June 24, 1920] 



NATURE 



513 



situation we are in physiology; only when we 

 study the response of the whole organism to a 

 situation are we in psychology. 



So then it is like this — there are two sciences, 

 let us say, of a motor-car, one in which we study 

 the structure and function of the carburettor, the 

 gear-box, the magneto, etc., and another and 

 different science, in which we study the behaviour 

 of the complete car on the road, its hill-climbing 

 power and its responses to the varying situations 

 consequent on the control of the traffic. No 

 doubt there are people who can drive a car in 

 absolute ignorance of the mechanism they are 

 controlling, and in like manner there may be 

 psychologists with complete knowledge of the 

 responses of the individual, though ignorant of 

 the mechanism of the reflexes on which those 

 responses depend. Neither is to be commended ; 

 but can we rest satisfied with such a distinction? 

 Is it not false science to separate the science of the 

 parts from the science of the whole? Can the 

 parts mean anything in abstraction from the 

 whole, or the whole mean anything in abstraction 

 from the parts? This, however, seems to be the 

 ^behaviourist's idea of the subject-matter and 

 scope and method of psychology and of its rela- 

 tion to physiology. 



If your interest is in psychology, surely what 

 you want to study is the subject of experience in 

 its living, conscious, self-active subjectivity. 

 You can, easily enough, regard such subjects of 

 experience as objects, accurately describe their 

 behaviour in varying situations, and formulate 

 fairly useful scientific laws in regard to them, 

 just as you may study the behaviour of a magnet 

 in the neighbourhood of different substances and 

 formulate magnetic laws. But is either scientific? 

 Shall we, in the first case, discover by such a 

 method the nature of imagery, conceptual thinking, 

 apperception, perception of reality and unreality, 

 ideality, rationality, and all the complex products 

 of mental life, any more than in the case of the 

 magnet statistical observations will lead us to 

 discover the electro-magnetic constitution of 

 matter? The essence of behaviourism is to trans- 

 late the mental into terms of bodily integration 

 and leave it there, satisfied that the work of 

 psychology is now done. There is nothing beyond 

 or different in its nature. 



Behaviourism is not condemned by anything 

 positive which it recommends, but by its absurdly 

 extravagant claim that in restricting research to 

 methods of observation and description it is 

 actually making science all-inclusive. This book, 

 for example, indicates numerous most useful 

 experimental methods, and may inspire, and will 

 NO. 2643, VOL. 105] 



direct, the student to practical researches of the 

 highest interest to the advance of science. To 

 this extent every psychologist will welcome it. It 

 is difficult to find anything in its principle to 

 disagree with, save only its limitation and nega- 

 tion. It is only when the behaviourist turns to 

 us and says this is all there is — "Thought is the 

 action of language mechanisms " — that we see 

 that from his point of view there is no psychology. 



H. WiLDON CaRR. 



The World's Supply of Animal Foodstuffs. 



Animal Foodstuffs: Their Production and Con- 

 sumption, with a Special Reference to the British 

 Empire. A Study in Economic Geography and 

 Agricultural Economics. By Dr. E. \V. Shana- 

 han. (Studies in Economics and Political 

 Science.) Pp. viii-i-33i. (London: George 

 Routledge and Sons, -Ltd. ; New York : E. P. 

 Dutton and Co., 1920.) Price io5. 6d. net. 



THIS book provides a comprehensive and very 

 interesting survey of the production and 

 consumption of animal foodstuffs, considered 

 especially from the economic point of view. An 

 interesting historical survey is included, which 

 starts with the use made of animal foodstuffs by 

 earlier generations and traces the gradually in- 

 creasing demand for, and consequent development 

 of, the supplies of these materials. Part i. of the 

 book gives a detailed survey of the production of 

 the various animal foodstuffs in the more im- 

 portant countries of the world. 



With regard to animal foodstuffs the author 

 states that the following countries show a 

 definite net surplus when the balance of imports 

 and exports is taken by values, namely, the 

 United States, Russia (with Siberia;, Sweden, 

 Denmark, Holland, and Italy. When, further, 

 the net imports or exports of animal feedstuffs 

 are considered in conjunction with those of animal 

 foodstuffs, the following results are observed : 

 The surplus position of the United States, Argen- 

 tina, Uruguay, Canada, and Russia (with Siberia) 

 becomes intensified, while the deficiency position 

 of Great Britain, Germany, and Belgium becomes, 

 similarly, more marked ; at the same time the sur- 

 plus position of Denmark, Holland, Sweden, and 

 Ireland suffers reduction. The author discusses 

 fully the influence on production of such factors as 

 agricultural machinery, cost of labour, co-operation 

 of farmers, etc. Part ii. deals with the consump- 

 tion of animal foodstuffs^ the rate of consumption, 

 and the economic and other factors influencing 

 that rate. 



There has been a rapid increase in the meat- 



