Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 11.djvu/458

 No. 44.] [OCTOBER, 1886. MIND A QUARTERLY REVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY. I. MR. JAMES WAED'S "PSYCHOLOGY". 1 By Professor ALEXANDER BAIN. IT had been known for some time that Mr. James Ward would contribute to the Encyclopaedia Britannica the important article "Psychology"; and the expectations formed of it were very high. Allowance being made for the limited space, these expectations have been amply justified. The thorough knowledge of previous works, the freshness of the handling, the never failing acuteness, the light thrown upon many of the dark places of mental science, constitute the work a signal achievement of philosophical ability. Much that belongs to a full exposition is necessarily omitted ; and the problems commonly called ' philosophical ' and also ' metaphysical,' are not comprised. The work has the rare merit of being Psychology, and nothing but Psychology. It is nearly complete as regards fundamental problems, and the ultimate analysis of the distinctive properties of mind : a densely-packed dissertation, abounding in clear, though brief, indications of the author's mode of solving the long- standing difficulties of our mental constitution. Of course, the etarting-point is the definition of Mind, 1 Encyclopedia Britannica, xx., 37-85. 31