NATURE 



6] 



THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1919. 



TRANSLATED SENSE AND SENSES. 



Human Physiology. Vol. iv. "The Sense- 

 organs." By Prof. L. Luciani. Translated by 

 F. A. Welby. Pp. x + 519. (London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 21^. net. 



A MAN'S name linked to a star seems certain 

 of long-continued remembrance, joined to 

 I a rose not quite so certain. Somewhere between 

 I these extremes of permanent fame and evanescent 

 •esteem is the fate of a name associated as ad- 

 visedly with a part of the central nervous system 

 as is Luciani 's with that of the cerebellum. No 

 one can speak of Luciani 's cerebellum, since that 

 would be unforgivably personal, but it is quite 

 i impossible to talk of the cerebellum without refer- 

 i ring at once to Luciani. It is important to re- 

 * member this when dealing with Luciani 's state- 

 ments about the function of almost any part of the 

 body, certainly of the nervous system. It is very 

 important to have it in mind when considering the 

 Aralue of his opinions on various psycho-physical 

 phenomena, as in the concluding chapter of this 

 volume. 



Now what has been said might be considered 

 a sly rebuke of egotism, but that is not in the 

 least true. There is nothing in the book but the 

 very comprehensive range of truth examined 

 painstakingly by its author, and no egotism what- 

 ever. The point is this, that you cannot make 

 an intimate acquaintance with the cerebellum, an 

 organ which has apparently no part whatever to 

 play in displays of consciousness, without being 

 impressed with the value of nervous factors not 

 directly concerned in displays of consciousness, 

 but yet obviously controlling in some degree the 

 factors responsible for such displays. Progress 

 towards a veneration for "subconscious " nervous 

 factors is inevitable, and if it is not checked there 

 Is a yielding of rigid definitions sufficient to allow 

 of some debate about "unconscious sensations 

 and feelings." The temptation may soon become 

 invincible to say that "these nervous processes 

 . . . fulfil the same functions as conscious sensory 

 processes ; it follows that they come into the 

 range of mental life, and even constitute by far 

 the largest part of the integral content of the 

 mind " (p. 440). 



Now there is no formal connection between this 

 passage and the cerebellum. It is merely Luciani 's 

 I -statement as to certain general processes asso- 

 ■ -ciated with other parts of the nervous system, but 

 there is wisdom, in the writer's opinion, in re- 

 membering, when reading it, that the cerebellum 

 lias apparently no direct link with consciousness, 

 and that Luciani has probed the part it plays. 

 He has shown that it acts as an intermediary in 

 maintaining and modifying that distributed 

 "tone " of the skeletal musculature which is the 

 essence of posture and a necessary basis for the 

 strength and precision of movement, even of 

 -voluntary movement. It is clear that the transla- 

 NO. 2578, VOL. 103] 



tion from "tone" to "voluntary movement" is 

 through much the same scale as from "subcon- 

 scious " to "conscious" feeling. 



Perhaps it may be difficult to discover what all 

 , this has to do with the subject in hand, the 

 fourth volume of Luciani's "Human Physiology," 

 but not, I think, when the book is read, and it 

 is well worth reading. The original work is well 

 j known as a comprehensive, scholarly, and inte- 

 resting text-book. It has now, in large part, 

 been translated into English, and edited in an 

 able fashion for the use of English readers. In 

 ; this anglicised form it is already widely appreci- 

 i ated, and it will be agreed that the "tone " of the 

 original, which might, indeed, have been gravely 

 xlepressed in the process, has been well main- 

 tained. The cerebellum of the book, nowhere 

 represented in consciousness, but everywhere 

 evident in the characteristics of attitude, is as it 

 was. That is to say, as a whole ; but there are 

 here and there parts where — well, perhaps any 

 critical reader of the dioptric.^ of the eyeball in 

 this fourth volume will find reasons for expressing 

 criticism. That part of the matte- is exceptional 

 in being not quite so good as the remainder. 



This fourth volume on the sense-organs should 



prove widely useful not only to students of physio- 



I logy and medicine, but also to students of psycho- 



I logy. As a clear and pregnant expression of know- 



j ledge of these sense-organs to be found in a 



1 volume unburdened by the inclusion of other parts 



i of physiology, there is at present nothing so good, 



perhaps not even the corresponding fourth volume 



j of Foster, which will remain for long, like Ecclesi- 



! astes, as a penetrating and abiding lesson in 



j judgment — better than this, but which did not 



I contain quite so much physiology. 



j It is true that, in the writer's opinion, the book 



I is otherwise burdened by the concluding discussion 



on psycho-physical phenomena, but that is a 



matter which may be criticised better by students 



I of psychology, by whom it may also be seen as 



■ the heel of Achilles, or perhaps surprisingly as a 



very head-piece. It is true also that there are 



various decisions which would not have been 



1 reached by other competent authors. It may or 



may not be the case that muscular sense has a 



i content which is nothing more or less than com- 



! mon sensibility, and that the tectorial membrane 



is the primary resonator apparatus of the cochlea. 



There are many such conclusions, which might 



be discussed, and may need revision. It may 



be the case that there are complete neurones in 



the immediate vicinity of taste-buds; it is not 



the case that observers have found the radius of 



curvature of the anterior surface of the crystalline 



lens to be between 2*9 and 40 mm. (p. 287); but 



what of it? There may be misjudgment, there are 



I some errors, but there are everywhere knowledge, 



tone, and interest. 



The volume was well worth translating, and 



has been translated and edited very well. Here 



' and there a statement issues as it would never 



come from a writer of English ; here and there 



' a slip in the translation of a technical term has 



