AVEC VVE TABLE ANALYTIQUE PAU DESTUTT DE TRACY

Huitième édition, augmentée de notes, et précédée d*une Notice historique et philosophique sur la vie, les travaux et la doctrine de Cabanis ;

PAR L. PEISSE.

Un beau volume in-8 de 750 pages. — Prix. ... 7 fr. 50 c

Le livre des Jtapports du physique et du moral de t homme est resté comme un des plus brillants et des plus solides monuments de l'esprit et de la science de cette forte génération qui, après avoir préparé la révolution par ses idées, l'accomplit elle-même dnns les faits. Les vicissitudes de la philosophie et de la science, depuis un demi-siècle, n'ont rien fait perdre de sa popularité à ce bel ouvrage, qui est devenu classique. Aussi le public pensant accueillera avec intérêt une édition nouvelle de ce beau livre, à laquelle un écrivain et critique distingué, M.L. Peisse, a ajouté un travail important sur la J^ie, les Ouvrages et les Doctrines de Cabanis, et de nombreuses notes destinées à la discussion, et quelquefois à la rectification des idées de ce philosophe. On a joint au livre la Lettre sur les causes premières , dans laquelle Cabanis explique sa dernière pensée sur ces grands problèmes philosophiques. Le livre des Bapports et la Lettre contiennent tout le système de Cabanis : ces deux ouvrages s'interprètent et se complètent mutuellement; l'édition publiée par M. Peisse est la seule qui les réunisse, et c'est aussi la seule qui soit accompagnée d*un travail historique et critique digne du sujet et de l'auteur.

SPANI8H ANTHBOPOLOOIGAL SOOIETT. 265

' it has advanced much, and gaîned much, but it bas still tbe most steep and rugged part of its patb to cHmb ; it bas still to conquer for itself a name and a place in tbe republic of letters and science — tbe only road to tbis eminence is by persevering labour and patient investigation of wbat it bas to study. Let us undertake our task witb ardour ; let us justify by our deeds tbe rigbts we bave already acquired ; let us give an example to societies already organised, by our labours ; and tben let us demand tbat tbey grant us, wbat we bave known bow to deserve, a place among tbose societies wbo do bonour to tbe science tbey represent and tbe countiy wbicb bas fostered tbem.

Offspring of two bumble médical professors, tbe Spanisb Antbropological Society interests ail classes, and appeals to tbem to sustain and nourisb ber witb pure and wbolesome food ; to inspire ber witb vivifying beat and ligbt for guidance. May sbe be a seal of bonour and glory to tbe science wbicb gave ber birtb, and also a contre of refuge for every zealous and entbusiastic student to wbom tbe doors of otber societies are closed, &om tbeir narrowness of opinion. Wbat more cpuld we désire, tban to be able one day to exclaim, " Free I was bom, free I grew, and free I. made myself respected."

Tbe médical profession in Spain bas suffîcient life and vigour in itself, witbout asking anytbing from Government ; ^ben it does ask protection, wben it solicits any especial professional régulation, or for protective laws, it in reality only sbows tbe great considération we migbt acquire in tbe society in wbicb we live, and gives less an idea of our weakness tban of our strengtb.

No, tbis is not tbe road we must take if we wisb to attain a certain rank. If a solitary student by study and labour gains a well-merited famé, wbicb is certain to place bim before bis bretbren and tbe public, tbe step wbicb would lead bim to rank and fortune, is neitber bereditary nor won by force. If you ask for assistance from a class composed of individuals of tbis social and scientific bierarcby, — of tbis enviable aristocracy wbose beraldic sbields tbey bave engraved in quarterings of gold and topaz, tbey are ready to extend witb

' gênerons band ail tbat may recruit tbe bodily but not tbe moral strengtb. Tbis is little better tban to beg for socialism, and so mucb tbe more odious as it is privileged.

Let tbe profession of medicine tread in a more bonourable and fruitfùl field ; let it go forward in tbe van, iinproving tbe sanitary condition of tbose places uncared for by Government ; lèt tbem study sanitary reforms, basing tbem on statistical facts ; let tbem anticipate govemment, by sbowing tbem tbe way to perfect tbe bygiene in bospitals, camps, cities, and cemeteries ; let tbem establisb a profes- Borsbip, wbicb sbould be gratuitous but as compétent as tbe costly

266 anthbopolooicâl review.

officiai one, to instruct those who failed to pass our public examinations, rousing, at the saine time, a noble émulation — ^the one, who is the guide of youth from love to his profession and the wish to adyanoe science — and the one who teaches only from a sensé of duty. When any class of society, let it be what it may, registers on its records such a standard of merit, it needs not to ask for protection. No, on the contrary, it may say to those who command, I will show you the way to better the welfare and life of those entrusted to you- Give place, then, to sovereign intellect !

I must conclude, gentlemen. I hâve already trespassed too much on your gênerons forbearance, which bas been verified again to-day ; it has been my tum to be the favoured individual, and I am most grateful to you. I know I hâve passed beyond my limits in this slight sketch, but pardon me in considération of my good intentions and the humility with which I ask for it. I felt that to you shoiild be consecrated the modest flower which bloomed on the little culti-

vated field of my inteUigence ; it does not boast of beauty, but in place of it has a perfume which ennobles it, that of my gratitude, that which is expressed in the sublime Latin sentence, " Vitam impendere vero." Francisco de Asis Dblgado Jugo.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY.*

" Qui enim secundum camem sunt, quœ camis sunt sapiont. Qui yer6 secundàm spiritum sont, quae sunt spîritua sentiunt." — S. P. ad Bom.^ viii, 5.

