Second, Cowardly attempts to shift the burden. Third, Why chips do not fall far from the block, etc. Another chapter is headed, Responsibility of the father; another, The mother's influence. One will at once be wondering what will be the dividing lines between parents and fathers and mothers. Another chapter is entitled, The home influence; another, Home behavior; another, Training of body and mind. The question will naturally arise, can the training of the body and mind be separated from the home influence and home behavior? Examination of the table of contents impresses one that the book, while containing many truisms, does not partake of the nature of a scientific treatment on the training of children. No book can be said to contribute to learning on any subject of morals that does not give data of morals, that is, definite standards of right and wrong as the bases of comparison. For instance, what will good example mean unless the good is defined? What would leniency or severity mean unless there is first established a rule of conduct? The defect in the table of contents of Dr. Shearer's book may readily be inferred to characterize the pages. Opening the book at random (chapter ii), Time, place and character of training, the first paragraph begins as follows: "All life is a constant warfare. That of a child is especially so. While developing conscience and embryonic reason strive for supremacy, animal appetites and propensities tempt to utter ruin by offering in exchange all the grosser and more material pleasures in the child's heaven and earth." This language seems grandiloquent, but hardly presents any clear picture to the mind. In the second paragraph of this chapter, the author says: "It is very important that those upon whom rests the responsibility of training children should fully understand the significance of the word 'training.' That some do not is shown by frequent acts of many earnest parents. Many parents still believe it means teaching. Such is not the case. Primarily, teaching means the imparting of knowledge. Training implies, not merely the imparting of knowledge, but also inspiring to repeated action, which results in the formation of habits. Teaching gives to the child new facts. Training enables the child to make use of the knowledge he possesses. Teaching is very important. Training is far more important.” In the third paragraph, he says: "Parents should ever be mindful of the fact that all will receive some kind of training. During almost every wakeful moment every child is being trained. Every sense reaches out after knowledge, all of which helps determine his training. The great aim should be to see to it that the training is of the right kind." Set these two paragraphs side by side, and one discovers that training in the third paragraph must correspond, or nearly, to the teaching of the second. In chapter v, under Requisites, "Third Requisite. Many parents are heard to assert that they expect their younger children to be controlled by correct principles. Tho meaning well, such parents make a grievous mistake. It is important that every parent should clearly appreciate the truth and the importance of the statement that principles are for adults and rules for children." Here again the reader is puzzled to understand just what is meant by principles in comparison with rules. These samples quoted are characteristic of the book all the way thru. While there are many things in it that are true, the best that can be said of it in the interests of the parents is that it is not necessary. All that it says that is true has been said in thousands of ways. What we need in our books on the subject of the training of children is not desultory platitudes and truisms, but carefully thought out statements based upon a knowledge of psychology, ethics, religion, and the utilities of life. The industrial history of the United States for high schools and colleges -By KATHARINE COMAN, Ph. B., Professor of economics and sociology in Wellesley College. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905. xviii+ 342+xxiv pp. $1.25 net. If American civilization has a materialistic tone, there is a satisfactory historical excuse. As Professor Coman puts the matter in her preface, "The history of the United States, more than that of any old-world country, is the record of its physical achievements." Within a hundred years half the continent has been transformed from a waste of woods, prairie, and desert into a cultivated land full of busy towns. This fact has relation to the teaching of history. Professor Coman urges not only that industrial history is the "essential theme," but also that it is as interesting as the political affairs or the military incidents described in the ordinary text-books. Her aim apparently has been to prepare a book which could be used in place of texts of the older type. This effort does not imply a failure to appreciate the importance of the other phases of American history, for her method of presentation assumes that the student already has a knowledge of the general history of the country. Unlike Professor Cheyney's somewhat similar book on the Social and industrial history of England this book includes scarcely any information other than that which comes fairly under the head of industrial history. In the chapter on the "Industrial aspects of the Revolution" nothing is said about the outbreak of hostilities between England and her rebellious colonists. The reader is left to infer the fact from the statement that all intercourse with the colonies was prohibited and that the Continental Congress in March, 1776, authorized the fitting out of privateers. Hardly more of the general history is given in the chapter on “The Civil War: economic causes and results," except that the beginning of fighting is more definitely located in relation to industrial or financial incidents. With this method of treatment the question arises, will the high-school student remember enough of the general history of the United States learned in the grammar school to use such a book to the best advantage, for it is improbable that many high schools can afford the luxury of two courses in United States history. In the case of college work there is not the same difficulty. Perhaps the question can be answered only by experience, but this is certain, to take up United States history from such a point of view would save wearisome repetition, because the ordinary treatment of the subject in high-school text-books is only a restatement with greater fullness of what has been described in the text-books for the grammar schools. The chances that the experiment would be fruitful would have been increased had the author included in her work, as Professor Cheyney did in the companion volume, a consideration of those phases of American history which are "social" without being definitely industrial. One of the good qualities of this book is its directness and clearness of statement. The course of industrial evolution, and the complex tendencies which make up each phase, might, however, have been easier to grasp, especially for younger minds, had Professor Coman shortened her chapters. All schemes of periodization are more or less arbitrary, altho the particular one chosen may seem to an author necessary in carrying out her idea of the proper development of the subject. For example, the chapter on "The industrial consequences of the War of 1812" appears unduly prolonged, because it brings the narrative down thru the panic of 1837. Many events after 1823 or 1825 may be traced to the War of 1812, but in other cases the connection is so remote as to appear forced. Again, the chapter on the economic causes and results of the Civil War includes events as late as 1880. Occasionally in the treatment itself a great many details are given, making the burden upon the memory unnecessarily heavy. Each fact mentioned is interesting and would be indispensable if the book were a study of the subject arranged by topics. It is a fair question whether fewer facts, each selected for its illustrative value, would not have served the purpose without exposing some teachers to the temptation of insisting upon so many details. The description in successive paragraphs (p. 187-193) of the tariffs of 1816, 1824, 1828, and 1832 is a case in point. In a book which covers so many periods it is inevitable that the author has felt a deeper interest in some than in others. The chapter on "The business aspects of colonization" seems to be one of these. It is especially fresh and instructive. Facts which in the ordinary treatments of the subject are so scattered as to lose their significance are grouped effectively. The chapter on "The industrial aspects of the Revolution" is another illustration, altho the material is more familiar and the management of the subject departs less from what is customary. The explanation of the commercial causes of the War of 1812 is less satisfactory. No hint is given of the English excuse for preventing American vessels from carrying cargoes from the French colonies to France. Furthermore, the aim in establishing a blockade from Brest to the Elbe is misstated. Then follow these sentences, which, to say the least, are inexact: "The object of the order of 1806 was to punish Holland. and Belgium for alliance with the enemy. Napoleon, fully master of the Continent since the peace of Tilsit, met this attack by a counter-stroke. The Berlin Decree closed all European ports to British vessels and British merchandise." The English case in the controversy about impressment is given with hardly adequate fullness. Altho this book is not the first to present the industrial history of the United States in fairly brief compass, it is the first which is serviceable as a text-book. It will have an indirect as well as a direct value, for it will stimulate teachers to include more of the industrial development of the nation, even if they follow the course outlined in the ordinary text-books. HENRY E. BOURNE WESTERN RESERrve University, |