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The two generous sized volumes of this work deal, the first one with some general ideas underlying phallic worship, and the second one almost entirely with the history of prostitution. The chapters are written by separate authors and have the superficial appearance of having been prepared for the occasion. However, as one reads along and takes note, there are many indications, such as the references made by the several authors, that some of the essays at least were written some years ago, and when one sees reference to Mr. Darwin's “The Descent of Man” as a recent work (p. 575) the cat is out of the bag. Such Sherlock Holmes methods, however, are not really necessary. The several essays—perfectly good essays in their different fields—have the flavor in each instance of the past century. Take, for example, the essays on prostitution—this oldest of professions. It is dealt with just as those who are familiar with the literature are accustomed to seeing it dealt with after the manner of Sanger, whose work for many years was the outstanding history of this subject. There isn't a line in any of the essays that indicates that the author has had any ideas on the subject since the close of the nineteenth century. One wonders, therefore, just why these essays were put together, unless the whole enterprise—perish the thought—is a commercial one.
The above criticisms, however, are applicable with one notable exception. The last essay in the second volume, “Phallic Worship to a Secularized Sex,” by Theodore Schroeder, is a real conribution to the subject. Schroeder's essay takes into consideration some of the movements in thought towards these general subjects which have been in progress during this present century. He undertakes to view phallicism in its historical aspects, define its present status, and predict from these data the probabilities for the future. He sees underlying this process a definite movement which can be formulated as a law, and as all such formulations, so