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sion of social control. The futility of this general theory is nowhere more apparent than when the author stands helpless before these fun- damental problems of the present time.
It is to be lamented that, instead of working out clearly some of his ideas and their application to institutions, the author has consumed so much of his time in useless repetition, and in exclamatory rhetoric about the cosmic process and the overwhelming significance of pro- jected efficiency. Indeed, the author's style may be called myop'c. Possibilities loom grandly before him, but the outlines are not clearly and distinctly seen. He is constantly surprised at his own thought, and the idea of "the world-process trembling on the brink of con- sciousness " disturbs his peace of mind and calmness of judgment. So much of a mannerism has his constant surprise become that he is " profoundly impressed " even by the superficiality of other writers. Mr. Kidd has indeed produced a significant work, or rather a symp- tomatic work. One of the most discouraging characteristics of the present time is the growing adverseness of large numbers of people to the patient processes of research by which alone progress can be made in the sciences. Rapid generalizations and bold theories which cast the experience of a century to the winds are much easier to produce and much more "striking;" but such systems and theories, though they may contain attractive and even significant thoughts, can hope to be of permanent influence and usefulness only when they themselves rest upon a sound foundation of scientific knowledge, and do not utterly disregard the accepted results of the scientific work of the civil- ized world.
PAUL S. REINSCH.
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.
The American Federal State: A Text-Book in Civics for High Schools and Academies. By ROSCOE LEWIS ASHLEY, A.M. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1902. Pp. xlv+599.
THIS text-book in civics departs somewhat from the old-fashioned text-book treatment of the subject, in that it attempts to combine in one volume an exposition of political theory, American political history, and a discussion of the form and working of the American federal government. Mr. Ashley opens his book with an introductory chapter of some forty pages on " The Elements of Politics," and then devotes 156 pages to the historical development of our form of govern-
