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 120 NEW BOOKS. "corpse worship is the protoplasm of religion, while folk-lore is the protoplasm of mythology ". The worship of the dead man is thus raised to a supreme and unique place in the god-making process. The book is flowingly and interestingly written. The technical journals have pro- nounced the hypothesis to be one-sided, and the argumentation to be special pleading. Nevertheless, it is always worth while in science to work a working hypothesis to its bitter end ; and we hope that Mr. Allen will not be daunted in his intention of publishing further volumes which shall treat of the evolution of religion in greater detail. While Mr. Allen seeks to rehabilitate Euhemerism, Mr. Lang under- takes the same office for the degeneration theory. His theory is that primitive man worshipped a single supreme being, who was later ob- scured by the rise of ancestor worship and the ghost gods. The savage may have ' blundered ' into a belief in God and the Soul, by observation of those supernormal phenomena which are still amongst us, under in- vestigation by the Society for Psychical Research. Unfortunately, the faith of the ' scientific ' reader in the exhaustiveness of Mr. Lang's quotations is shaken by his omission of references to the work on tele- pathy published recently in the Philosophische Studieii, and to that on crystal-gazing and ' material ' coincidences which has appeared in the Psychological Review. An Introduction to the History of Religion. By FRANK BYRON JEVONS, M.A., Litt.D., Classical Tutor in the University of Durham. Lon- don : Methuen & Co., 1896. Pp. 443. Price 10s. 6d. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this work is the emphasis which it lays on totemism. The first deities, according to Mr. Jevons, are totem deities ; and the ideas and practices connected with totem -worship colour and determine the whole evolution of religion. In particular, the idea of communion between the god and its worshippers is initially a totemistic idea. Hence springs the sacramental view of sacrifice as establishing union and communion between divine and human beings. The revival of religion connected with the Eleusinian and similar mysteries is really a revival of the totemistic point of view. Another marked feature of the work is the sharp distinction drawn between magic and religion, even in primitive stages of human develop- ment. Religion is the attitude of man towards powers which he regards as uncontrollable by human beings. Magic, on the other hand, is a mode of procedure by which he thinks he can direct and command natural forces. The distinction is no doubt justified in principle ; but, as a matter of fact, we often find the magical and the religious points of view inextricably blended, and this Mr. Jevons fails to recognise. The author's treatment of taboo is very interesting. He finds in it the origin of the conception of property. On the whole, Mr. Jevons has produced a good and useful book, and in many points he is original and suggestive. The prominence which he gives to totemism is one-sided ; but he has certainly succeeded in bringing out very lucidly its peculiar importance in the development of religion. Ignorance. A Study of the Causes and Effects of Popular Thought. By MARCUS R. P. DORMAN, M.A., M.B. Cantab. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1898. Pp. xx., 328. Pull of interesting matter. The work is divided into three books. The first treats of " Collective Ignorance " and especially of " emotional waves " and " democratic delusions ". In book ii. the chief causes of