Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-01
THE LIBRARY TABLE


In 1877 H. @. Wells and Hilaire
Belloc had little tilt, ostensibly over
Mr. Wells Outline Of History" bat
fundamentally caused by the radical
differences In the opinions of the two
men about almost everything. Mr..
Belloc wrote "A Companion to H. @.
Wells Outline of History" and
therein called attention to 1.-THE pFinci-
pal popular errors, most Of them now
out OF date" He denounced Mr. Wells
casual dismissal Of the Catholic Church
TO q minor place In history, believing
himself that the foundation and ca
-eer of the Catholic Church is the
chief event in the history of mankind Z"
Wells replied with a pamphlet Mr..
Belioc Objects to The Outline of His
tory" and probably had considerable
fun in the controversy. Undiscouraged
by this criticism of his attempt to be
encyclopedia in one volume, Mr.. Wells
has done it again, this time in a sci
entific field. Perhaps because he feels
less at home in science than in history
he has taken partners in this enter
prise. THE Science of Life" has the
s. Huxley and G. P. Wells, son of
H. @. Wells.
The syllabus used by the authors Of
The Science of Life has evidently
been printed as the table of contents;
at least the fullnesS Of the latter would
indicate this. There are nine books in
the one, OF two, volumes of the work
tthere are two different editions
The Living Body" The Chief Pat
terms of Life" The Incontrovertible
Fact of Evolution" The How and the
Why OF Development and Evolution. +"
The Spectacle of Life" Health and
Disease" Behaviour, Feeling and
Thought" and Biology Of the Human
Race" To biologist most of the
material in these books seems ele-
mentary; for the average general
reader there Is much useful informa-
ton, and such a reader may pick and
choose. selecting what interests him or
what supplies needed knowledge. The
nature OF The Science of Life" Is
encyclopedia. There is no particular
charm Of style. though Mr.. Wells prob
ably thinks that his invention of Mr..
and Mrs. Everyman is an element Of
style. The different parts Of the work
vary in interest according to the tastes
OF the reader, but the discussions of
evolution. health and disease and mod
ern psychology will appeal to many.
Book l. The Living Body" would be
q fairly satisfactory text book in physi-
ology. If general information, without
technical terms and much detail. were
desired. Book v, The History and
Adventures of Life" is AN account of
the actual history of life upon the
aaFfh fha nrnraccinn IF irk
never repeating themselves. have led
onward until this present instant
where the past is busy eating into the
future. OF this colossal drama no man
knows the scheme. Some prophesy
catastrophe end; others a slow and
gloomy deterioration; still others see no
necessary full-stop to the achieve
ments Of life. or, If they do, comfort
themselves with the reflection that life
may prove itself abundantly well worth
living in the long epochs still to come.
itself its own Justification. Man at
least believes that he has been called
10 take the leading part in it. and he
is not unnaGurally interested in finding
out all that has gone before in the
story" This quotation shows the
analytical. philosophic method which
we expect In any work by H. G. Wells.
y n ~
Book VIII of The Science Of Life -
entitled Behaviour, Feeling and
Thought" plunges us into the turmoil
of conflicting theories OF psychology AS
the title indicates. Mr.. Wells and his
associates have a supposition in favor
OF behaviorism. Some Of the subjects
discussed are receptivity response, vege-
table behavior. instructive and intelli-
gent behavior. insect societies. the mind
OF fish. educa ton in animals, the be-
havior of monkeys and apes, the range
OF consciousness. the DOG as a simpler
man, temperament in dogs. emotion and
urge, the unconscious. hySterla. neuras-
thenia, pSycho-anslysis, minds out OF
gear and in gear differences between
minds the conduct Of lie, restraint and
poiSe, evasion. Incidence and fear the
theory of body -soul-spirIt dream an
ticipation and telepathy clairvoya nee.
table-tapping and telekinesis, material
i2ation and ectoplasm, the survival Of
the personality after death. In this part
of the work Mr.. Everyman plays a
prominent part: In fact we become a
little tired of him. There are times,
also. when we are inclined to be as
misa nthropic as was Swift when he wrote
The Voyage to the Houyhnhnms" and
to believe that wasps, bees, ants and
termites are more intelligent than Mr..
Everyman. Consolation for all human
beings Is to be found in the assurance
that "steadfastneSS" is subject to lapSes
without necessarily endangering the
quality of the perso nality. 1t is in our
most intimate relations. in the relations
between husband and wife, between par
ent and offspring, between directors and
subordinstes, between employers and EN-
ployed for example, that the erratic i'm
pulses of the mood work their worst ano
need most to be anticipated. aVerted.
and when they break loose allowed and
stoned for. Steadfastness is a strain
and should be realized as strain. .
One of the commeneSt experiences in
the lives of saints is the discovery that
all the opening ecStaSies of faith have
faded, that the wonderful life of holi-
ness has lost its light, that God has
hidden himself away. Levers can have
the same dismaying experience. Then
the way is open to irrelevant i'm
pulses and many sorts Of self-contrsdic-
ton Such lApses are psychologically
Inevitable and two-thirds of their harm
tulness vanishes If this Is recognized.
The harm Genes in wnen they are ra-
tionalised as permanent changes Of di-
rection. when the saint flnds out he is
damned, the lover that ne never loved.
or the three collaboratorS find each
other impossible The sane modern
man takes holiday and returns refresh
ed, and is not too greatly perturbed If
his ANNA suddenly thrusts q needed
holiday upon him. And what is perhaps
q degree more difficult, he must realize
the same necessity in others. He can
not exact from others perpetual per-
| sistence he does not practice"
\
Lydia Pinkham, according to hel
hiooTa pher Robert COllVer WaShburn
| in 1.-THE Life and Times of Lydia Z
Pinkham" was not charlatan, moi
even merely clever capitaliser Of hui
man credulity, but a benevolent healer
of the psychic woes of women. for un.
| doubtedly the ills that were cured by
her famous vegetable compound" were
| chiefly mental. Mr.. WaShburn tells the