large a respectable amount of acquired information about it. Such, however, is not the case. The savings of the frugal have been embarked to the extent of $2,000,000,000 in schemes which claim to be designed for their mutual protection, not upon informed and deliberate judgment, but in great part as the simple result of yielding to the blandishments of the canvasser, combined with a sublime faith in the efficacy of statistical tables and mathematical formulae which were not understood. Recognizing the extent of this ignorance, and the discomfort and distrust to which it is likely to give rise, the author has tried to make the road to knowledge in this direction easier. He has put into reasonable limits, and into logical and accessible shape, the more essential information pertaining to the theory of life-insurance, which heretofore was only to be gleaned from rare and expensive books, which were quite out of the reach of the non-professional reader. That this was no easy task is a fact which should be taken into account when measuring the degree of his success.
The book is divided into two parts. Part I. is theoretical. The tables of mortality are given, and we are shown how from these are obtained the expectation of life, and—assuming a given rate of interest the net premium and the reserve—or, as the author prefers to call it, the trust-fund deposit. The theory of annuities is discussed in a series of problems; and the mechanism of the commutation tables—those working-tools of the actuary—is explained.
Part II. is devoted to the discussion of such practical considerations as: the general management of companies; stock and mutual rates; the various plans of insurance; gross and net valuations, which involve the relation of the companies to the State; surrender values; annual statements, etc. The views under these heads are sound and well put, and, if they were widely circulated and read, would contribute to the welfare of both managers and the insured, and help to put their relations upon a surer footing. Algebraical discussions and formulae and tables are relegated to an appendix, where they can be mastered or omitted, as the reader may choose.
We warmly second the author's hope that this little volume will be widely distributed and carefully studied, but must confess we are not very sanguine about the latter. It is true, as he says, that it contains no science that is very abstruse; there is nothing which a man with a little arithmetic and less algebra may not master, but it does imply that he should put himself to the strain of a little application and study, and this is just what the majority of men are unwilling to undertake. To average an interest account is a very simple matter, but most men who have never learned or have forgotten how to do it will, when one is rendered to them, take the chances on its correctness rather than take the trouble to verify it, and insure themselves against loss.
The issue of this third edition is timely. The management of insurance companies is a matter over which the public mind is just now very properly exercised. We know of no other attempt to give the information required for its intelligent consideration, and, so far as Mr. Smith's book succeeds in throwing light upon the subject, it will be doing a good work.
The Functions of the Brain. By David Ferrier, M. D., F. R. S. With numerous Illustrations. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 323. Price, $3.50.
This work embodies the last considerable effort, made by experimental physiology, to unravel and explain the mode of action of that most complex and obscure of all mechanisms—the brain of animals and of man. The author wisely says: "We are still only on the threshold of the inquiry, and it may be questioned whether the time has even yet arrived for an attempt to explain the mechanism of the brain and its functions." Much, however, has undoubtedly been accomplished toward the attainment of this end, though the steps forward are slow, uncertain, and difficult. What can be positively gained by any special research seems so small in comparison with the complete problem to be solved as to be hardly worth the immense labor involved; yet there is a fascination in the inquiry, and a grandeur in the result aimed at which awakens the enthusiasm of inves-
