NEW BOOKS. 415 The Gospel According to Darwin. By W. HUTCHINSON. Chicago : Open Court Publishing Co., 1898. Pp. xi., 241. Price, $1.50 ; 6s. In this book we have an attempt, by a physician of wide experience, " to get a bird's-eye view of a few of the influences affecting human hope and human happiness from the standpoint of that view of (and attitude towards) the universe which is best expressed by the term Darwinism ". It is, of course, impossible to work out a system of ethics, naturalistic or other in 250 12mo pages. But the author writes his ethics at first hand ; and, despite omissions and occasional inconsistencies, his book well re- pays reading and study. In chapter i. it is shown that the ' fifth gospel ' has its own answer to the problems of its forerunners. The existence of evil is replaced by pro- gress through conflict ; morality is derived from the family affections ; personal immortality is given up for an immortality of our physical con- stitution, and of our influence, so far as this is for good. Chapter ii. argues that the good sunlight, life, love is omnipotent; chapter iii., that our virtues are older than our vices or ourselves, and that instinct, the crystallised experience of thousands of generations, is of the very highest value as a guide to conduct. Chapter iv. maintains that death is not opposed to life, does not involve waste of energy, and is not a painful ordeal. Chapter v. works out the question of eternal life : all that is true, good, brave and virtuous becomes part of the framework of the universe ; all that is base falls by its own weight. Chapter vi., ' Love as a Factor in Evolution,' sets the arguments of Darwin, Krapotkine and Arthur Thomson against those of Huxley. Chapter vii. enforces Mr. Kipling's doctrine, that courage is the first virtue ; and chapter viii. em- phasises the strength of beauty. Chapters ix. and x. are sociological : they discuss the benefits of overpopulation, the economics of prostitution, and the duty of reproduction. Chapter xi. sets forth the uses and value of pain, the 'mother of the mind as muscle is its father'. Chapter xii. teaches that " joy is not only perfectly legitimate, but one of the most wholesome and elevating aims which can be found. As an incentive to vigorous, healthy development, both moral and physical, it takes its place beside the other great motive impulses, love, courage and hunger." Truth and Error : or the Science of Intellection. By J. W. POWELL. Chicago : Open Court Publishing Co., 1898. Pp. 428. Price, $1.75 ; 8s. On its constructive side, this work is an attempt to work out a hylo- zoistic metaphysics, with especial reference to the resulting epistemology. At the same time it carries on a continual polemic against the " reifica- tions of the void " which vitiate idealism and materialism alike. In both regards, it is the work of an amateur in philosophy. The author's scientific reputation will, doubtless, bring him readers ; and the reader will find some compensation for the difficulties of a strange terminology and condensed style in the shrewdness and insight of many incidental remarks and criticisms. As metaphysics or theory of knowledge the contents of the book are worthless. The fundamental thesis is that the universe is ' pentalogic '. Matter has five constitutive properties : number, space, motion, time and judg- ment. These are rea not artificial ; founded in nature, not creations of the mind. Correlated with them are five essentials (absolute) and five variables (relative). All alike are referable to five categories : kinds, forms, forces, causations, concepts. Then come the systems of detail :
