September 2, 1920] 



NATURE 



these are all too modestly alluded to. The ex- 

 position incorporates, in a clear and for the most 

 part non-technical form, much of the most recent 

 work done elsewhere upon the obscurer functions 

 of the nervous system and of the mind. 



The first two chapters give a simple but up-to- 

 date account of the nervous system, admirably 

 Illustrated by nearly forty diagrams and photo- 

 graphs. Due emphasis is laid upon the import- 

 ance attached by recent studies to the part played 

 in the formation of mind and temperament by 

 the activities of the " sympathetic " portion of the 

 nervous system. Mental deficiency is then treated'; 

 it is described as an arrest in the development of 

 intelligence, due to an arrest in the development of 

 the nervous system at or before twelve years of 

 age — that is, at some period before the onset of 

 pubertv. Memory, attention, and association are 

 discussed in turn, and considered primarily as pro- 

 perties inherent in the nervous mechanism. The 

 higher mental processes—action voluntary and 

 involuntary, language, and (to adopt the author's 

 spelling) "thot" — are then discussed as the com- 

 plex results of the interaction of the fundamental 

 properties of the nervous system. The affective 

 side of experience — the emotions, simple and 

 I omplex, and that elusive quality called tempera- 

 ment— receive full attention ; and a lucid exposi- 

 tion is given of the views more particularly of 

 Mosso, Cannon, and McDougall. To the results 

 of psycho-analysis no reference whatever is 

 made. 



The first half of the book is thus an exposition 

 (if psychology from a physiological point of view. 

 The second part proceeds to apply the views so 

 «-xpounded to certain theoretical and practical 

 problems. A brief account is given of the dis- 

 tribution of intelligence, of its diagnosis by means 

 of mental tests, of its relations to will, and to 

 i-motion. The book concludes with two chapters 

 rmbodying applications of the results achieved 

 to questions of scholastic and moral training. 



(2) I'rof. Swift's book consists of a series of 

 popular essays upon the psychology of daily life. 

 It is not a systematic survey of the whole field of 

 mental hygiene. Rather the choice of subjects 

 has been determined, as the preface acknowledges, 

 l)y the author's personal interests. It includes, 

 however, several important topics upon which 

 recent investigation has thrown great light 

 topics which arc closely related to everyday 

 problems, although the relation has not always 

 been recognised : for example, the psychical 

 aspect of matters commonly considered to be 

 primarily physiological, such as digestion, fatigue, 

 and biological adaptation. There arc also chapters 

 NO. 2653, VOL. 106] 



upon matters the psychological and practical 

 aspects of which are alike better recognised — testi- 

 mony and rumour, memory-training, habit-forma- 

 tion, and learning generally. Illustrative material 

 is drawn not only from the latest researches, but 

 also from a wide reading of fiction, biography, 

 and general literature. A couple of papers are 

 inserted upon problems connected with uncon- 

 scious processes of the mind, such as multiple 

 personality and the curiosities of recollection. 

 But here the point of view and the data are not 

 always quite up-to-date. 



(3) In the two foregoing books Dr. tioddard 

 and Prof. Swift scrupulously avoid all mention 

 of psycho-analytical doctrines. Dr. Lay's book 

 barely refers to any others. His chapters attempt 

 an interesting and even urgent task. The recent 

 work of the psycho-analytic school has empha- 

 si.sed the important part played by unconscious 

 tendencies in the formation of human personality. 

 The simpler of these tendencies appear to be 

 inherited, much as instincts are inherited bv lower 

 animals, and first emerge during the immature 

 period we term childhood. The more complex are 

 acquired through experience after birth ; but even 

 these are largely built up during the first few years 

 of life. It follows that parents and teachers who 

 view their task as comprising not merely the 

 education of the intellect, but also the training 

 of the character, should be instructed in the nature 

 and properties of these unconscious tendencies, 

 since, just because they are unconscious, they are 

 so easily overlooked and so subtly persistent. 

 The application, therefore, to educational prob- 

 lems of the better-established facts and principles 

 embodied in the doctrines of psycho-analysis con- 

 stitutes a fruitful field of discussion. 



In his book Dr.* L;iy has set himself to attack 

 this field. Twenty years of teaching in a second- 

 ary school, he tells us, has convinced him that 

 "the modes of thinking on the part of children 

 are irremediably (without the teacher's knowing 

 of the effects of the unconscious) twisted, and that 

 they are so by virtue of their numerous com- 

 plexes." Unfortunately, Dr. Lay's own mode of 

 thinking is apt at times to Inrcome, like his sen- 

 tences, it.self a little involved ; and one may ven- 

 ture to doubt whether the teacher or the parent 

 whose first introduction to psycho-analysis is ob- 

 tained from the present volume will reach a very 

 clear conception of the nature or the vnlue of the 

 new doctrines. He is required to think in very 

 technical terms — of "libido," its "displacement," 

 its "transference," and its "sublimation," of 

 "identificalion " and its two forms of "projec- 

 tion" .iiul " introjection," (if "censorship" .mkI 



