Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/514

502 the appalling severity of mediaeval authorities, and the educative methods of Elmira Reformatory are manifestations of the conceptions of crime and criminals held at the various stages of culture.

Rightly does the author insist on the fact that the phenomena of crime and of punishment cannot be understood apart from the general social states in which they are found. Each special physical and social science is called upon to furnish elements in the solution of the difficulty. Only when these special sciences have reached a certain stage of development, and only when we have succeeded in coordinating the results of such particular studies, are we in the way of securing the most rational treatment of crime and criminals. The necessity for a social science is clearly seen and abundantly illustrated, and the relation of social pathology to the subject is distinctly pointed out.

Among the most attractive passages are those which deal with the Elmira Reformatory and with the indeterminate sentence. The estimate of the really scientific results of "criminal anthropology" is marked by strong common sense and indicates careful study of the Italian writers, although the treatment is very brief.

The function of prison labor in the process of reformation is so well stated that one wishes the author would contribute a book to the economical, political and educational factors in the question. It may seem strange that the man who conducted the statistical inquiries of the United States in this field should make so few allusions to statistics. What he does say arouses an appetite for more reasoning of the same quality.

The explanation of the transition from the transportation system to the penitentiary system in England is an excellent piece of historical interpretation, and has a practical value in view of the occasional proposition to make Alaska a penal colony.

It is to be hoped that Dr. Wines will be able to expand this book into a discussion of the subject which shall be monumental and at the same time serve the interests of science and practice in America. The present book is better suited to its particular purpose than a larger work, but special students will be asking for more detailed treatment of many of the points raised.

If prison wardens and chaplains could have these chapters read and discussed in classes of the prison subordinate officials, they would help many a prisoner to a better life, and would themselves be enabled to perform a higher service. Tracts might be collated out