The sun., 1897-02-07

vertises the same for sale for so cents on
application TO q certain lock.box in the
Washington Post Ofiicei
In his preface. Or" ARTHUR MAC
DONALD OF Washington announces that "no
such work has ever been published, so far
as the author is aware" For the credit OF
humankind we are glad to believe that this
is true. The mania for correspondence with
unknown women, for making thus the ac-
quaintance Of strangers Of the weaker sex.
is nothing new. This mania is . mark Of
moral arrangement, somewhat akin to
the strange impulse some degeneratss have
to seize women in the streets at night and
hug them and then scoot of into the
darkness before the screams Of their victims
bring the police. Many men have used the
personal advertisement systematically, and
with motives more or less discreditable.
But none before "Dr." ARTHUR MAcDoN-
AID has cultivated this particular field OF
adventure In the pretended name Of science,
| or, having thus cultivated It, has published
and advertised for sale the documentary evil
dence Of the confiding folly of his female
correspondents. For although the Doc
tor" pretends that by suppress,ng names
and places he has concealed the identity Of
| his subjects" or victims. he knows better
than that. There Is scarcely . case where
| incidental allusons In the letters pub
lished. or descriptions Of home, or fam
| lily, or surroundings In the doctors"
narrative OF his pursuit Of "physical
measurements" do not afford q clue by
which the friends Of the young woman thus
| compromised could identify her II they
should ever see the book. MACDONALD is
apparently conscious OF this, since he argues
in one place that "a woman who answers
q public advertisement cannot expect
her correspondence with total stranger
to be Of very confidential nature;" while
elsewhere he exhibits himself with incom-
parable dlstinctness in the remark that
"the only thing he could not tell them was
that he intended to write book giving the
result Of his Investigations; for ouerpise
such acork pould hdpe been impossible"
The pretence Of a scientific purpose thinly
wells the morbid inclination, the un-
sound inquisitiveness, and the overweening
personal vanity which appear in this pro-
duction. Abnormal tastes are imperfectly
disguised In the lingo Of pseudoscience In
his comments on the cases OF the poor girls
and silly wives whose indiscretions he is
peddling to the public, there Ii an affecta-
tion Of the scientific attitude, but nowhere
the slightest evidence of scientific compe-
tency. His generalizations and deductions
are worthless. His philosophizinR on love
In general, and on what he calls Its "periph-
eral manifestations" is so crude, unoriginal,
and commonplace as to excite disgust rather
than derision. The whole tone OF such parts
Of this book as we owe to "Dr." MAcDoN-
AIDS own intellect, suggests the Sunday
exploits Of some scientific Investigators en-
ployed by the new journalism.
1t would be hardly worth while to expend
much space upon the author OF " Girls Who
Answer Personals" were 1t not for one aston
ishing circumstance. For the benefit of
readers who may not know Just who Dr."
ARTHUR MACDONALD Is, he has prepared
this brief but comprehensive summary Of
his career. and publishes 1t as the first page
LIFE OF AUTHOR
| "Universty of Rochester. N Y; A B., 1879; A. n.
| 1888.
"student OF law, is7p-isso.
union Theological Seminary, n. Y city. graduated
| In 1883.
Harvard University; POSTGRADUATE courses In
Philosophy. Metaphysics and Theology. isss-isso.
y
Psychology 1885,
"European study. iss6-isso.
"university of Berlin. Medicine and Experimental
Medicine.
"univsrsity of Leipzig: Psyche physics and nsdl
cine.
"Univsrsity of Paris Clinical and Experimental
Medicine.
universities of Zurich and Vienna; Insanity, Hyp
notism. and crimnoiosy.
.clark Uniyer.itv wor,ester M..., noc.n, IN
| Criminology. 1882 1891.
"Uhited states Bureau OF Education; Specialist In
Education as Related to the Abnormal and weakiing
Glasses. ls9a"
1t Is the last entry that invites serious at
tention. Can 1t be possible that the in
ventor Of the personal advertisement method
| for the scientific investigation OF Love,
the proprietor of the lock-box In Washing
ton which has betrayed the condolences of
so many foolish females, and where you are
| to apply for cheaply sensational works of
pseudo-scientiac literature like Girls Who
Answer Personals" IL you have any taste
for that sort OF thing and the author of
other works on sexual subjects which we
cannot even mention by title In THE Sun
can 1t be possible that Dr." ARTHUR MAC
DONALD Is countenanced or employed In any
capacity whatever In any department of
the United States Governmentt
The latest edition of the Government
Blue Book answers this question. In the
Department of the Interior. in the Bureau
Of Education. we find recorded the name OF
ARTHUR MACDONALD, born In New York.
appointed from Monroe county, New York.
and employed by the Government as Spe-
cialist in Education as Preventive of Pau
1 ri
sixteen hundred dollarsl
Tho Fountain Head of tho Missouri.
The researches of Mr. J. V. BRowKR of
Minnesota at the headwaters Of the Missis-
sippi resulted, several years ago, In the
final determination Of the extreme sources OF
that river. During the summers of 1895 and
1896 Mr.. BRowER was engaged In similar