August 4, 192 1] 



NATURE 



711 



may once have symbolised usefully the unity of 

 social groups. Totemic and magical dances give 

 excellent physical training, promote the spirit of 

 co-operation, are a sort of drill ..." 



The hunting pack fell to pieces owing to a 

 variety of causes, but the situation was saved by 

 the rise of magic — due to a "belief in mysterious 

 forces and from confusing coincidence with causa- 

 tion " — and the magician or wizard, who kept the 

 group together by his power to "make the boldest 

 tribesmen quail." This process of consolidation 

 was helped on by the growth of animism — " a con- 

 fusion between dreams and objective experience " 

 — and the strengthening of the power of ruling 

 families. The rest of the book is occupied with 

 a discussion on more or less conventional lines of 

 the origins of belief. The author examines the 

 various theories of Frazer, Tylor, Lang, and 

 others, but it is not easy to see where lies the real 

 connection between this and the opening parts of 

 the book. 



It is difficult to express an opinion in a few 

 words on an argument which deals with matters 

 mainly beyond our ken. Discussions can scarcely 

 be termed " scientific " that begin with wholly 

 hypothetical stages of society such as the hunting 

 pack of "wolf -apes." The author evidently has 

 not studied the actual facts concerning hunters, 

 or he would have seen that his theory breaks 

 down for the reason that existing hunting peoples 

 approximate more closely to the higher anthropoid 

 apes than to his hypothetical wolf-apes. More- 

 over, what evidence has he that early man was 

 warlike, or that he went about in packs? 



The book has several misprints : p. v., 1805 for 

 ^905 ; P- 296, Puranas for Punan, Boschmans for 

 Bushmen; p. 6i, Battus, ? Battas of Sumatra. 

 The author is also given to repetition — e.g. on 

 pp. 2, 28, and 32 he tells us that anthropoids 

 ^'occasionally eat birds' eggs and young birds; 

 the gorilla has been said to eat small mammals." 



W. J. Perry. 



Principles and Practice of Psychotherapy. 



Psychology and Psychotherapy. By Dr. W. 

 Brown. With a Foreword by Dr. W. A. 

 Turner. Pp. xi -1-196. (London: Edward 

 Arnold, 192 1.) 8s, 6d. net. 



INTO this small book Dr. W. Brown has suc- 

 ceeded in packing a great deal of information 

 on a subject which is now attracting widespread 

 attention. In his preface he enters a timely warn- 

 ing, which is supported by Dr. W. A. Turner in 

 liis foreword, that an essential pre-requisite for 

 the practice of psychotherapy is a sound know- 

 NO. 2701, VOL. 107] 



ledge of general medicine, and particularly of 

 neurology and psychiatry. 



Dr. Brown has attempted to crowd so much into 

 such a small compass that rather abrupt changes 

 of theme somewhat interfere with the progressive 

 development of a guiding line of thought. The 

 early chapters discuss in a lucid manner the 

 mechanism of dissociation and repression, which 

 introduces us to the conception of the unconscious 

 and the interpretation of dreams. Much con- 

 sideration is devoted to the views of Freud, and 

 Dr. Brown indicates clearly where and why he 

 cannot altogether accept them. The section deal- 

 ing with emotions is rather scanty for so important 

 a subject, and here, perhaps, Freud's views are too 

 summarily dismissed. A special section is allotted 

 to the psychoneuroses of war; the great value of 

 this contribution lies in the fact that Dr. Brown 

 had unsurpassed opportunities for studying both 

 the very early cases immediately behind the line 

 in France, and later the more chronic cases which 

 were met with in the special neurological hospitals 

 at home. This twofold experience enables him 

 to point out certain differences in type and to 

 emphasise the great importance of early treatment 

 in mental disturbances. 



Dr. Brown has already published, in various 

 medical journals, many articles dealing with his 

 views on the principles underlying psychotherapy, 

 and in this volume he seeks to crystallise them. 

 He considers that there are four relatively inde- 

 pendent factors at work, namely, psychocatharsis 

 or abreaction, psychosynthesis or reassociation, 

 autognosis or self-knowledge, and finally the per- 

 sonal influence of the physician. On the first of 

 these factors he lays great stress, but indicates 

 that the essential aim of them all is self-know- 

 ledge. He seems to have coined the term " auto- 

 gnosis " to designate a therapeutic process con- 

 sisting of a small amount of mental exploration 

 combined with a great deal of explanation and 

 persuasion. Certainly no Freudian would allow 

 that it is in any way comparable to a psycho- 

 analysis. 



The last section of the book is a most interest- 

 ing little discourse on that bugbear of philosophy, 

 the interrelationship of body and mind. Though 

 he does not definitely commit himself, it would 

 appear that Dr. Brown leans more to the theory 

 of Bergson as unfolded in " Matter and Memory " 

 than to any of the alternatives. He makes no 

 mention of the more recent thoroughly monistic 

 system of Kempf. 



It is, however, not a little surprising to find 

 that Dr. Brown refers to telepathy in terms which 

 would imply that it is no longer a debatable 



