purpose is to give the public an edition of the English poets in convenient form at a low price, and with introductions and notes of real value. An examination of the names of the authors of the introductions as presented above cannot fail to show that the purchasers of the series have secured for this important service writers and critics of recognized authority; and a reading of the introductions will show that, though brief, they possess clearness of outline and intelligent discrimination. We note but one American poet (Poe) in the list so far published, and as presume that it is not likely that others will be included. It is, however, quite possible now to obtain the collected works of our great American poets in convenient form and at moderate price. Within its limit the library is widely inclusive, and the set, when complete, will cover its chosen field pretty thoroughly. In appearance the volumes are satisfactory externally, but one could wish for better paper and type.

Our Philippine Problem. By Henry Parker Willis, Ph.D. Henry Holt & Co., New York. 5×71⁄2 in. 479 pages. $1.50.

As a statement of the position taken by the anti-imperialists" this book is fairly adequate. It is remarkably free from the vehemence which the upholders of a minority opinion often seem forced into; it is, indeed, written in a very sober and colorless style. It is evident that the author, to his credit be it said, deliberately exercises restraint in his diction. Some of his criticisms are well taken. Undoubtedly, for instance, the administration of the islands is more expensive than it ought to be. It is clear, too, that the tariff question has been mismanaged. But extravagance and tariff monstrosities are not confined to the Philippines. The serious defect of the book is that it is not what it purports to be. It is' termed a "study," a review of our experience as a nation in governing the Philippine Islands." It is really an almost unqualified accusation against the American Government, not only of unfitness and failure, but of prejudice, insincerity, and sordidness. The author, without the slightest relaxation of his gravity, says, "I have tried to avoid bias." Yet he devotes a chapter to a "brief review of the origin of the Philippine problem " which is as patently partisan as any account could be. The Filipinos who abandoned revolutionary efforts upon American acquisition of the islands are "selfish mestizos," the adjust ment of American policy to new conditions is a "change of front;" torture as "a recognized method" is charged against the American army, though that charge was repudiated and was never substantiated. So it is throughout the book. The Civil Service is absurd, local government a failure, ladrones are beneficent protectors of the people, while the constabulary are the real robbers; American educational methods are impracticable and the attempt to teach English futile; social conditions have been lowered by American occupation, and the chance for

material development by American agency is small. The author knows all about the motives of America in occupying the Philippines, and they were commercial; he knows the "real inwardness of the railway situation"-it is political. Political activity on the part of American teachers on one side, the author's, is commendable; on the other side it is another illustration of the Administration's hollow pretense. Any official statement is, of course, not to be taken at its face value; but facts based on the assertions of anonymous insurrectionists are offered to the reader as indubitable. "To sum up-the islands are a source of expense and trouble to the American people as a whole, and our occupation thus far has been injurious to the native inhabitants." The publishers have perpetrated a bit of unconscious humor-we cannot venture to hope it was deliberate-in announcing that this volume is based, among other things, on the author's experience as an editorial writer and Washington correspondent of anti-imperialistic newspapers. We cannot believe, however, their statement that the discussion is also based on his "personal investigations in the Philippines ;” we think that when the author's experiences, like the facts narrated in his first chapter, are apprehended in their chronological order," it will be found that his personal investigations are a part of the superstructure. Parental Honesty. By Sylvanus Stall, D.D.

The Vir Publishing Co., Philadelphia. 42X6 in. 61 pages. 60c., net.

Principles of Heredity. By G. Archdall Reid. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 52X8% in. 359 pages. $3.50.

While possessing large and varied interest for the general reader, this work is specially addressed to medical men, as a class whom the author regards as both needing and neglecting systematic study of the subject. American medical degrees are viewed with some distrust in England; but Dr. Reid (as he would be called here, though wearing only the degree of M.B.) regards the intellectual status of the profession there as quite unsatisfactory, and needing enlargement both in breadth and depth. What is new in his work is mainly drawn from evidence, hitherto largely unused, concerning heredity, that he has found in the study of disease, especially of the zymotic kinds, and also of narcotics. This is held to establish conclusively that parental acquirements are never transmitted to offspring, and that the great mass of variation has another origin than that of the action of the environment on the germ-cells. The theory that the life history of the race is recapitulated in each individual has been strongly doubted. The fact is that there is recapitulation, but it is never complete. Regression, or reversion to an ancestral type, constantly occurs, and planes away useless variations. This is the factor always at work in nature, along with natural selection, to bring every species into harmony with its environment. To recognize both of these forces as complementary to each other is to dispel the

