770 



NATURE 



[August 19, 1920 



viduals in a cave near Mentone. From a study 

 of their skulls the reviewer came to the conclusion 

 that they had nothing- of the African negro in 

 them, but that they were of the Cromagnon race, 

 a conclusion which Prof. Pearson has reached 

 independently from a study of their thigh-bones. 

 He is uncertain of the relationship of Neanderthal 

 and of Cromagnon man to modern races of 

 mankind — uncertain as to whether these two 

 types of ancient Europeans should figure as 

 stages, or links, in the chain of modern man's 

 evolution, or whether they really represent 

 branches which have sprung from that stem. The 

 evidence of their skulls and teeth leaves modern 

 anatomists in little doubt as to their true relation- 

 ships; Neanderthal man represents the terminal 

 stage of a side branch, whereas Cromagnon man 

 is but one of the numerous varieties of modern 

 man. One other point is to be noted : in surveying 

 the evolutionary evidence yielded by a single bone 

 the same discordant array of indications is found 

 as when all the systems of the body are studied; 

 the final result has to be obtained by an exercise 

 of judgment on the part of the classifier. 



It is a matter of everyday observation that no 

 two people walk exactly alike ; there is the same 

 infinite variety in the human gait as is found in 

 the human face. Women have their own par- 

 ticular kind of progression ; not one of us uses 

 the right limb in exactly the same way as the left ; 

 the left foot is more frequently inturned to a 

 greater degree than is the right. If, as medical 

 men believe, bone-cells are peculiarly sensitive 

 and responsive to the muscular and other stresses 

 which are brought to bear on them, then there 

 ought to be just that range of variation of form 

 in the thigh-bone which this monograph 

 demonstrates to exist. A functional explanation 

 of the structural variation of the femur is one 

 which Prof. Pearson is not prepared to entertain, 

 and unfortunately medical men have as yet neg- 

 lected, or almost neglected, the study of the living 

 femur, and are therefore unable to say whether 

 or not the anatomical forms of the femur are 

 correlated to certain peculiarities of gait. The 

 improvement in our means of examining the 

 anatomy of the thigh-bone in the living by the 

 aid of X-rays is likely to fill up this blank in our 

 knowledge, and at the same time to offer a rational 

 explanation of many puzzling features noted and 

 estimated by Prof. Pearson and his collaborator. 

 A study of the manner of progression of anthro- 

 poids in their natural habitats will help to show 

 how closely form and function are correlated. In 

 the orang, for instance, the hind limbs are reduced 

 to mere grasping organs ; in it and in the gibbon 

 the swinging arms are the chief organs of progres- 

 NO. 2651, VOL. 105] 



sion. In the reviewer's opinion all measurements 

 and calculations should be made, so far as is 

 practicable, not only to indicate the degree and 

 kind of racial characteristics, but also to express 

 degrees and kinds of function. Indices should 

 be of such a nature as to convey to the student 

 a precise conception of the degree and kind of 

 function. 



This great memoir opens up a prospect which 

 may well appal the heart of the stoutest anatomist. 

 Here we have two parts, running to 539 pages, 

 each page containing on an average more than 

 500 words, devoted to the subject which the 

 authors speak of as femoralogy and the special 

 students of which are called femoralogists, with 

 the promise of a third part. When the 

 examination of the human skeleton is com- 

 pleted on a corresponding scale we shall have 

 an immense library. We may not like the pro- 

 spect, but is there any option if our knowledge 

 of mankind is to be based on a foundation which 

 will last? The reviewer does not think there is 

 any other way, and feels sure that the time will 

 certainly come, if it has not already come, when 

 anatomists the world over will acknowledge the 

 courage, industry, and prescience of the English 

 school of biometrics and of its founder. It would 

 be a set-back to the progress of our knowledge of 

 mankind were Prof. Pearson's projected pro- 

 gramme to be in any way curtailed by a lack of 

 financial assistance. A. Keith. 



The Theoretic Basis of Psychotherapy, 



The New Psychology and its Relation to Life. 

 By A. G. Tansley. Pp. 283. (London: 

 George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1920.) Price 

 105. 6d. net. 



ABOUT fifteen years ago Prof. Scripture, of 

 Yale, published his book upon "The New 

 Psychology." The psychology which was "new" 

 then was experimental psychology ; now the new 

 psychology is something very different^ — the study 

 of the non-rational processes of the human mind. 

 Most of the material of Mr. Tansley 's book con- 

 sists in theories which are contained in the works 

 of Prof. Freud, of Vienna ; of Dr. Jung, of 

 Zurich ; and of Mr. William McDougall, who is 

 just now leaving Oxford to settle at Harvard. 

 The work of these three researchers has achieved 

 world-wide renown ; Mr. Tansley has done a good 

 service in presenting some important elements of 

 them in a compact and readable form. Mr. 

 McDougall's books are accessible enough, but the 

 views of the two Continental savants are scat- 

 tered through various publications in a way which 

 is rather baffling to the English reader. With 



