G. Stanley Hall. by Lorine PruetteReview by: Frank H. HankinsSocial Forces, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Mar., 1927), pp. 536-537Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3004531 .

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536 SOCIAL FORCES

the myth of inherent Nordic superiority and "the popular conception which has got abroad in this country as to the pre- eminent intellectual caliber, herculean courage, personal integrity, statesmanlike qualities, and broad vision of Mr. Cool- idge." This latter the author feels obliged to treat as he considers it the greatest obstacle to social intelligence, the greatest single evidence of our lack of collective intelligence in the United States today.

Of all the hindrances to continued prog- ress, perhaps the most indefensible is the mass of pernicious and false beliefs in the minds of the people. It is only by reading History and Social Intelligence that one can get any adequate idea of the audacity and thoroughness of the debunking of America that the new historian will accomplish if we give him a hearing. Conventional but erroneous ideas concerning almost every period of our history are given their coup de grace. The fathers are exhibited as human beings rather than demigods. The unflattering origins and insignificant di- mensions of the War of i8i2 are revealed, as well as the colossal waste of contem- porary warfare. The now celebrated arti- cle on World War Guilt is included. The author, without becoming petty, has succeeded in affording many delights to the scornful, and moreover is often nobly constructive.

While the present reviewer has the greatest sympathy with the point of view and a very enthusiastic admiration for the presentation of Mr. Barnes, he cannot deny that the book will raise up enemies to itself. Those who are out of sympathy with the newer developments of which Mr. Barnes is so notable an exemplar will seize upon minor points as excuses for attacks. Forceful utterance is likely to be over- statement. Is the following one? Among the references to the fathers of our country,

one finds: ... . . . the framers of the Constitution, most of whom McMaster, Beard and Smith have shown to be well fitted from the standpoint of political morality for the office of mayor in a con- temporary American municipality or for state committeemen in a modern party organization. We may accept the verdict of Jefferson that they averaged well for their generation, but could be matched for ability and vastly excelled as to political knowledge by any subsequent generation in American history." Certainly one would never learn from our author that Beard has written: "It is not merely patriotic pride that compels one to assert that never in the history of assemblies has there been a convention of men richer in political experience and in practical knowledge, or endowed with a pro- founder insight into the springs of human action and the intimate essence of govern- ment." (Beard, American Government and Politics, New and Revised edition, PP. 44-45.)

Such caviling over details apart, we may applaud the appearance of a book which attempts a more important task than the remedying of that neglect of the classics by America which Ezra Pound has lamented with the aid of so many ex- clamation marks; it is a book which, if read by the millions or even hundreds of thousands who will never read it, would clear the way for an application of science to human destiny such as might make real that dream of Hardy's.

"Consciousness the will informing Till it fashion all things fair."

G. STANLEY HALL. By Lorine Pruette. New York: D. Appleton and Company, i926, Xi, 266 pp. $2.50.

Every one who knew G. Stanley Hall in the fleslh and a multitude of those who have only heard of him will find pleasure

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LIBRARY AND WORK SHOP 537

and profit in reading Miss Pruette's beautifully told story. It is no simple task to delineate the character of so versatile a genius, so many-faceted a mind, as was the creator and long-time president of Clark University. But the author has succeeded in presenting a veritable photo- graph. Her picture, indeed, has in it just that artistic touch of idealization which produces a realism more true than a bald reality. Hall had the gift of genius and Miss Pruette has caught the inner essence of that genius in her designation "play- boy." He roamed widely over the fields of deeper human interest, with an insatia- ble curiosity and an almost adolescent eagerness, illuminating a multitude of problems and obscuring some, solving few. Not a genuine scientist, he was a rare com- bination of orator, preacher, man of let- ters and scholar. Withal he was cer- tainly one of the greatest teachers of all time. The rare qualities of his person- ality, his strength and his weakness, are portrayed by the author with marked literary skill and charm.

FRANK H. HANKINS.

Smith College.

PSYCHOLOGY AND POLITICS and Other Essays. By W. H. R. Rivers. With a prefatory note by G. Elliot Smith and an Appreciation by C. S. Myers. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 192.3, vii, I8I pp. $3.75.

Dr. Rivers was one of the most brilliant scholars of this generation. He not only did excellent research work but he pos- sessed, in addition, the marks of the in- ventive genius. That is to say, he had much of the creative artist as well as the rigid laboratory scientist in his make-up. In physiology he did signal work on problems of fatigue, of the influence of alcohol and drugs on conduct and the like. In psychology his contributions ranged all the way from experimental investiga- tions in vision and psycho-physics to

social psychology. In medicine he did much work in the field of mental disorders especially during the World War and is responsible, in part, for the rather sensible reception of psycho-analysis in Great Britain. And not least of his contribu- tions to modern science has been his work in anthropology. His part in the Torres Straits expedition, his study of the Todas and his important work on the social organization of primitive peoples have made substantial contributions to our understanding of the life of native peoples.

Like other men of inventive turn of mind, however, Dr. Rivers was given to the development of theories which, though brilliant, were often open to serious question from more skeptical men of slower experimental attitude. This was his handicap and toward the end of life, he became entangled in Elliot Smith's theories of cultural diffusion in anthropol- ogy which vitiated much of his later anthropological work. In the present compilation of papers several of these faults come to light.

The first three papers: "Psychology and Politics," "Instinct in Relation to So- ciety" and "The Concept of the Morbid in Sociology" belong together and give the author's view of the intimate contribution which psychology must offer political practice. The balance of the papers in this volume are selected from addresses given at different times.

In this opening paper, the author indi- cates that the older individual psychology has really very little to offer the social sciences. We must go into the concrete aspects of social living as did Graham Wallas in his "Human Nature and Poli- tics" if we are to uncover the facts of psychology which are important in social control. We must use both statistical analysis of collective data and also qualita- tive interpretations. Two types of social

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