348 



The Journal of Heredity 



had too ir.uch adrenal and post-pitui- 

 tary." Dr. Berman deals with Florence 

 Nightingale and Oscar Wilde in equal- 

 ly assured fashion. 



Under the heading pucriculfurc. he 

 says, "periodic, seasonal and critical 

 fluctuations in the equilibrium among 

 the hormones will have to be taken into 

 accoimt in the explanation of what have 

 hitherto been put down to laziness, 

 naughtiness, stupidity, or obstinacy." 



Biologists will hardly agree with 

 Berman that "The feeding of thyroid 

 to a gifted father before procreation 

 might enhance immeasurably the trans- 

 mission of his gift as well as of its 

 intensification in his offspring." 



Of the book as a whole, it contains 

 a large amount of information and is 

 written in a most fascinating style that 

 will make a strong appeal to the non- 

 scientific public. Dr. Berman has made 

 a most readable book, but in achieving 

 this end he has thrown scientific sobri- 

 ety and caution to the winds. The 

 book is largely a romance that reminds 

 one of such books as ^Moore's Utopia. 

 It is true that in a book written for 

 the general public one can not expect 

 a full discussion of the various discord- 

 ant opinions, but one has a right to 

 expect that the author shall hold him- 

 self to the statemicnt of facts reason- 

 ablv well attested bv scientific investi- 



gation. Dr. Berman too otten accepts 

 the wildest speculation and presents it 

 as solid fact. He makes a facile anal- 

 ysis of the personalities of historic 

 characters upon the basis of their endo- 

 crine makeup. No one can deny that 

 the glands of internal secretion do pro- 

 foundly influence personality — this hav- 

 ing been especially well demonstrated 

 in the case of the germ glands. While 

 all this is true, at the same time, a hun- 

 dred years of painstaking experiment 

 will be required to give us a fairly 

 satisfactory insight into the truth or 

 falsity of the statements that Dr. Ber- 

 man makes without the slightest quali- 

 fication. 



^^l1ile this book will undoubtedly 

 arouse a large amount of popular in- 

 terest in the glands of internal secre- 

 tion, it is greatly to be feared that it 

 will mislead the public upon many vital 

 ])oints. It is quite certain that people 

 are induced by it to expect entirely too 

 much from the medical profession 

 along the lines indicated. While such 

 books as this will arouse a sensation 

 it is much to be feared that the dis- 

 illusionment that is bound to follow 

 will react unfavorably to science and to 

 medical practice. 



Bennett ]\I. Allen, 

 Univcrsitx of California. 



The Facts of Social Hygiene 



Plain Facts, by J. H. Kellog, M. D., 

 Chief Medical Director of the Battle 

 Creek Sanitarium. 2 vols., pp. 932. 

 with numerous illustrations. Battle 

 Creek, Mich., Modern Medicine Pub- 

 lishing Co., 1921. 



In these comprehensive volumes 

 (first published in 1917) Dr. Kellogg 

 not only deals with almost the whole 

 of the great field of social hygiene, but 

 introduces a large amount of valuable 

 instruction in physiology and hvgienc 



at the same time. On sexual questions 

 the author's point of view may be de- 

 scribed as old-fashioned — which will 

 be an unfavorable criticism in the 

 minds of some, a commendation in the 

 minds of others. A sound eugenic 

 outlook is maintained throughout. In- 

 sistence is laid on the importance of 

 heredity but the charts (based on eye 

 color in man) to illustrate Mendel's 

 Laws, will be misleading to those who 

 have no previous knowledge of the 

 subject. — P.P. 



