1 DECEMBER 1900, Page 11

The Origins of Art : a Psychological and Sociological Inquiry.

By Yrj.; Him. (Macmillan and Co. 10s.)—The conclusion arrived at by the author is that art is the outcome of man's desire to manifest and perpetuate the moods of his mind. This somewhat obvious result is arrived at after three hundred pages of investigation, mostly of the customs of savages, and the cita- tion of some five hundred authorities. As is to be expected in writing of thisaort, there are many allusions to such things as " pantomimic ideograms," "motor discharges," and "Bacchantic manifestations," and there is a discussion of the physiological theories of the origin of art.