logical science derived — can make it clear, why some things are given with great detail and others wholly omitted; or why the proportion, and order, and relative space, assigned to the articles in this collection are such as the author has chosen.
Doubtless this same fact accounts, in part, for the great difficulty which the critical reader will find, in ascertaining just what is Professor James' latest, not to say, his final, view upon several difficult and disputed questions. The author's own mental evolution in dealing with the problems of psychology is displayed, to a remarkable degree, upon the pages of his book. He takes us, in a very captivating way, both into the slower growth and into the explosive struggles of his own emotional as well as intellectual experience with respect to all these problems. We are often prevented, however, from being able to follow the order of this evolution because we are not sure that it corresponds to the order of the chapters.
The learning displayed by Professor James is admirable. The numerous references and citations which his volumes contain never have the appearance of being dragged incontinently forward; they come spontaneously from a real fulness of resource which is the result of years of serious and varied reading. Nor can it be said that he has neglected any school, or branch, of psychological science, however remotely separated from the authorities which he values most highly. On the contrary, the gross bulk of the book is considerably increased by lengthy verbatim citations from many writers; though the wisdom of just such, and so lengthy, citations is by no means always obvious.
Different readers will differ greatly in their estimate of the spirit, temper, and taste or practical judgment, with which these volumes discuss debated questions in psychology. The discussion is throughout intensely personal. Each reader's estimate will probably therefore depend upon whether he has, or has not, a personal acquaintance with the author. Those who have not this acquaintance may mistake the real animus with which their favorite writers or cherished opinions are treated by Professor James. Admirers of Herbart, for example, or even those who recognize the Herbartian psychology as one of the most fruitful
