The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-10-11
asd hygiene. although designed primarily to
secure the strenCth, the health the happiness

secure tho strength, the health. the happiness
of the present generation. yet are sustained
and onnoblcd by the conviction that the i'm
provement of the individuals OF each genera
ton leads through inheritance to the grad
ual physical melioration OF the race. 80. too.
all our systems Of intellectual and moral edu-
cation. though certainly intended mainly for
the development Of the individual. are diGni-
| fed by tho hope that the race also Is thereby
| gradually elevated. Prof lie Conte indeed
acknowledges that these hopes are usually ex-
travagant; that the whole Improvement OF one
generation is not carried over by inhertanc 70
into the next. and that consequently we cannot
by education raise lower race up to the plane
OF higher In g few generations. or even in o
few centuries. He ia convinced. however. that
there must be at leasta small residue Of melio-
ration carried forward from each generation
to the next which. accommodating from age to
age. determines the slow evolution Of man.
kind. Such. at all events. Ia tho hope on which
| all noble efforts for race improvement are
founded. But this. rs we have seen. must be
| abandoned II Weismann and Wallace are right.
II 1t be true that reason must direct the course
Of human progress. and IL It be also true that
selection OF the ittest in the biological. organic
| sense is the only method which reason can en-
ploy. then the dreadful law OF pitiless destruc-
ton Of the weak. the helpless, tho sick. and tho
ately carried out Against such course we
instinctiyely shrink with adherence.
IL.
In the most important char Of this hook.
that devoted to an exposition OF the relation OF
man to nature the author sets forth clearly
and fairly the conclusions OF tho materialists
before defining his own position. which differs
essentially from theirs. He begins by remind
ing us that there are two widely distinct views
Of the subject. tho one as old as the history OF
human thought. tho other urged upon us by
modern science According to the former. man
is the counterpart and equivalent OF nature.
He alone has-in fact is-an immortal spirit.
and therefore he belongs TO world Of his
own. According to the latter and more re-
cent view. man is but a part. very in
significant part OF nature. and con-
nected In the closest way with all other
parts especially with the animal Kingdom.
He has no world Of his own. nor even kingdom
Of his own: he belongs to the animal kingdom.
In that kingdom he has no department OF his
own: he is a vertebrate. In the department OF
vertebrates he has no privileged class OF his
own: he Is a mammal. In the class Of man.
mails he has no titled orde- Of his own: he is n
primate. and shares his primacy with apes. 1t
is doubtful IL he may enjoy the privacy OF
family of his own-the Hominidn-for the
structural differences between man aud the
anthropoid apes are probably not so great rs
between the sheep family and the deer family.
1t may indeed. be commended that these are
only two views Of the same phenomena taken
from different points. psychica and structural.
From tho psychlcal point OF view it is impossi-
Bile to exaggerate the Wilderness OF the gap that
separates man from even the highest animal.
From this point Of view man may indeed be
-
only to the whole animal kingdom. but to the
whole OF non-human nature. From the struc-
tural point OF view. on the contrary. it is
impossible to exaggerate the closeness OF
the connection. Mans body Is identified with
all non-human nature in its chemical con-
stituents. with the body OF all animals in its
functions. with all vertebrates. especially man.
mails. in it's structure. Bone for bone muscle
for muscle. ganglion for ganglion. almost
nerve fibre for nerve fibre. his body corre-
spends with that OF the higher animals.
Whether he was exclusively derived from lower
animals or not. Prof. LIE Conte comedies that
his structure. even in the minutest details, is
precisely such a. 1t would be II he were thus
derived by successive slight notifications.
Neither Is 1t disputed by the author OF this
book that Of these two views the latter. which
affirms the identity Of man with nature. has
been In recent times enormously productive
in increasing our knowledge. Anatomy has
become truly scientific only through compare
tive anatomy; physiology through compara-
tive physiology; embryolosy through compare
tive embryology. Sociology. under the impulse
given by Spencer. Is itself aiming to become
scientific through comparative sociology
Prof. LIE Conte will not deny that the same
thing may be predicted Of psychology:
that. in other words. even psychology
can become truly scientific only through
comparative psychology: that is. through
the study OF the spirit OF man in rela-
ton to what corresponds to 1t in lower ami.
mails. This view and this method. however.
when pushed to what seems to many their
logical conclusion. end in the complete denti-
fcation OF man with mere animals. of spirit
with mere physical and chemical forces. OF i'm
mortality with mere conservation OF energy.
and thus lead to blank and universal material
ism. Is there any escape from such a conclu-
sion? This book has been written to demon
strate that there is: that the two extreme
views. psychlcal and structural re not irrecon-
cilable. but that true and rational philos-
ophy Is to be found only in q higher view
which combines and reconcles the mutually
excluding extremes.
Before marking the authors formulation OF
his proposed synthetic and reconciling view.
let MS note how he brings out certain short
comings In the argument for matcrialism. OF
this argument one branch is derived from
brain physiology. the other from evolution.
As regards the former branch. 1t is admitted
that psychologists have established the GORE
lation OF vital with chemical and physical
forces. and probably In some sense. ut least. OF
mental with vital forces. They have proved in |
every act Of perception. first physical change
In nervo-terminal. thon n propagated thrill |
along nerve-nbre. and then resulting |