That public interest in sociologic studies is on the increase in our day, can not be questioned. We may recognize its hold on popular thought, by remarking that in the present Congress more papers are contributed to the Department of Sociology and Criminology, than to any other. This is not in my opinion the result of chance, but is due to the increasing interest manifested in the world of thought in this domain of scientific investigation. Especial stimulus has been given to the study of criminology by Lombroso's writings, and others of his school. Enricco Ferri has touched it with his brilliant lance. Herman Kornfeld, Morris Benedikt, Kraft Ebbing, Morel, Le Grand du Saulle, Brierre du Bois Mont and Prosper Depine on the continent; Havelock Ellis, W. W. Ireland, Pritchard, Thomson, Dr. Nicholson and W. Douglass Morrison in Great Britain, and many other writers of distinction have illumined its importance.