TEXT-BOOK OF SOCIOLOGY.
Text-Book of Sociology. By J. Q. Dealey, Ph.D., and L. F. Ward, LL.D. (Macmillan and Co. 6s. net.)—In this collabora- tion Dr. Dealey, it would seem, acts as editor, giving to the world various statements of sociological theory which have been made by his colleague. (Every chapter ends with "References to Ward's other works.") Whether he has manipulated what he edits we do not know ; but we regret now and then that he has not explained the terms used. We are not all biologists, and such a term as " Karyokinesis " wants a gloss. We must be content with giving one or two specimens of Dr. Ward's speculation. He holds, it would seem, the " gynaecocentric theory." This means that the female sex was primary, that for aeons parthenogenesis was universal, that the male was created late in the history of organic life, but contrived, by means for which we refer the reader to Dr. Ward, to arrogate to himself the dominant position. So much for the development of mankind. Next we take the genesis of a nation. In the golden age men lived peacefully in some tropical region where there was room enough and food enough for all. Then they began to jostle and crowd each other. One race conquers another, and in the earliest stage eats it up. Later on a less summary method prevails. At first the conquerors exercise a constant and unremitting rule over the conquered. They weary of this, and limit their repressive action. First one, then another, group of actions is permitted. This is the genesis of Law. The conquered become more and more necessary to the welfare of the conquerors. Law becomes correlative and mutual. All the while the mixture of races has been going on. And so, to put much into a few words, "a new race is created through the blending of the two." There is "a cross fertilisation of cultures." And now let us take a specimen of these race-products, and see how it lives. Predatory animals live by deception. A fox feigns sleep and catches a chicken. Man deceives the animals, and carries on the process with his own kind. "Deception may almost be called the foundation of business." It is called " shrewdness, and is universally considered proper and upright." The same rule holds good in politics. "Principle is loudly pro- claimed from the stump, interest lies behind it all." "The news- paper is simply an organ of deception." In warfare we have strategy, in international relations diplomacy. "Fashionable society consists largely in sham ; quackery is found in the pro- fessions and charlatanism in soientific bodies " ; "falsehood permeates business, and most advertisements are in the nature of intentional deceptions." Perhaps this comes from that late intruder, the male. The book is very clever and very readable, but, we cannot help thinking, a trifle paradoxical.
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