RECENT LITERATURE.

Principles of Economics. By Alfred Marshall. Vol. 1, fifth edition. New York: Macmillan & Co. This book, the appearance of the fifth edition of Marshall, testifies to the widespread appreciation of that monumental work, and at the same time calls attention to the fact that the promised second volume has not yet appeared. In the preface to the fifth edition Professor Marshall explains why he has not been able to carry out his original plan. The reason in brief is that as the material grew on his hands, he saw the necessity not only for a second volume but for a third and a fourth. Then, fearful lest a single work in four volumes should be too cumbersome for the purpose intended, he has changed his plan, and now intends to bring out an "almost independent volume, part of which is already in print, on National Industry and Trade.' He goes on to state that this volume may be followed at no very long interval by a companion article on Money, Credit and Employment, and that finally it may be possible to compress these two volumes, together with some discussion of the function of government, into a single volume; which may supplement the present, and form a consecutive treatise of moderate length. One cannot but admire the tenacity of purpose with which writers like Marshall and Herbert Spencer, with limited physical strength, have pursued plans for great life works involving long and orderly sequence. The present book is for the most part a reprint of former editions, but some of the appendices, and the greater part of book 6, chapter 13, on Progress in Relation to Standards of Life, are new, and some other chapters have been re-written.

A History of Slavery in Cuba, 1511 to 1868. By H. H. S. Aimes. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1907-pp. xi, 298. The author has already published part of his results in this REVIEW (vol. xv, No. 1). His book is a careful compilation from reliable sources; a large amount of research has gone into its construction, and it should prove most valuable to any scholar interested in Cuba, or in the Spanish colonial system in general. It is a good example of the kind of solid work that American directors of historical investigation are now insisting upon; the whole book gives one the impression of facts painstak

ingly gathered for some larger purpose. Naturally there is not much chance to render this information attractive and readable, or to fix it in its proper setting in the general topic of human enslavement, or in that of colonial policy. Occasionally, in its discontinuity, it approaches the chronicle-form so commonly observable in the Spanish sources themselves. There is no particular strength of literary expression and art to disguise the note-system behind the text, nor are there many invocations of those wider view-points that might enliven detail. Occasionally the author combats a commonly accepted view, as when, for example, he dismisses the claim that the English occupation of Havana in 1762 meant Cuba's economic awakening as "one instance of Anglo-Saxon self-glorification." In this case it can hardly be admitted that his facts have established his contention. In general, Dr. Aimes conceives Spain's policy in regard to Cuba and the slave-trade as being "well abreast of the times, as consistently as local and international conditions would allow." The book is a useful one and the reader will hope with the author that it may aid in solving some of the problems connected with the island.

Emancipation of the Medieval Towns. By A. Giry and A. Réville. Translated and edited by Frank Green Bates and Paul Emerson Titsworth. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1907pp. 69. The third number of the Historical Miscellany, edited by Prof. Earle W. Dow, furnishes a companion piece to Seignobos's Feudal Régime, and will be a welcome addition to the resources of the teacher of European history. It cannot pretend, of course, to introduce students to the difficult questions involved in municipal origins, and it covers only the rise of the towns of France. In its field, however, it is unsurpassed; and the general student will learn more by studying the vivid picture which it presents than he could hope to learn by attacking at the start the whole question of municipal organization, in all its uncertainties and complexities. The translators have done their work well; especially do they deserve commendation for accepting frankly terms for which there is really no English equivalent: conjuration, chevauchée, towns of burgessy, etc.

His Grace the Steward and Trial of Peers. By L. W. Vernon Harcourt. London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1907-pp. xii, 500. This book, by the nature of the subjects which it covers, can appeal

to but few students; it traces the history, from early times to the fifteenth century, of an office and an institution which belong in the field of constitutional antiquities rather than in that of constitutional history. If the reader, however, grants the right of the author to choose what subject he pleases, he can feel only admiration for the manner in which the study is executed. The work is based entirely upon original sources, of which a considerable proportion is still unpublished, and is supported by lavish references and quotations.

The Organization of Ocean Commerce. By J. Russell Smith. University of Pennsylvania Publications, 1905. This book is an important study in a hitherto comparatively neglected field. It is largely the result of an investigation into the question of the probable commercial effects of the Panama canal. After considering the character and importance of ocean commerce, the writer discusses it from three principal points of view: (1) charter and line traffic, (2) routes and shipping, (3) harbor and port facilities. Such important subjects as ocean freight rates, the probable effects of the Panama canal upon ocean routes and coaling stations, the competition of the steamer with the sailing vessel in the carrying trade, etc., are carefully treated. The style is well calculated to interest the general public as well as the student whose particular interest is in the field of ocean commerce.