The above motto, which we find adoming the title-page, at once proclaims the object of the author, and the tendency of his treatise, which is pre-eminently orthodox. Not unlike the Giessen Professer mentioned by Vogt, our author looks at anthropology with a spiritual eye, and the resuit he arrives at may be easily guessed. Physiology, he complains in his préface, has ceased to be the science of the natiu-e of man, but has become the science of organic funotions. Its pretended vital or organic théories are those of an empty and revolting sensualism; in short, it is répugnant, Physiology, therefore, should be cleared of the false théories issued from an empirical materialism, and should be confined to the study of the

• Physiologie Générale ; Traité d'Anthropologie Physiologique et PhUoso^ phique. Par le Docteur F. Frédault. 8vo, pp. 864. Paris : 1863. General Physiology; a Treatise on Physiological and Phiiosophical Anthropology.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. 267

functions of the parts, and so become the science of facts and observations. But then there must be raised by her side, as a sîster, not as a rival, a synthetic science, which, by bringing the knowledge of metaphysics to bear upon the fàcta, collects in a skilfuUy co-ordinated ensemble ail the gênerai questions ivhich are indispensable to an exact and complète knowledge of the nature of man. Such, our author tells us in his préface, are the ideas which induced him to undertake a re-installation of gênerai physiology, or anthropology, by conjoining into a legitimate union the wisdom of the philosophical schools with modem science. Dr. Frédault professes to be an humble follower of his revered master, J. P. Tessier, whose constant efforts were directed towards the re-installation of a Christian spiritualism in médical science.

The work is divided into five books.

After an introduction on the history of gênerai physiology, Dr. Frédault discusses, in the first book, the question conceming the unity of the human species. But before entering on it our author tells us frankly :

" We, as well as the best informed and most serions savants^ entertain not the slightest doubt about the existence of only one human species. It is an old truth, a dogma of humanity, which it appears to us impossible seriously to attack ; and ail the objections to it seem to us misérable Jeux d'esprit. But science, nevertheless, is not satisôed with the simple affirmation of a dogma. It requires demonstation, proofs, and thèse we are about to give in this first book." (P. 17.)

Our author accordingly proceeds to treat of the doctrine of species in gênerai, commencing, as in duty bound, with the définition given by Moses that God created ail beings after their kinds, (secundum species suasjy and finishing with Cardinal Wiseman. Then foUow chapters on the essential characters of species and varieties, forms of language and religion, and after citing a host of authorities, sacred and profane, Dr. Frédault arrives at the conclusion, that the différences in height, colon r, the formation of the limbs, and of the cranium and pelvis are no wise spécifie, but merely accessory characters ; that ail races can interbreed and produce indefinitely fertile descendants, and consequently that mankind form but one genus, one species, one order, and indeed a separate kingdom, in as much as religion, language, morality, industry, and the pursuit of the fine arts, which are the essential characters of human nature, separate man entircly from the lower animais.

The second book, containing four chapters, treats : of the soûl, or the formai cause ; of the body, or the matcrial cause ; of efficient causes, and of final causes.

266 ânthropolooical review.

The formula of the nature of man which, according to our author, résulta &om what îs ^roved in the above four chapters, is the follow-. ing : —

'' Man îs the natural compound of a reasonable soûl substantially united to a body 3 actîng by efficient causes, and put into action by final causes."

We bave no space for extracts, and must confine ourselves to an enumeration of the rest of the books and their contents. The third book treats of acts, végétative, animal, and intellectual. The fourth book is devoted to the laws of relation ; the fifth to modality ; the sixth and seventh to life and death, and the work concludes with a few observations on the soûl in a separate state.

The author seems to us to hâve entirely failed in the object he aimed at, namely, in creating a synthetic science of man by engrafking metaphysics on physiology. Dr. Frédault, we know not on what principles, considers gênerai physiology and anthropology to be convertible terms, for on the second title page we find, Traité de Physiologie générale ou (or) Anthropologie, We are not aware that in any language gênerai physiology and anthropology, properly so called,are considered as synonymous terms. The results obtained appear to us meagre for so prétentions an inquiry. What must strike the reader is that in the chapter on species the names of some of the most eminent modem naturalists shine by their absence. Thus we find no mention of Darwin and many others, whilst the work is overloaded with citations from saints and fathers of the church, which might well hâve been omitted without much loss to the reader. We find, therefore, not much scrupulousness in weighing évidence. A gocd work dealing with a shallow and selfHsuffîcient raw materialism will always be welcomed : but the man who is to imdertake it must himself stand midway between extrême opinions and neither be a fanatical materialist, nor dominated by an improperly so-called orthodoxy, which our author evidently is, and whom, therefore, we cannot accept as a guide in science. We readily give Dr. Frédault crédit for great research, but his arguments are neither new, nor do they throw any additional light on the subjects treated of. Still, with àll its defects, we recommend the work to the attention of our readers, feeling sure that their labours will not be altogether imrewarded, for they will find in it quotations from a number of meritorious authors long forgotten, and whom our author bas the merit of having rescued from oblivion.