Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/872

852 in the direction of his ideal. While the difficulties in the way of quantitative estimates of physiological phenomena are sometimes very great, that is no reason for relaxing efforts to overcome them, since in the accomplishment of this lies the hope of perfecting the science.

We have little space for special criticisms, but we think the author would have done better to leave some things to psychology, which he includes in his work. For instance (page G58), he speaks of pain as "a third kind of sensation, unlike touch and temperature." Now, there is a long-standing controversy as to this point whether pleasure and pain are distinct sensations or a quality of all sensations. Dr. M'Kendrick ought to have seen that this question could not be disposed of in a paragraph. Moreover, he should have recognized that it is clearly and peculiarly a psychological question. To include such a statement as he makes in a physiological work is certainly an error, whether he be right or wrong. And the assumption he makes is, besides, one which he would have great difficulty in substantiating. The likelihood is that pleasure and pain are not distinct forms of sensation, but qualities of all sensation whatsoever.

essays on moral and social problems of the time constitute this volume. The first is entitled "The Student in American Life," and its key-note is contained in the words "Americans are prone to ignore the vast practical importance of cultivated men." The second essay gives a sketch of the history of scientific charity, from the "Hamburg System" to the "Charity Organization" system of England and America, embodying many of the principles of this method of diminishing poverty. "The Boot of the Temperance Problem" is the subject of the next paper. The author does not think attacking the saloon-keeper is the way to reach the root of drunkenness. On the contrary, "true temperance methods," he says, "are such as reach the reason, the conscience, and the will of each individual." There is an essay on "The Political Conscience," which in many men is a coarser article than the private conscience. In regard to "Moral and Religious Instruction in our Public Schools," the author maintains that, "logically there is no stopping short of a state religion, if religious instruction is insisted upon in the public schools"; and in answer to the question, "Shall, then, our public schools teach a formal moral code?" he answers: "No; rather let them possess a moral atmosphere, derived from the personality of the teacher." In the closing essay he discusses the fact that many villages having churches of half a dozen sects are almost destitute of real religion.

general reasons are given by Dr. Fothergill for the dwellers in towns being inferior physically to the inhabitants of the country. First, a natural selection draws the slight men of active brain from the country into the towns; and, second, the conditions of life in the towns are hostile to physical vigor. In successive chapters of this book the dangers in these conditions of city life are pointed out. The house of the town-dweller may be built on a rubbish-heap, and have smoky chimneys and dangerous plumbing. His surroundings may include noisy or ill-smelling premises, while street noises afflict the best city neighborhoods. The air he breathes lacks ozone, and is charged with the oxides of carbon, sulphur dioxide, and metallic fumes, and contains often irritating dust. The water-supply of towns is not always wholesome. The towndweller eats too much meat and white bread, and he rejects fat, which shows that his digestive organs are too weak to digest it. Too much tea and alcoholic beverages are consumed by town-dwellers, and the liquors often contain substances more harmful than alcohol. Most of the work of the town is done indoors, and in a hot atmosphere, which favors the handling of small objects. Town amusements are also mostly carried on indoors, and furnish little of the recreation needed. The brain and nerves of the town-dweller are unnaturally developed, while his muscles and internal organs are proportionately weakened. Blight's disease and