- XVIII. The Sociological Importance of Agglomerations. Jules Mandello.
- XIX. The Adaptation of Individuals to the Social Environment. Nicolas Abrikossof.
- XX. Influence of the Number of Social Units upon the Character of Societies. Georg Simmel.
Personal letters have been received from several of the writers in this list, expressing something like envy at the comparatively fortunate condition of sociology in the United States. We have not yet made such progress, however, that we can assemble the sociologists of the country in a conference like that which produced these papers. It is to be hoped that this confession will not have to be repeated at the end of another year.
The Evolution of Modern Capitalism. By John A. Hobson. Chas. Scribner's Sons, pp. xvi + 384.
Trusts, or Industrial Combinations in the United States. By Ernst Von Halle. Macmillan & Co., pp. xvi + 350.
The Evolution of Industry. By Henry Dyer. Macmillan & Co., pp. xv + 307.
These three books have each already received attention from many readers and critics, but considered together they are of additional interest. Though written without reference to each other, these discussions have evidently been inspired by a common motive, and they are illustrations of a common method. Neither of these books alone, nor the three combined, can be said to have formulated a theory of social dynamics, or to have illustrated a faultless method of dynamic inquiry. Yet they do what is at present better than this, viz., they manifest the need of isolating certain groups of fact, in which series of dynamic social actions are in operation, and of subjecting these to microscopic examination in order to ascertain the sequences of action. In other words these books apply the positive method to the classes of facts which are relatively the most accessible and most instructive, but most neglected by social philosophers of conservative temper, viz., the facts of contemporary society.
Although neither of these books has accomplished the task of analysis and interpretation which is necessary for dynamic theory, yet each of them has in a measure anticipated the method which theorists in methodology are coöperating unconsciously to make precise and
