The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07
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of all the lndividuaities of that group;
that in proportion to the advance IN
station of any group of animals anu
plants the duration of its members mas
to be more and more accurately nNed,
until in man and other of the higher
forms the term is as firmly established
as are the features of the BODY IL
is in the considerations relating to the
nature and history of Individuality
that we may hope to find whatever of
moral help that natural science can
give us. The facts when clearly seen
certainly lead us to better under
standing of what death means in the
great order.
And again:
For obvious reasons the subject will
not be treated In what is commonly
termed the religious way-in the man
ner that goes behind the facts. or
perhaps we should say. above them;
but in the matter-of-fsct way-that
which looks alone to the phenomenal
for the explanation sought. The
reader should understand that this
Limitation is by no means to be con-
sidered as a denial of the Importance
OF the other method OF approach, but
that it is taken in order to avoid the
mixture of religious and scientific
methods which has been so generally
proiitless. No man should endeavor to
journey on two paths at the same
time, or on the same way In two We
hicles. Should he do so he Is sure
to fail of his end.
In the chapter on the effect of re-
llgion on the attitude of men toward
death. II should he understood that
Inc statements which are there made
are directed not against faith in the
higher sense, not in the least against
Christianity in its native form. but
against the curious remnants Of print
tive religions which have crept into
this most magndnimous of beliefs.
turning its blessings into curses and
its light into darkness, thereby lay
ing a burden upon human life and
hope in ways even more grievous than
those of pagan times
I'm effect this book is plea for an
education as regards the place of the
individual life in the whole of nature
which shall be consistent with what
we know of the universe. 1t Is a plea
for an understanding of the relations
of the person with the realm which is
in the fullest sense. his own; with his
fellow-beings of all degrees which are
his kinsmen: with the past and the
future of which he is an integral part.
IT is a protest against the idea, bred
of many natural misconceptions. that
human being is something apart
from its fellows: that ii is born into
the world and dies out of 1t into the
loneliness of a supernatural realm. 1t
is this sense of isolation which. more
than all else. is the curse of life and
the sting of DEATH
1t will be seen from these extracts that
the book is one which will be welcome to
that large class of reading and thinking
people who have outgrown the modified
and poetic theology with a sauce of NOR
ality which is dished up as the spiritual
food of many congregations, and who
are yet averse to the thought that the
dry bones of what is commonly known
as materialism are all that there is out
side theology. Such men and women do
not wish to consider themselves as no
- Il
INT to declare the human race as of a
separate origin and nature from the rest
of creation. They do not wish to think
of death as humiliation. nor are they
willing to accept any cut-and-dried con-
ception 81 future world. Prof. Shaler' s
book VIII, at any rate, be welcome as a
logical argument tending to the solution
of the great problem.
In the fifteen chapters of the book the
various phases and problems of human
life are taken up, one by one, in the clear
and precise style with which those who
have read the authors previous scientific
works are familiar. While many of the
phenomena cited in his argument will not
be new to the reader accustomed to deal
with scientific subjects. others will afford
considerable interesting and instructive
information to the average person. Here
for example. is a brief reflection on the
changes of anatomy due to mans upright
position, which will show with sufficient
clearness the difference between Prof
Shaler's method of thinking and that
common TO the pseudo-sciehtific religious
writers of former generation, who were
wont to discourse pensively on the won
derful care with which everything in the
universe was adapted to the use of man,
and man himself was constructed with
absolute perfection of organism. The
idea of the present writer seems to be
that all kinds of advantages are bought
with a price.
zone OF the effects of the upright
position Of man, perhaps the most
important for our problem at least. is
the increased tax which it puts upon
the strength of the creature. The
draft 1t makes on the body is in
part shown by the difference in the
rate of the pulse when lying down
and when standing up. This often
amounts to about twelve beats in the
minute, or as much as one-sixth Of
the average pulse rate. While many
four-legged animals can sleep in a
standing attitude, any repose in that
position is denied to man. 1t re-
quires the ceaseless activity OF many
muscles TO keep him erect. There
are various secondary taxes which the
vertical trunk and the consequent
great relative height infiict upon US.
That trunk took its shape in the long
experience of our kind from the fishes
upward. 1t was formed in the thou
sands of species through which our
life came in its later vertebrate stages
of ascent In that original position
parallel to the earth the several
organs of the viscera, heart, lungs,
digestive system, the reproductive
apparatus, found a fit storage; no one
OF the parts to any considerable ex-
tent presses upon the other. When,
however, the trunk is brought into the
vertical position these organs press
one upon the other in a way that
tends to produce serious dislocations
and diseases. 1t is not unlikely that
the price man has to pay for convert
ing his fore limbs to the higher uses
of his will. the inestimable price for
very great gain. has had much to do
with his general liability to disease,
and the consequently relatively brief
duration of his career"
There is no room in the limited space
Of a review to recapitulate the entire
argument of the book. The author takes
up. among other things, the relation of
altruism to the fear of death, and points
out the fact that whatever draws man
out Of himself, and into the concerns Of
others, removes his terror of personal dis
solution. He also takes up creative work,
as an expression of individuality, taking
the view that such work Is done primar-
fly because 1t is means of self-expres-
sion, which is n pleasure, the question
of gain or applause being secondary.
One Of the most interesting chapters is
that on The Utilization of Old Age"
The author takes the view that under the
right conditions, during this period, there
Is, so far from being "A decline of the
powers, positive growth in mental and
spiritual things; and he asks whether we
have not in an age comparatively free
from the conditions OF warfare which