N0\-EMBEE 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



275 



Life in Eurhi Britain. By Bertram C. A. Windle. 

 (David Nutt.) 'illustrated. 3s. 6d. Of all subjects of 

 historical interest, that which is most involved in mystery 

 and uncertainty is assuredly the life of our remotest 

 ancestors. To the arch;eologist the subject is of great 

 importance, and to the general reader an inexhaustible 

 source of pleasure. Who were the first occupants of our 

 islands .' Some authorities believe that man existed in 

 Britain when the land formed a part of the continent of 

 Europe. Others express a different opinion. In time the 

 land became separated and the island we now know came 

 into existence. The only way that succeeding races could 

 then have come into Britain was by means of boats, or 

 their equivalents. The first of these sea-borne races was 

 the Neolithic, then came the Celts, and as to the succeeding 

 races we need not mention them here. The means by 

 which we have acquired some knowledge regarding the 



Price lOs. Hypnotism as a branch of medicine is, in a 

 general way, almost Ln its infancy, yet the treatment of 

 patients by this method is regarded by some as having a 

 great future Ln store. The present work has been written 

 by a physician who has during the past few years made a 

 speciality of hypnotic science. In his introduction the 

 author says that the majority of people can be hypnotized ; 

 some are easily, and others with difficulty, thrown into 

 the hypnotic state. As a proof of this the author states 

 that out of three thousand one hundred and forty-eight 

 persons acted upon since the year 1887, only ninety-seven 

 were proof against his power or suggestions. Children are, 

 without exception, easy to hypnotize, and subjects up to 

 the age of thirty are not difficult to manage. After this 

 age the susceptibility diminishes, but in very old people the 

 power of hypnotization is great. Cases of all kinds are 

 mentioned, and the results of the author's experiences, as 



Interior of the Boiuaa Bath at Bath. From "Life in Early Britain.' 



existence of these earlier ancestors are set forth in this 

 little volume. The monuments, implements, and other 

 remains found in different parts of these islands are 

 described by the author in an able and interesting manner, 

 while the engravings are of high quality and aptly de- 

 scriptive of the text they are meant to illustrate. A com- 

 prehensive list of the principal monuments left by our 

 ancestors is given at the end of the book. Prof. Windle, 

 like all other writers on this subject, has, of necessity, 

 drawn largely upon imagination to bridge the chasms and 

 to focus the many divergent rays of light which proceed 

 from so many different sources; and he has, we think, 

 succeeded in presenting an outline picture of primitive hfe 

 which, in the present state of knowledge, will not only 

 meet with general approval, but also serve as a reliable 

 introduction to students who desire a stepping-stone to 

 more pretentions works of the same character. 



Hypnotism and its Application to Practical Medicine. By 

 Otto Georg Wetterstrand, M.D. (O. F. Putnam's Sons.) 



here set down, go to prove that most diseases can be 

 cured by hypnotism 1 We are told that the diseases which 

 are most susceptible to the hypnotic intluence are those 

 which have a nervous origin. Herbert Spencer, in his 

 great work on philosophy, comes to the conclusion that 

 antagonism prevails among different classes of society 

 because they wiU not take the trouble to look into the 

 matter, and find out both its faults and virtues. Much the 

 same may be said of hypnotism, according to the advocates 

 of this latest universal remedy. It may be almost right, 

 in the light of what past experience has shown, to say that 

 the real worth of a theory is in inverse proportion to its 

 first acceptance. Those who venture to assert that in the 

 future hypnotism wLU be recognized as the long-sought 

 elixir, as it were, have still some dense mists and fogs to 

 dissipate by the light of science before a belated, and 

 maybe sceptical, public can discern so fair and beneficent 

 a banker of human woe in such a guise. It would, indeed, 

 be a means of dissipating much pain and suffering to poor 

 humanity if it be found possible to cure most diseases by 

 hypnotism. 