doubt that has been cast upon them separately. In discussing theories of mental evolution Dr. Reid holds that racial mental differences, such as those between French and Chinese, are mainly acquired rather than inborn, a fact set down by other writers under the term "social heredity." In the methods of religious and scholastic teaching he finds confirmation of the principles of heredity that he has expounded, and also matter for the sharpest criticism. He writes with a warmth of conviction that is stimulating to thought, and with a mastery of his subject which commands attention. Intelligent readers will indorse his plea that the science of public health, by promoting the survival of the unfit, emphasizes the need of stringent practical applications of the principles of heredity.

Real Boys. By Henry A. Shute. Illustrated. G. W. Dillingham Co., New York. 5×7% in. 257 pages. $1.25.

Mr. Shute's title indicates precisely the reason of the great popularity of the two or three volumes he has already published, in which a New England boy tells of his fun, adventures, and mischief in a badly spelled diary. The fun is really not in the bad spelling, but in the genuineness and boyishness

of the incidents and characters. Now Mr. Shute again attempts the same thing-that is, to present real boys and real boyhoodbut in another way. He now tells the stories in his own person in the ordinary form of fiction. We cannot say that this makes his new book less amusing or jolly than the others, and we have no doubt it will receive an equally warm reception. Rock-a-bye Book (The). Children's Lyrics by William S. Lord. The F. H. Revell Co., New York. 52x71⁄2 in. 55 pages. 50c., net. Romance of Gentle Will (The). By Clyde C. Westover, Neale Publishing Co., New York. 5x8 in. 297 pages. $1.50.

Rubáiyát of Solomon, and Other Poems. By Amanda T. Jones. Alden Bros., New York. 5x7% in. 210 pages. $1.25.

Representing John Marshall & Co. By Earl Underwood. Illustrated. G. W. Dillingham Co., New York. 5x7% in. 171 pages. $1.

Secret Passage (The). By Fergus Hume. Illustrated. G. W. Dillingham Co., New York. 5x71⁄2 in. 320 pages. $150.

Waxwing. By Caroline A. Mason. The F. H. Revell Co., New York. 5x7% in. 48 pages. 30c.

Yourie Gardenin: A Russian Character

Study. Anonymous. Neale Publishing Co., New
York. 52x71⁄2 in. 280 pages. $1.50.

Not a Hypnotist

[Readers of The Outlook will remember Mr. Haskell's readable article not long ago about Judge Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado, under the title The Kid Judge' of Denver." As we happen to know, not a few of our readers have been surprised at a sensational story which has been widely published to the effect that Judge Lindsey intends to practice hypnotism in his Juvenile Court. This story was promptly denied, but as denials often fail to overtake misstatements, we are glad to have from Judge Lindsey the following statement about this matter. THE EDITORS.]

To the Editors of The Outlook:

I never made the statement recently attributed to me, that I intended to practice hypnotism in the Juvenile Court of Denver. I have been very much annoyed at an absurd story to this effect given general circulation throughout the country. I know nothing about hypnotism, never pretended to practice it, and have no intention of taking it up. several years our Juvenile Court has sent the toughest alleged boy criminals the police could bring us to the reformatory alone, and a certain police officer in Denver gave out the story that they must have been hypnotized. From this absurd statement, which

For

was not even intended seriously, the story seems to have started. I distinctly stated to the representative of the newspaper responsible for the story given such wide circulation that I had no intention of experimenting in hypnotism. I did admit that I had been interested in reading the little volume of Dr. John Duncan Quackenbos upon "Hypnotism in Mental and Moral Culture." Dr. Quackenbos is a distinguished scientist, and seriously advocates the use of hypnotism in extreme and exceptional cases of moral depravity. Because of his high standing and eminence in his profession and some remarkable experiments made by him, I admitted to the reporter that within certain restrictions it might some day be recognized among preventive measures. From these natural admissions a story was manufactured that has been as astounding to myself as to some of my friends, and because of hundreds of letters received regarding it I make this explanation. The Associated Press denies any responsibility for circulating the story, and refused to publish denial. BEN B. LINDSEY.

my

Denver, Colorado.

