of the play; (i. e. verse without music in the dialogue, lyrical song in the chorus) in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear, effecting the proper catharsis or purgation of these emotions "-Butcher.

It would be impossible in a short article to attempt to review all the different theories that have been set forth to explain the latter part of this definition. An old and very common theory interpreted the effect of tragedy as a purging of the emotions of the undesirable elements that they contain. Jacob Bernays, after making a very exhaustive study of the question, offered an explanation that has met with wide approval. He considered catharsis a medical metaphor which denotes an effect upon the soul analagous to the effect of medicine upon the human body. Tragedy produces its effect by a homeopathic treatment, which in medicine means that a disease is cured by administering a drug which, if given to a well person, will produce symptoms similar to the disease itself. So tragedy excites in the spectators emotions in a weakened form, and by this act of excitation the emotions spend themselves and the individual is freed for a time from any morbid form of them.

Certain emotions are common to all men in a greater or less degree. Without the proper external stimulus they may not manifest themselves, and again they are liable to break forth in a way that is positively harmful. Tragedy gives an outlet for these emotions to spend themselves in a harmless manner. Milton, in the preface of Sampson Agonistes, hints at such an explanation. Zeller emphasizes certain conditions that are necessary for this cathartic effect. It cannot be produced in just any way, but it must be through an artistic agency that excites the emotions in the right manner so that they are brought under the control of law and order.*

Lessing, Spengel and others have claimed that catharsis meant no more than a transformation of these emotions into promptitudes of virtue. Though this has been denied by many scholars as foreign to Aristotle's meaning, it probably contains a germ of truth that is suggestive to the practical educator. A little study of the ancient tragedy will show that Aristotle * Aristotle and the Earlier Peripatetics, Chap. XV.

was dealing with no fanciful conception. Take, for example, the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, which is generally considered the masterpiece of classic tragedy. It would, without doubt, stir the emotions of the spectators to the highest pitch. If there were within the breasts of these men pent-up emotions of anger, boastfulness, jealousy, feelings of injustice and the like, certain parts of the play would tend to excite these emotions for a time. But the master poet and actor, such as Aristotle says the art requires, so skillfully directs the emotions through the development and outcome of events, that when the excitement is passed the individual feels a pleasurable relief. The tendency to give actual expression to these emotions has been quieted in a harmless and vicarious manner.

Men and children are in possession of much the same instincts to-day as they were in Aristotle's time. Many of these instincts resemble those of the savage or animal. Ribot compares them to rudimentary organs which have outlived their functions but which remain as witnesses to the slow progress of human development. Though they seem to be slumbering, they are liable to be recalled at any time.*

These instincts are much like pent-up emotions of the soul. They demand a certain satisfaction. A person in great sorrow is relieved and benefited by giving vent to his feelings in weeping. Unusual feelings of mirth can only be controlled after a hearty laugh. Even the angry person may sometimes be benefited if he can give harmless vent to his rage in words. In cases of hysteria it is considered best to let the patient give free expression to his feelings. If these feelings are not expressed they are likely to rankle in the soul, to increase in power, and finally to result in permanent injury or to burst forth in a very undesirable way.

A new application of Aristotle's doctrine of catharsis has been made by Pres. G. Stanley Hall and other advocates of the evolutionary pedagogy. They recognize the tendency of certain instincts to express themselves. Instead of attempting to suppress them outright they would give them some scope of action that thereby the individual may be the more completely Heredity, p. 335.

free from any morbid form of them. While it is true that this relief is only temporary, yet if normal development is not interfered with the child will in due time outgrow these tendencies and will be all the stronger for having had the experience.

Furthermore, many of these instincts are not considered as useless, but as having a positive value. For an analogy, there are in the human body and in some animals certain rudimentary organs that are not wholly useless but act as stimuli to higher organs in the process of development. To destroy these organs or to cause an arrest of development of them is to destroy the possibility of the growth of higher forms.

So it is with these instincts. Of themselves they are not needed in our social life, but they may act as stimuli to higher and better forms if properly directed at the right time. The problem is not one of elimination but of control. This is to be done by providing a proper environment and a proper course of training that will give exercise in a weakened form to these old instincts in order that they may be the more completely eliminated in due time by giving way to higher and better forms.

