xiv Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



amount of valuable material and on account of the large series of use- 

 ful illustrations but its defects are such as to tend to destroy its useful- 

 ness as a text-book for inexperienced students. c. l. h. 



The Brain in Relation to Mind. 



The book under the above title is by J. Sanderson Christison and 

 is, to all appearance, privately published, as it bears no imprint. It is 

 accompanied by a circular stating that Dr. Christison " is a specialist 

 whose statements on the physiological aspects of the problem of the 

 mind's relation to the brain must be received as absolutely trustworthy 

 and that his metaphysical postulates appear to be sound and his con- 

 clusions inevitable." It is with becoming modesty then that one exam- 

 ines this contribution to psychology. 



The earlier portion of the book is directly devoted to the destruc- 

 tion of materialism though on his first page he accepts with gratification 

 J. Hughlings Jackson's assurance that the materialistic conception has 

 been destroyed. What this metaphysical doctrine of materialism is 

 which he now for a second time destroys our writer seems to have but 

 a vague idea, but at any rate " it is a natural child of the current evo- 

 lution idea, the greatest delusion of the 19th century." " It is not 

 certain," we are told, " that brain cells enter into the problem at all." 

 Somewhat inconsequently the author nevertheless devotes a large part 

 of his book to brain and brain cells. He finds a serious draw-back to 

 the conception that brain has anything to do with memory in the fact 

 that memories persist in spite of the fact that the cells which are sup- 

 posed to perpetuate them are many times replaced during a life time. 

 He is quite unaware of the doctrine of neural substitution as applied to 

 memory perpetuation and to the explanation of senile reversion to older 

 reproductions and is guiltless of the concept of equilibriated con- 

 sciousness. 



Sensory impressions doubtless in some way affect brain cells but 

 there does not seem to be any significance in this fact, there being no 

 proof that complex thinking requires any more cells than simple mental 

 processes and, in fact, there seems to be no reason for the existence of 

 brain cells at all " for the brain can have a conditioning and sympa- 

 thetic influence only as a medium of action, sensory and motor." This 

 last statement (unintelligible to the reviewer as it must be confessed it 

 is) settles the whole matter. 



As to the main part of the book, relating (most unnecessarily for 

 the author's purpose) to the anatomy and physiology of the brain, little 

 need be said. It is neither full enough to be of use to the student nor 



