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growth of society, whereas the child in the relations enumerated was merely, in common with other objects, associated with this or that superstition. The great influence of the child in culture does not lie in this direction, but in the modification wrought by its presence on the affective nature and the forms of activity of the parent. The volume displays very well the status of the child in the thought of different races, but it would have been a very acceptable service if the author had constructed more conclusions from the materials which his admirable knowledge has enabled him to bring together even at a sacrifice of some of the literary quotations. Excellent indexes and a valuable bibliog- raphy are provided.

W. I. THOMAS.

Woman under Monasticism : Chapters on Saint- Lore and Convent Life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500. By LINA ECKENSTEIN. Macmillan & Co. (Cambridge Press), 1896. 8vo, 496 pp. $4.

A BOOK from the Cambridge Press bearing the title, Woman under Monasticism, naturally arouses all the interest of the student of soci- ology, who expects to find here set forth the influence of the mediaeval church upon womankind. The present volume, however, does not deal primarily with the influence of monastic upon domestic institutions, but is rather a history of those women who devoted themselves to the church, and of the convents in which they resided. It is consequently designed as a contribution to church history rather than sociology. It is never- theless not only a most admirable work of its kind, but one of the most valuable books accessible to the student of the social meaning of sex.

\V. I. THOMAS.

History of tJic Young Metis Christian Association. Vol. I. By L. L. DOGGETT, PH.D. New York : The International Com- mittee of Young Men's Christian Association. 1896. THIS volume is the outgrowth of studies in the department of soci- ology in the University of I.eipsir. The materials are taken from orig- inal sources ; the method is scholarly ; the bibliography is fairly com- plete ; and the result is highly satisfactory. The author shows the place of a particular institution in the history of the age and in relation to the important movements of the time. The fust \>lume i^ives the his-