite obviously serious and nation-wide measures need to be taken for the social assimilation of the immigrant. The problem has long been recognized, and particularly since 1914, but nowhere has it been solved. Even the best attempts at solution are not yet very promising. This volume, prepared under the auspices of the Carnegie Corporation, presents in systematic form the more suggestive attempts at solution which have been made throughout the country. There is attempt to discover the positive suggestions of value in these experiments, which may be incorporated in some ultimate successful composite plan; and also the shortcomings and failures of various attempts by way of making clear the nature of difficulties to be overcome. Public and private institutions of all kinds are carefully and critically analyzed by way of discovering their strengths and weaknesses in preparing for citizenship. There is also systematic treatment of specific matters such as methods of teaching English, the training of teachers, legislative enactments, the need of individualizing the training, the problems involved in training for citizenship, etc. Americanization workers will find in this volume innumerable facts and suggestions of value to them in planning and directing practical educational activities. It is specially effective in making clear the nature of the problems. FRANKLIN BOBBITT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO |