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Statistical bibliography in relation to the growth of modern civilization
276
BOOK REVIEWS.
IJ. F. I.
STATISTICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO THE GROWTH OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. By E. W y n d h a m Hulme, B.A., Sandars Reader in Bibliography. Sometime Librarian of the Patent Office. Printed for the author by Butler and Tanner. Grafton and Company, London. Small 4to, 44 pages, tables and charts. This book contains the substance of two lectures delivered at the University of Cambridge in 1921. It represents an unusual line of investigation. It is an effort to determine what may be called the " m o m e n t " of civilization at a given date by an analysis of the bibliography thereof. The inquiry is limited to England, undoubtedly due to the vastness of the subject and to the especial opportunities which the author had through his professional positions. Yet it would seem that the attempt to write the history of civilization by examining British records would be somewhat like attempting to build up a department of natural history by examining the rocks, fauna or flora of limited area. This is not said in derogation of the book, for tim ideas upon which it is based are original and the data given are evidently derived by careful and difficult searching. The author, indeed, is conscious of the partial character of the work, and makes special mention of the data that German libraries are said to conrain, such as a large collection of works on pyrotechnics, the term being used hi a wide sense, and not in our ordinary limit of "fireworks." There is, however, another point to be regarded. How far has the destruction of manuscript affected the record of human literary and scientific activity? The mistake of taking existing material as indexes of the character of a given age has been frequently made in geology and anthropology. Darwin's chapter on the imperfection of the geological record has a value beyond the purpose for which it was written. It is a trite remark that we cannot know the extent of our ignorance, but it is a principle that is often overlooked. Mr. Hulme is all evolutionist. He evidently regards that doctrine as no longer in dispute. He does not expect any radical change in the human race. " Man," he says " represents a type of organism in its approximately final stage." Neither in his mental nor physical structure " has he visibly advanced or receded from the standard to which he is found to conform in the paleolithic age." This is somewhat discouraging, and many biologists and sociologists may take issue with the assertion. Our knowledge of prehistoric man is very scanty, hi some periods he evidently had considerable artistic ability, both in painting and sculpture, but this work was almost entirely reproductions of objects with which he was familiar. Of the dramatic, inventive side of art there is little if any record. Yet as regards the historic human being, at least, not further back than a few milleniums, it may be said that while the race has gained enormously in knowledge, it has not gained much in wisdom. The basic principles of human action were as familar to the ancient Egyptians, BabyIonians, Jews and Greeks as to us. Our notions of the life and work of these peoples are unquestionably seriously restricted by the lack of a large amount of literature that has been destroyed. Necessarily, the extent of the book enables the author to give only a limited survey of his subject. A list is given of the manuscripts preserved in the British Isles dating not later than 15oo. It appears that medical treatises constitute
Aug., I923.]
;77
BOOK R E V I E W S .
half of the items of this list, while the art of war, architectnre and decorative arts are represented by very few titles. Taken as an index of human activities during that period, it seems to show that by far the most energy was given to healing. Undoubtedly, disease is always with us, and always such as to urge us to secure relief, but the period covered by the list was a period of war, building of castles and churches, and development of many forms of decoration. As an index of the character and extent of British progress in the applied arts and sciences, a list of British patents from I561 to x92I is given in a graph, with comparative population curves. There seems to be a typographic error on page 19, since the chart is there stated to give the patents from I55o to i82I. In the copy in hand there has also been, apparently, a misbinding of charts, as No. 3 immediately follows No. i. A graph is also given of population-increase and issue of patents in the United States from 185o to I9zI. The lines follow pretty closely. There is a distinct peak from I914 to I918, which may be in part due to the stimulation in invention in war appliances on acc~mnt of the extensive introduction of new methods of offence. A curious fact is mentioned in connection with the beginning of the literature of Technology. " The order of the appearance of this literature is not the order of utility, for the literature of Technology begins with Song, or as we should call it to-day--Didactic Poetry." The reference is to a poem, " Dyer's Fleece," which describes a spinning invention of Lewis Paul a year before it was patented. The author's outlook on the present-day industria' civilization is that " t h e Age of Power is approaching its natural limits." " Thus, the industrial future of civilization must be in the direction of a gradual transformation of its mineral basis to one founded upon the utilization of natural sources of energy and the building up of products from elements of which there is practically an inexhaustible supply." The book contains a large amount of original and interesting matter, well worth the attention of the sociologist and historian. The author deserves much credit for the labor he has bestowed on the text. tables and charts, by the preparation of which he has opened a new and useful field of discussion. Necessarily, some of the statements will arouse dissent, and the data presented constitute but a small proportion of what will be needed for definite conclusions. HENRY LEFFMANN. RF.I'RINT AND CIRCULAR SERIES OF TIlE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. Fine
and Research Chemicals, second revision. Issued by the Committee on Research Chemicals, Clarence J. West, Secretary of the Committee. 45 pages, 8vo, pamphlet. Washington, District of Columbia, Council, t923. This list of several thousand rarer chemicals, now made in the United States, is an encouraging indication of the degree to which this country is becoming independent of other nations, especially Germany. A list of firms engaged to a greater or less degree in such manufacture is given, and such firms as sell directly in comparatively small lots are noted, which will be of much use to the ordinary worker. It is reported that biological stains and indicators, which have for a long while been regarded as special German
BOOK REVIEWS.
