318 SHORT NOTICES April reflected on method. An analysis of the method employed by him might have been usefully compared with the Baconian, and might incidentally have thrown some light on the terms in which he is referred to by Bacon. Galileo, on the other hand, both criticized the old logic and expounded his own logical method, though his writings on the subject were published after Bacon's death. The greater portion of the volume is devoted to Bacon himself. There is an elaborate review of his life, an analysis of his works, a discussion of the value of his ideas, and an account of his influence in England and abroad. All this is fully and elaborately supported by documents, a vast mass of opinion -from many quarters being brought together. In matters open to dispute the author's judge- ment usually inclines against Bacon, whether as a man or as a philosopher. ' Bacon's talent ', he says, ' was rather literary than scientific ' : he was a poet and orator rather than a philosopher and man of science (p. 378). I do not think that this judgement is entirely justified. There were many defects in Bacon's equipment and performance ; but he was something more than a mere man of letters ; he had the faculty of vision, and his vision was that of a philosopher. W. R. S. In his Lehrbuch der historischen Methodik (Regensburg : Kosel, 1921) Professor Alfred Feder, S.J., has published the results of many years' educational' work, with a view to assist in the investigation of historical material and the promotion of sound historical writing. His field is very wide, ranging from the most general conception of history in relation to sociology and other human sciences, down to the kind of errors in medieval handwriting which beset the beginner in manuscript study. The condi- tions of obtaining historical certainty, the need of allowing for the human -element in contemporary records, the limits within which historical analogy is a safe guide, are subjects which come up for discussion, fre- quently illustrated by reference to historians ancient and modern. English readers may be disappointed that few of our historians are men- tioned. Among historical sources the author lays stress on the monu- ments in museums, especially coins. Considering the extent of the ground to be covered, and the minute directions and applications of principles required, it was necessary that the style should be much compressed. The book is to be regarded as a comprehensive scheme of lecture notes, .admirable for discussion in class, rather than as a finished literary work. "A. G. The Einfiihrung in das Studium der Geschichte, by Professor Wilhelm Bauer -{Tubingen : Mohr, 1922), is a work similar in general objects to Dr. Feder's. It is, however, larger and more comprehensive, and written in a style more likely to attract the ordinary student. Some of his remarks on the qualifications necessary for a writer of any particular kind of history are wise and suggestive. He believes in the desirability of cultivating a good literary style, and approves of epigrams, though his examples may not always be happy (e.g. Mommsen's ' jenen eckigen vornehmen Muster- soldaten ' of Pompeius). The weaker side of the work appears in the bibliography at the end, although it has evidently been compiled with