This theory seems somewhat antagonistic to the law of transitoriness of instinct so well set forth by Prof. William James. By that law it is shown that giving expression to instincts at the proper time tends to strengthen them. That there is danger of this in dealing with instincts in the manner described above cannot be doubted.

"The great pedagogic problem of to-day," says Cephas Guillet, "is how to bring the child safe and sound through this stage without, on the one hand, lopping off those basal animal instincts that often express themselves in ugly forms and getting as a product an atrophied creature lacking the fire and color of youth; and on the other hand, without risking the growth and permanence of evil habits."-Ped. Sem., Vol. VII, p. 443.

To accomplish this is the task of the parent and educator. Each, as a pilot to the vessel between Scylla and Charybdis, stands at the helm to guide it safely through. As Aristotle demanded the work of the master hand to bring about the purgation of the emotions, so must the teacher be a master of his profession to bring success. While it is folly to advocate turn

ing children loose and letting them sow their "wild oats," it is just as great a mistake to attempt wholly to suppress the tendencies of natural and often healthy instincts.

The old Puritanic idea of dealing with these instincts was to resist them and give them no chance whatever to act. "Do not" was the principal part of most rules. But strict Puritanic treatment did not work three centuries ago; much less would it to-day. The moral looseness of the age of Restoration was but a rebuke and a reaction to the over-strict Puritanic rule. Herbart strongly protested against this kind of teaching.* While it may work for a time to keep children from wrong conduct, yet it is giving them no strength of character to resist temptation when they are released from supervision. Only too many cases could be given of children who were examples of piety, but turned out very disappointing when they were in a position to do as they pleased.

Spinoza taught that there is a better way of escaping temptation than by always resisting with a "No." Substitute something desirable instead of the thing that is being resisted, and center the whole being upon the "Yes." Work in a positive way is always much more beneficial than in a negative. Aristotle might not have intended to include in the work of catharsis any transformation of the emotions. Yet he doubtless saw that the baser emotions if brought under the influence of noble art would be superseded by those of a higher kind. The man susceptible to fear after seeing the outcome of the Oedipus Tyrannus, in which the eternal laws of justice and the degrees of fate are shown to be triumphant, would have greater reverence for God than he who had little or no fear. "We fear God more because we fear thunder" is the way President Hall expresses it.

Dawson has pointed out the great importance of this transformation of instincts. Especially striking is his mention of the sex instinct which in boys, under proper direction, is satisfied by the chastest companionship of young women, and in girls by the intellectual companionship of young men or by the labors of love for the children of others. And lower forms of emotion,

* Science of Education. Translated by Felkins, p. 219.

such as fright, dread, hatred and jealousy, may be transformed into higher forms of caution, reverence, indignation and healthy emulation.*

How far then can this principle of catharsis be applied in practical education? In a broad sense we may say that anything that relieves the tendency to act in anti-social directions may be called cathartic. It is the purpose of the remainder of this article to mention the more important means whereby this may be accomplished.

The importance of play has long been emphasized by many great educators. Plato, Aristotle, Quintilian, Comenius and Fræbel have spoken of its worth. Whether we think of play as giving vent to surplus energy or as an expression of innate impulses, the application of the catharsis principle is evident enough. If these tendencies to action do not find an outlet in a useful or harmless manner, they will show themselves in evil forms. It is the boy who is deprived of healthful play who is likely to develop vicious habits.

Burk has shown that teasing and bullying are common instincts especially among boys.† Simply to permit teasing and bullying as such only gives food for poisonous centers. But there are games in which a victim is willingly selected and his discomfiture noted with delight by the spectators. Blackman, Fox-and-Geese, Greywolf, Prisoners-base, and many others, have value in giving healthy but harmless exercise to instincts that had to do with the chase, capture and disposal of enemies and booty.

Football, if directed rightly, can be of great value. It not only gives rest to the higher brain paths but also allows the surplus energy of the old brain paths to be drained off. Football, however, if played under rules that admit of brutal actions cannot have a cathartic effect, howsoever much it may delight. The old Roman amphitheatre with its bloody gladiatorial fights delighted men even more than our prize fights or football. Men became crazed with delight in seeing bloodshed. The old brain paths were not being quieted but were being developed to

* Am. Jour. of Psych., Vol. XI, p. 181.

+ Ped. Sem., Vol, IV, p. 336.