NATURE 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, i! 



RECENT PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 

 Outlines of Psychology. By Oswald Kulpe. Translated 



by E. B. Titchener. Pp. xi + 462. (London : Swan 



Sonnenschein and Co. New York : Macmillan and 



Co., 1895.) 

 Studies in the Evolutionary Psychology of Feeling. By 



Hiram M. Stanley. Pp. viii + 392. (London : Swan 



Sonnenschein and Co. New York : Macmillan and 



Co., 1895.) 

 Mental Physiology. By Theo. B. Hyslop. Pp. xv •+ 552. 



(London : J. and A. Churchill, 1895.) 

 Moral Pathology. By Arthur E. Giles. Pp. viii + I79- 



(London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co. New York : 



Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895.) 



PROF. TITCHENER has followed up his trans- 

 lation of Wundt's " Vorlesungen iiber die 

 Menschen- und Thierseele " by performing the same office 

 for Kiilpe's " Grundriss der Psychologie." This book is 

 one of the most important of recent additions to psycho- 

 logical literature, and it is very fortunate that the task of 

 translation should have fallen into such able hands. The 

 result is an extremely accurate and readable version, 

 supplemented by a new section on the experimental in- 

 vestigation of memory and association, written on the 

 author's suggestion, an index of names, and several minor 

 additions. Prof. Kiilpe has an acknowledged position 

 as an experimental psychologist, and belongs to the 

 school of Wundt, but his general attitude differs to some 

 extent from that of his master, and more nearly 

 approaches pure presentationism or associationism. 

 The synthetic view of mind as built up of simple elements 

 is rigorously followed, perhaps too rigorously, when the 

 processes which are concerned in reaction time experi- 

 ments are brought under the heading of connections 

 of elements. The book has two chief divisions ; 

 the first deals with the elements of consciousness, 

 which are divided into sensations and feelings, the 

 former being subdivided into those peripherally excited, 

 or, as more commonly called, presentational elements, 

 and those centrally excited, or representational elements. 

 The problems of association and memory are discussed 

 under the latter heading. In the second division two 

 modes of connection of these elements are considered. 

 The first is termed fusion, of which the most striking in- 

 stances occur in the cases of hearing and of the emotions. 

 The latter are regarded as fusions of sensations and 

 feelings. The second mode of connection was termed by 

 Kiilpe " Verkniipfung," and this has been translated 

 "colligation." This division is chiefly devoted to spatial 

 and temporal relations. These are regarded as depending 

 on " colligation " of the conscious elements. As regards 

 spatial perception, however, the author inclines towards 

 a nativistic position ; and if this were definitely adopted, 

 this subject would come under the elementary conditions 

 of consciousness, and would have to be treated in its more 

 usual place in connection with sensation. This is the 

 least satisfactory part of the book. A comparatively 

 short final division deals with the nature of attention, 



NO. 1 37 1, VOL. 53] 



which is held to be a special state of consciousness in 

 which the elements already described are presented, 

 and is not regarded as a condition or process apart from 

 the conscious content. The author's attitude here seems 

 to be separated by,very little from that of the presenta- 

 tionist school. As already stated in Nature, when 

 noticing the German edition, the book is likely to be 

 largely used as a text-book. 



Mr. Hiram Stanley, in his book on the evolutionary 

 psychology of feeling, endeavours to establish the view, 

 of which Horwicz has hitherto been the most prominent 

 advocate, that feeling is the primitive mental state. Mr. 

 Stanley supposes that consciousness first appeared as 

 pain ; that the state of the first conscious organism was 

 one of unconsciousness with transient flashes of pain, and 

 that similarly the psychical life of very young infants con- 

 sists of intermittent pains interrupted by long intervals of 

 sleep. The cognitive side of mind is held to be a later 

 development. Fear is regarded as the primitive emotion 

 which arises with cognition of object and with power of 

 representation. Progress in sensibility is regarded as 

 dependent on effort stimulated by pain ; higher mental 

 developments being only attained as the result of 

 severe struggle. The evolution of mind is regarded 

 as dependent on the stimulating influence of pain on 

 volition. Unfortunately these highly interesting con- 

 clusions are not reached in a very scientific manner. 

 The contradiction to the principles of evolution in- 

 volved in the supposition that any of the specialised 

 mental states experienced by us can be primitive, does 

 not appear to have occurred to the author. The con- 

 clusions do not appear to be adequately based either on 

 observation or experiment ; the view, already mentioned, 

 that the conscious state of the infant is mainly one of 

 pain, appears to be derived from Preyer. The reader is 

 often left in doubt as to whether statements made by the 

 author are facts or opinions ; thus, in considering the 

 priority of touch and pain, it is stated that " a man in a 

 'brown study' inadvertently touching a hot stove has 

 pain, then warmth, then touch sensation " ; we are not 

 told whether this order has been actually observed by any 

 one ; it is certainly opposed to common experience. 

 Although the author's method is not scientific, and his 

 conclusions questionable, the book has many points of 

 interest. In considering the emotions, there is much 

 skilful psychological analysis ; the knowledge of previous 

 thought on the subject is considerable, and there is 

 much that is stimulating and suggestive. The chapter 

 on desire may be mentioned as especially interesting. 



Dr. Hyslop's book deals with the relations of the 

 nervous system and the mind, especially in their bearings 

 on mental disease, and a large part of the book is devoted 

 to pathological questions. The book seems to be directed 

 against the materialistic views which prevail among those 

 who have to do with mental disease, at any rate in this 

 country. Current hypotheses about the physiological 

 basis of the higher mental processes are discussed and 

 vigorously criticised, but less attention is paid to the 

 positive knowledge which we possess, especially in re- 

 lation to sensation and perception. The experimental 

 aspect of psychology is almost wholly neglected, even 

 when it is of a physiological nature, as in much recent 



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