278 



DISCOVERY 



that the apphcation of common sense is not a universal 

 safeguard. The student of statistics \vill be well advised 

 to read what the author has to say about the subject of 

 statistical inference, and the book can be recommended 

 to all students of science. 



The author gives a copious bibhographj', and he also 

 includes a short account of European developments which 

 may be new to many. A. T. Doodson. 



Books Received 



(Mention in this column does not preclude a re\iew.) 



MISCELLAXEOUS 

 The Phylogeny of Man from a AVir Angle. By Charles 



Hill-Tout, F.R.S.C, F.R.A.I., etc. (Ottawa: 



Printed for the Royal Society of Canada.) 

 Tendencies in Renaissance Literary Theory. Bv B.^sil 



WiLLEY, B.A. (Cambridge : Bowes & Bowes, 



2S. 6d.) 

 The Czechoslovak Republic. By J.\rosl.w Cis-\r and 



F. PoKORNY. (T. Fisher-Unwin, gs.) 



SCIENCE 

 Das feinbauliche Wesen der Materia nach dent Vorbilde 

 der Kristalle. 3rd Edition. By Prof. Dr. Friedrich 

 RiN'XE. (B^rUn : Gebriider Borntraeger, 105. bd.) 

 An admirable account in German of recent work on 

 crystal structure for specialists. 



Recent Progress in Rubber Chemistry and Technologv. By 

 Philip Schidrowitz, Ph.D., F.C.S. (Benn Brothers, 

 Ltd., 35. 6d.) 



A resume of recent work for specialists on the chemistr}- 

 of rubber, the processes of vulcanising, etc. 

 Early Science in Oxford. Part II — Mathematics. By 

 R. T. GuNTHER, Magdalen College, Oxford. (Hum- 

 phrey jNIilford, los. 6d.) 

 The first volume of this series has been noticed in an 

 earlier issue, and this volume will appeal to those who 

 were then interested. It gives an account of the mathe- 

 maticians, instrument-makers and their mathematical 

 instruments, connected with the University of O.xford 

 from early times to the beginning of the nineteenth 

 centurj-. It is a book of great importance to those who 

 care for these things. The compiler is qualified both on 

 the historical and the scientific side, and is, in addition, 

 an enthusiast. 



Evolution of the Esse.x Rivers and of the Lower Thames. 

 By Prof. J. W. Gregory, D.Sc, F.R.S. (Colchester : 

 Benham & Co., Ltd., as. 6^.) 

 A monograph, written by one of the clearest exponents 

 of geological subjects in our country, that should be 

 spjcially interesting to East Anglians. 

 Radio Receiving for Beginners. Bv Rhey T. Sntodgr.^ss 

 and Victor F. Camp, A.I.R.E. (Macmillan & Co., 

 Ltd., 3s. 6d.) 

 An American book for wireless enthusiasts, clearly 

 written, with good diagrams and containing much needful 

 information. 



Sir, 



Correspondence 



THE PROBLEM OF PERSONALITY 

 To the Editor of Discovery 



There is no doubt that the problem of personality 

 is of great importance ; in fact, it may be said that it is 

 the problem from which all others derive their importance. 

 I believe a great deal of light could be thrown on the 

 subject if trained scientists in all branches were to devote 

 to it even a fraction of the energy wliich they expend on 

 their special pursuits, ilost scientific speciahsts, unless 

 I am greatly mistaken, either ignore the subject (except 

 in their personal lives, where it is ine\dtable) or regard 

 it as an abstract inquiry which is the business of specialists 

 in philosoph}' and psjxhology. 



Before any advance can be made in this direction, 

 some provisional 7neaning should be given to the word 

 " personality." We cannot expect to define it precisely, 

 for that would amount to directly solving the problem. 



The first point to be settled is whether the person is 

 to be identified with the conscious Self, the centre of 

 values from which all " things " derive their values, 

 including the bodily organism. If this be so, we cannot 

 possibly agree with Mr. J. S. Huxley's theory that person- 

 ality is merely one of the various properties of the organism 

 as a whole. Tliis would be a return to the old fiction 

 that the brain secretes feelings and thoughts just in the 

 same sense as the kidneys secrete urine. I feel sure that 

 Mr. Huxley did not mean this, but the ambiguity of the 

 term " personality" leaves it open to question. 



In the liistory of philosophy a kind of compromise has 

 been attempted for several thousands of years. The 

 " person," or its equivalent in other languages, has been 

 identified with the union of the Self and a physical 

 orginism. 



If this view of personahtj- be accepted, it might form 

 a good groundwork for scientific inquiry. But no good 

 can come of it unless it is recognised all through that 

 the Self is essentially distinct from the plij'sical body 

 The body is the instrument of the Self, even ii it be a 

 bad instrument. The relation is absolutely irreversible. 

 It is meaningless to speak of the Self being the instrument 

 of the body, since the body of itself has no values and 

 seeks no instruments. Heredit)' and environment and 

 sex are alike instruments of the Self. 



Yours, etc., 

 R. A. P. Rogers. 

 Trinity College, Dublin. 

 fune 29s, 1922. 



[The abo\-e letter is printed in accordance with our 

 pohcy of allowing expression to all points of view on a 

 question. But we doubt if any successful scientific 

 inquiry into the problem could be carried through on the 

 basic argument that " the Self is essentially distinct from 

 the phj-sical bodj-," as it would start from an assumption 

 of which there is, so far as strictly scientific method can 

 guide us, no proof forthcoming. — Ed.] 