IJ. F. I.
STATISTICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO THE GROWTH OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. By E. W y n d h a m Hulme, B.A., Sandars Reader in Bibliography. Sometime Librarian of the Patent Office. Printed for the author by Butler and Tanner. Grafton and Company, London. Small 4to, 44 pages, tables and charts. This book contains the substance of two lectures delivered at the University of Cambridge in 1921. It represents an unusual line of investigation. It is an effort to determine what may be called the " m o m e n t " of civilization at a given date by an analysis of the bibliography thereof. The inquiry is limited to England, undoubtedly due to the vastness of the subject and to the especial opportunities which the author had through his professional positions. Yet it would seem that the attempt to write the history of civilization by examining British records would be somewhat like attempting to build up a department of natural history by examining the rocks, fauna or flora of limited area. This is not said in derogation of the book, for tim ideas upon which it is based are original and the data given are evidently derived by careful and difficult searching. The author, indeed, is conscious of the partial character of the work, and makes special mention of the data that German libraries are said to conrain, such as a large collection of works on pyrotechnics, the term being used hi a wide sense, and not in our ordinary limit of "fireworks." There is, however, another point to be regarded. How far has the destruction of manuscript affected the record of human literary and scientific activity? The mistake of taking existing material as indexes of the character of a given age has been frequently made in geology and anthropology. Darwin's chapter on the imperfection of the geological record has a value beyond the purpose for which it was written. It is a trite remark that we cannot know the extent of our ignorance, but it is a principle that is often overlooked. Mr. Hulme is all evolutionist. He evidently regards that doctrine as no longer in dispute. He does not expect any radical change in the human race. " Man," he says " represents a type of organism in its approximately final stage." Neither in his mental nor physical structure " has he visibly advanced or receded from the standard to which he is found to conform in the paleolithic age." This is somewhat discouraging, and many biologists and sociologists may take issue with the assertion. Our knowledge of prehistoric man is very scanty, hi some periods he evidently had considerable artistic ability, both in painting and sculpture, but this work was almost entirely reproductions of objects with which he was familiar. Of the dramatic, inventive side of art there is little if any record. Yet as regards the historic human being, at least, not further back than a few milleniums, it may be said that while the race has gained enormously in knowledge, it has not gained much in wisdom. The basic principles of human action were as familar to the ancient Egyptians, BabyIonians, Jews and Greeks as to us. Our notions of the life and work of these peoples are unquestionably seriously restricted by the lack of a large amount of literature that has been destroyed. Necessarily, the extent of the book enables the author to give only a limited survey of his subject. A list is given of the manuscripts preserved in the British Isles dating not later than 15oo. It appears that medical treatises constitute
Aug., I923.]
;77
BOOK R E V I E W S .
half of the items of this list, while the art of war, architectnre and decorative arts are represented by very few titles. Taken as an index of human activities during that period, it seems to show that by far the most energy was given to healing. Undoubtedly, disease is always with us, and always such as to urge us to secure relief, but the period covered by the list was a period of war, building of castles and churches, and development of many forms of decoration. As an index of the character and extent of British progress in the applied arts and sciences, a list of British patents from I561 to x92I is given in a graph, with comparative population curves. There seems to be a typographic error on page 19, since the chart is there stated to give the patents from I55o to i82I. In the copy in hand there has also been, apparently, a misbinding of charts, as No. 3 immediately follows No. i. A graph is also given of population-increase and issue of patents in the United States from 185o to I9zI. The lines follow pretty closely. There is a distinct peak from I914 to I918, which may be in part due to the stimulation in invention in war appliances on acc~mnt of the extensive introduction of new methods of offence. A curious fact is mentioned in connection with the beginning of the literature of Technology. " The order of the appearance of this literature is not the order of utility, for the literature of Technology begins with Song, or as we should call it to-day--Didactic Poetry." The reference is to a poem, " Dyer's Fleece," which describes a spinning invention of Lewis Paul a year before it was patented. The author's outlook on the present-day industria' civilization is that " t h e Age of Power is approaching its natural limits." " Thus, the industrial future of civilization must be in the direction of a gradual transformation of its mineral basis to one founded upon the utilization of natural sources of energy and the building up of products from elements of which there is practically an inexhaustible supply." The book contains a large amount of original and interesting matter, well worth the attention of the sociologist and historian. The author deserves much credit for the labor he has bestowed on the text. tables and charts, by the preparation of which he has opened a new and useful field of discussion. Necessarily, some of the statements will arouse dissent, and the data presented constitute but a small proportion of what will be needed for definite conclusions. HENRY LEFFMANN. RF.I'RINT AND CIRCULAR SERIES OF TIlE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. Fine
and Research Chemicals, second revision. Issued by the Committee on Research Chemicals, Clarence J. West, Secretary of the Committee. 45 pages, 8vo, pamphlet. Washington, District of Columbia, Council, t923. This list of several thousand rarer chemicals, now made in the United States, is an encouraging indication of the degree to which this country is becoming independent of other nations, especially Germany. A list of firms engaged to a greater or less degree in such manufacture is given, and such firms as sell directly in comparatively small lots are noted, which will be of much use to the ordinary worker. It is reported that biological stains and indicators, which have for a long while been regarded as special German