Again the author disclaims any originality. He has scouted over a wide field to find the best accounts and to combine them into a general sketch. Like Charles Reade, when accused of plagiarism, he must reply, “I have milked three hundred, cows for it, but the butter I make is mine." He has sought to give full credit and is regretful if his memory has failed him at times. In a well known and excellent work on the author's desk there is not a single reference to any source. Yet by no stretch of imagination could its writer have made one per cent of the discoveries mentioned. Here the other method of allowing the authorities to speak for themselves is followed even if smoothness be sacrificed. No one man could know intimately all the ground covered. Many will be struck by the omission of the psychological base. No one questions its importance but too many additional chapters would have been necessary to give it adequate treatment. At least two colleagues of the author on the staff of the University of Pennsylvania have read and criticized every chapter. To them, as well as to many others, the author is heavily indebted, and to all these he gives his sincere thanks. He, however, accepts full responsibility for all errors of fact or emphasis which may be found. To the authors and publishers who have courteously granted permission to use quotations or illustrations, he is likewise grateful. To any teacher who may consider using this material in the classroom the author would say that the surface can be skimmed in half a school year with a class meeting at least twice a week. Special emphasis should be laid on local conditions. Make the student apply the principles to home conditions. Do not try to cover the earth. Is this sociology? The author neither knows nor cares. That is a question of definition. Our life is a unity. Here we have sought to correlate a lot of material fundamental in its relation to all our social life. This material exists in widely scattered volumes. Someone must collect and organize it if the student is to have a comprehensive view. The facts are gathered in the earlier chapters. The few last brief sections but seek to sketch the social situation and to indicate the connection between nature and society. No attempt has been made to do more than to present the problems. The author is most grateful to his associate Dr. Donald R. Young for reading the page proof and preparing the index. C. K. |