Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/723

 REVIEWS 709

a certain autonomy — as noviciate, betrothal. This interpretation permits one to easily orientate himself, for example, in the complication of the rites pr€liminary to marriage and to comprehend the raison d'etre of their se- quences.

A third point, finally, which appears to me important is the identification of passage through different social situations with material passage such as at the entrance into a village or a house, from one room to another, across the street or from place to place. This is why, so often, to pass from one age, from one class, etc., is ritually expressed by passage under a portal, or by "an opening of doors." This is but rarely a simple "symbol;" for the half-civilized the ideal passage is properly a material passage. In fact, among the half-civilized, according to the usual social organization, there is a material separation of the special groupings. The children, up to a certain age, live with the women; boys and girls live apart from married persons, at times in a special house or quarter, or a special kraal; after the marriage, one or other of the couple, if not both, change dwelling; .... In brief, the change in social category implies a change of domicile, a fact which is expressed by the passage rites under their various forms.

Frederick Starr

Cyrus Hall McCormick: His Life and Work. By Herbert N. Casson. Chicago : A. C. McClurg-, 1909. Pp. 264.

This volume offers an important contribution to sociology and economics; also to social psychology. It illustrates the depend- ence of civilization on the food supply, and at the same time brings out the importance of inventive genius in raising the food situa- tion and general culture to a higher level. When we consider that the swiftest mill in Athens in the time of Pericles produced no more than two barrels of flour a day, while one American mill fills 17,000 barrels daily, and further that Mr. McCormick's reaper is responsible for the increased supply of wheat, we can agfree that the reaper has a significance in industry comparable to a mutation in species.

The volume is not only charmingly written, but contains de- tails not otherwise available on the relation of the development of an idea to the growth of a nation. It is also a desirable and suitable book to place in the hands of the boy — infinitely more suit- able than the detective stories of Conan Doyle.

W. I. T.