July 21, 1921] 



NATURE 



645 



cells, and a white medulla or stalk, composed of 

 millions of nerve-fibres which connect the cortical 

 cells with one another, with other structures in 

 the brain, and with the body tissues g-enerally. 

 Conceive this mantle with a surface divided up by 

 a very constant pattern of grooves and elevations 

 the marvellously complex and unique structure of 

 which had just come to . light ; then, bearing- in 

 mind the " faculty " psychology which was gene- 

 rally held a century ago, it is easy to comprehend 

 the high hopes entertained and the attempts that 

 were made to parcel out the faculties on to the 

 surface so naturally prepared. From these 

 attempts to localise the higher mental functions 

 before the nature of cerebral physiology was at 

 all understood arose the cult of phrenology and 

 all the charlatanism to which it gave rise. 



To the serious student, phrenology, the lore of 

 telling the character from the prominences of the 

 skull, became quickly discredited because ft was 

 obvious that, as the thickness of the skull bones 

 varied irregularly, the external configuration of 

 the skull bore no definite relation to the surface 

 of the brain underneath. This circumstance did 

 not interfere with the followers of the mental 

 localisation theory, but they themselves soon 

 began to experience difliculties of their own. To 

 obtain any agreement on the matter of localisa- 

 tion, it was first of all necessary that each 

 ol^server should hold precisely the same views as 

 to the division of the mind into faculties, and this 

 essential preliminary gave rise to much difficulty, 

 because very few persons were agreed on the sub- 

 ject. Many schemes were propounded and much 

 argument took place until it was seen that, from 

 the purely psychological point of view, the 

 " faculty " conception of psychology was unten- 

 able. From regarding, for instance, the quality 

 of aggressiveness as a separate entity, the opinion 

 was formed that it was a trend of the personality 

 as a whole. Moreover, the independent experi- 

 ments of the physiologists and the observations 

 of the neurologists began to take definite shape, 

 quite afpart from the speculations of the philo- 

 sophical psychologists. 



A great deal of knowledge has now accumu- 

 lated, and modern opinion, which is supported by 

 the vast amount of detail derived from the many 

 cases of head injury in the war, is very definitely 

 against any possible cortical localisation of sepa- 

 rate mental faculties. The modern theory is em- 

 braced by the broad statement that the cortex is to 

 be considered as a vast associational mechanism 

 functioning as a whole, the chief purpose of which 

 is one of inhibition of the lower activities of the 

 nervous system ; in other words, it is the mechan- 

 ism whereby a considered intellectual activity is 

 NO. 2699, VOL. 107] 



substituted for an emotional reflexive type of 

 reaction to environment. The cortex contains the 

 termini of the various sensory streams of nerve- 

 fibres arising in all parts of the body, and also 

 the origin of the motor nerve-fibres going out to 

 the muscles of the body. Apart from these con- 

 nections, which have now been mapped with fair 

 accuracy and are termed the sensory and 

 motor areas respectively, there is no question of 

 there being any real mental localisation. If 

 the cortex be injured outside one of these areas, 

 the individual becomes generally irritable or 

 lacks control, and at the same time loses to a 

 certain extent the capacity for intellectual thought. 



Dr. Hollander, so one gathers from his book, 

 does not agree with modern opinions. He pre- 

 fers to stand by the old " faculty " psychology 

 and the corresponding physiological ideas, and he 

 has produced a monumental work in support of 

 his views. In the very interesting first volume of 

 his book he takes the reader right from the 

 beginning of recorded philosophical speculation 

 up to present-day knowledge of the mind and 

 brain, extracts being given from and personal 

 references made to practically every writer on the 

 subjects under discussion. This mass of informa- 

 tion, collated with a care that the reader will 

 appreciate, must have involved a tremendous 

 literary research and labour. It is only marred 

 by the fact that the author stresses or belittles 

 the facts to so great an extent in the effort to 

 establish his point. His defence of the physiolo- 

 gist Gall, who was one of the first to take up the 

 matter of cerebral localisation, is masterly ; so 

 much so that one sighs that such energy, in- 

 genuity, and thought should have been expended 

 in the resuscitation of a bygone stage of know- 

 ledge when there is so much new ground to be 

 explored. 



The second volume is disappointing. Here we 

 have Dr. Hollander's views on many things ; too 

 many things really to be included within the 

 same cover. A considerable portion of this 

 volume is devoted to the development of his argu- 

 ment on behalf of the cerebral localisation of 

 mental function, and to this end he lays down his 

 psychology, which is of the faculty type and 

 singularly lacking in reference to the most recent 

 developments ; e.g. there is no mention of such 

 illuminating conceptions as that of the defence 

 mechanisms or of the influence of the sympathetic 

 and endocrine systems upon the mind. His treat- 

 ment of the question of insanity is in the style of 

 a very commonplace abridged text-book, not at 

 all what one would ha\e expected in a book of 

 this kind ; while some of his statements, though 

 they may safely be left to the judgment of the 



