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 NEW BOOKS. 131 reactions in taking discrimination times was actually diminished by taking the drug, the number of mistakes in reading was increased, In Heft 3 we have an interesting paper on the periodic variations in working power, tested by Prof. Kraepelin's method of continuous addi- tion ; the period indicated being between two and two and a half seconds ; which closely corresponds with that found by other observers as the period of variations of attention. Herr von Vors is inclined to seek for the ex- planation of this periodicity "m centralen Vorgdngen". It is to be hoped, however, that this is not merely a counsel of despair, but that he himself will shortly have something more definite to tell us about it. The remaining article concerns the alienist rather than the mere psy- chologist. It describes an apparatus for registering the pressure exerted and the time occupied in writing, and gives an account of some experi- ments made with it on healthy and on mentally diseased persons. EDWARD T. DIXON. Xiiturvolker und Kulturvolker. Ein Beitrag zur Socialpsychologie. Von A. VIERKANDT. London : Williams & Norgate, 1898. Pp. xi., 497. Price 11s. is is a book of real importance, and we are sorry that we cannot give the extended notice which it deserves. Its interest is essentially psychological rather than sociological or anthropological. Its aim is to analyse and illustrate the contrast and affinity between the savage and the civilised mind, and the nature of the psychological development which leads from the one to the other. This transition, as the author shows, is essentially a transition from relatively disconnected impulse to organised and systematised mental activity. In the phraseology which he has adopted from Wundt, the contrast between the civilised and the savage mind is a contrast between apperception and association. He is also fond of stating the antithesis in another way. Activity in the savage, according to him, takes the form of play, as contrasted with the organised activity of civilisation. This seems only partially accurate. It is quite true that play is impulsive in its character ; it arises out of the circum- stances of the moment, and does not form an integral part of the organised system of life. One game is complete in itself, and, as such, is discon- nected both with other games and with practical business. So far the analogy holds. But, on the other hand, it is very far from true that impulsive activity, as such, is necessarily playful activity. It may, and most frequently does, arise out of the immediate pressure of practical needs, such as hunger. There can be no doubt concerning the soundness of Mr. Vierkandt's leading idea. It remains to add that he has worked it out in an admir- able manner. His knowledge of anthropological and other data is very extensive and accurate, and he applies his erudition with great felicity, always subordinating it to the main psychological interest. There is scarcely a page of the work which does not contain something of interest and value. Compared with it, the defects of Mr. Sutherland's voluminous book on the Moral Instinct become very glaring. f/riff des absolut Wertvollen ah Grundbegriff der Moralphilo- sophie. Von Dr. FELIX KRUEGER. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1898. Pp. 95. Tii is is a well-written essay containing much that is interesting to the English reader. Dr. Krueger's two main arguments are likely to meet with wide acceptance. He argues, firstly, that moral theory must be