The Crisis at Panama. By Lindon W. Bates. Reprinted from Engineering World, Vol. iv, Nos. 25-28, 1907. This is a scholarly treatment, by an eminent engineer, of the engineering problems involved in constructing the Panama canal. The series of papers gives, in language free from technical terms, a critical analysis of the work now in progress for the general purpose of disclosing what this country is being committed to at Panama. After criticising severely the plan of the canal, under which work is being pushed, the writer observes that "the President or Congress should call for the abandonment of the three locks in flight at Gatun and the substitution on that site of one lock to lead from a lower lake to the summit level." In a word, the writer's project is on the principle of isolated locks, and a summit level of 62.5 feet instead of the 85-foot level as adopted.

Currency and Coin. By Richard B. Pullan. New York: The Occasional Publisher, 1907. This little book presents an ingenious

but wholly unscientific and impracticable scheme for reform of the monetary system of the United States. The author hopes to increase the metallic circulation by a highly artificial kind of bimetalism and to replace the present national bank notes by notes loaned to the banks by the government, the government receiving interest and being secured by the deposit of bonds. The whole treatment shows lack of familiarity with the principles of monetary science and the literature of the subject.

Select List of Books on Reciprocity with Canada. Library of Congress. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907. This list makes a pamphlet containing nine pages of titles of books and magazine articles bearing mainly on recent discussions of the subject, and is compiled by Mr. A. P. C. Griffin, chief bibliographer of the Library of Congress. It cannot be called a bibliography, and it is not intended to be, but it serves its purpose fairly well as a "ready-to-hand guide to accessible material." The great mass of government documents on reciprocity with Canada is not listed, but a page is given to the publication in which trade statistics may be found, particularly those of recent years. There follows an alphabetical list of books made up for the most part of the published speeches of public men, together with several standard works on reciprocity, and a good list of the most prominent articles appearing in periodicals from 1903 to 1907. It is to be hoped that this list will contain, at least approximately, all the material to be found in the Library of Congress.

Ancient Society. By Lewis H. Morgan. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1907. This is a reprint, after three decades, of a famous work. Morgan has been a trusted authority for many years, and will so remain. The present volume is well got up, although the type is occasionally a little marred.

Sur quelques Erreurs de Méthode dans l'Étude de l'Homme primitif. By L. Wodon. Solvay Institut de Sociologie. Bruxelles : Misch et Thron, 1906. The author of this publication thinks that reasoning concerning social origins is too often vitiated by a tendency toward a priori construction, and otherwise failing to observe "the most imperious rules of scientific criticism." Of this there can be no manner of doubt, and great credit is due to M. Wodon for his attack upon such looseness of thinking. His assault is levelled

mainly against Bücher as a type, and develops into an analysis of the terms Wirtschaft and Nicht-Wirtschaft employed mainly in Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft.

The Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the American Bureau of Ethnology. For 1903-1904. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907. This volume contains, besides the usual report of the Chief, two accompanying papers by J. W. Fewkes. One of these is upon the Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands and the other treats of certain antiquities of Eastern Mexico. Both are of the high quality characteristic of the work of the Bureau and of Mr. Fewkes, and are splendidly illustrated by plates and figures.

The Ethics of Force. By H. E. Warner. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1905. This is a small volume consisting of papers read to the Ethical Club of Washington, D. C., at about the time of the Spanish War. The author takes issue with the ordinary views of the nature and demands of heroism and patriotism, which he characterizes as being satisfied with spelling the words with a capital letter and the bursting of fire-crackers. A more rational conception of these ideals would do away with much of the demand for war, which is itself irrational, unprofitable, "a clumsy agency which no longer serves a useful purpose and in the evolution of the race ought not to survive." Indeed, as soon as men come to realize that war does not pay, it will cease. Furthermore, the author seeks to show that war is opposed both to the letter and spirit of the teachings of Christ. In so far as Christianity condones warfare it is, therefore, a departure from the ideals of its founder. The argument is largely based upon the author's conception of the nature of the evolutionary process and opposes the views recently set forth by Bishop Potter and others, that war is the condition of progress and hence will always exist.

Politics and Disease. By A. Goff and J. H. Levy. London: P. S. King and Son, 1906. This is an impassioned denouncement of various prevailing customs in the medical profession such as vivisection and vaccination. The writers take the ground that many such long-time practices have become stereotyped and generally accepted as proper, but that in actuality they are unscientific and invariably wrong.