A Memorial for a Beautiful Life

To the Editors of The Outlook:

There appeared in a May number of The Outlook a letter from Dr. H. N. Barnum, of

question at issue, not to be solved by mere asseverations that the devil is dead or dying.) My deepest objections to such conclusions as Mr. White's are not to the alleged facts; but to the loose optimism, the trivial-mindedness, the superficiality of the spirit that leads him and millions of his countrymen to live more or less contentedly-satisfied with the murmurings of orators and writers that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Is it so? Is it not, on the contrary, a fact that the business of the country is thoroughly corrupted? Wherever it touches city, State, or National politics, is not its touch corrupting? Our spasms of political reform come only when taxes and other burdens are too high for our pockets. Whenever business does not touch politics, is it not sodden with a kind of blackmail in the various commissions, concessions, and rebates that A must grant to B before C can purchase from D the food he needs, the clothes he wears-the right to exist, in short? Are we so certain that our popular education is generating moral energy, as Mr. White declares? Shrewdness, smartness, mental energy, are generated, beyond a doubt, but moral energy? Are not superficial boastings sapping the Nation's respect for truth of all kinds, injuring its whole attitude toward verity in general? To take one example: Since the Spanish-American War, the American people is satisfied that it can whip all creation. Suppose we should run up against the Japanese in the Philippines some fine daysoon? One would think this a sobering question; but let it be put to the first American you meet, and hear his boasting answer. His easy-going optimism has no doubts, nor will it have till the guns begin to speak, until he has an army of a million men to raise and equip. I am using this as an example only.

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It is an easily defensible position that there are signs of promise in American politics and in American society. Perhaps the greatest of all comes from the undoubted fact that the President and certain others in high station have demonstrated to the youth of the country that it is possible to " ceed" in life and yet to be yourself; that it is no longer essential to conform slavishly to the most commonplace standards-not essential, though so much more comfortable. Millions of young men now believe that-and our youthful President's best gift to the country is their new faith. Their fathers had it not. Results will not flow from it, however, without courage to see and to say what is true, without resolute hearts to correct National failings boastfulness, triviality, inconsequence, the flouting of the law-and patiently to reform all of these and other errors. When each one of us has reformed, then, and then only, all will be. With this truism, which seems to the writer more fruitful than the sentences he has but just quoted, I conclude, asking for myself and for my countrymen modesty as well as shrewdness, humility

as well as competence, a reasonable foresight rather than a face turned to “the instant need of things," a belief in the validity of general principles rather than a practice of temporary expedients. Q. R. Z.

Chivalry and the Reverse

To the Editors of The Outlook:

I was much interested in the Spectator's recent discussion of courtesy in the streetcars. I am constantly meeting instances of courtesy and chivalry, although I am sorry to say that there are many examples of the opposite. I was impressed during a recent trip to Philadelphia with the uniform consideration I received from street boys in various parts of that city whenever I needed to ask them for information. I wish that you had come out a little stronger on the evidences of an increase of chivalry on the part of our young women. I believe that this problem is coming into better form, and that our young women who are in business are developing forms of courtesy quite unknown in the past. That there is need of conscious effort in this direction is evident from specimens of the "woman errant " whom we meet. I have recently had an encounter with one who has little sense of the value of other people's time or energy; who wishes full consideration on the broad basis that will apply to both man and woman; then demands added consideration because she is a woman, still more because there are several people depending upon her; deplores the lack of appreciation afforded her; and wishes my help in securing her a position where she may be safe in writing up her enemies and dealing with them according to her standards of justice. M.

The Maria Mitchell Memorial To the Editors of The Outlook:

I have been so much interested in The Outlook's view of preserving old homes that I have thought you may care to know of the memorial to Maria Mitchell on Nantucket. It is gaining slowly as a scientific memorial, and, if we can believe the comments of its visitors, is well worth the time spent by tourists in going to see it. The uphill work of accomplishing this with moderate fees and few donations is apparent, but the growth is steady and safe, I believe. Miss Mitchell's interest in nature and science generally would, I believe, have led her to sanction the general science plan of the memorial, and her nature would have rebelled at a storehouse for mementos only. Therefore we have active committees working for certain ends-flora, fauna, and especially the coast lines and their geological origin. This latter is especially appropriate to the family interests, as Miss Mitchell's father surveyed for one of the earliest maps of the island, and her brother, Professor Henry Mitchell, spent his life in United States Coast Survey work, in all of which she was much interested. L. S. H.