October io, 191J 



NATURE 



i°3 



present English translation. To the author, the 



various traits of the neurotii constitution appear 



ormulations of what he terms the "masculine 



protest." The causal factor in this protest, which 



Can be made either by the male or the female, is 



1 ling of inferiority. A continual attempt is 



made by the neurotic in dispel this feeling bv 



ordering every detail ol his life so that he may 

 find that subjective security oi which the feeling 

 ol inicin.iiu has robbed him. This compensatory 

 product, this aggressive endeavour at even point 



to achieve the " maximation of his ego," fore- 

 doomed to failure because ol its false direction, 

 exhibits itself in its protean forms as the psycho- 

 neurosis 1 a psychosis. 



Dr. Villi r differs from many other workers in 

 the tield oi psychoanalysis in thai he attempts to 

 iuti this lowered self-esteem to a definite in- 

 feriority of some bodilj organ, and thus to give 

 a physical hasis lor his psychological theory. The 

 evidence for this view has l offered in a pre- 

 vious work, "Studie iiber Minderwertigkeit von 

 Organen," which is now being translated into 

 English. 



While welcoming this tendency to broaden the 

 general explanatory basis of mental and nervous 

 disorders oi this type by an attempt to conceive 

 physiological as well as ps) etiological factors 

 underlying them, one is inclined to think that 

 Dr. Adler's addition of a second supporting pillar 

 to his theoretical structure has been accompanied 

 by an undue attenuation of the first. Freud has 

 laid enormous stress upon the importance of the 



Sex instinct in the production of the ps\ choneu- 

 roses : Adler, his former pupil, ascribes a simi- 

 larlv exclusive rdle to the instini t of self-assertion. 

 The writings of Jung, on the other hand, allow 

 of the interpretation that each and every one of 

 the instincts in man may play lis part in the causa- 

 tion and continuance of these disorders. To believe 

 that both Adler and Freud have over-stated their 

 eiMs is compatible with the opinion that a com- 

 parison of such views, too sharply focussed as they 

 may be, will add to the physii ian's power for help- 

 ing that unfortunate, all-too-human being, the 

 neurotic. 



FOOD AND 111- U.TH. 

 (1) The Art of Health. By Prof. J. Long. Pp. xi + 

 1 < 1 -■ . (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1918.) 

 e 5«. net. 



under Rations. Over 200 War-time 

 Recipes. ' By M. M. Mitchell. Pp. 65. (Lon- 

 don : Longmans, (ireen, and Co., 1918.) Price 



2S. Hit. 



(1) *~PIIF author, of this book is "persuaded that 

 L most of our bodily troubles and the 

 diseases of the vital oreans are the result of im- 

 purities which are produced or deposited in the 

 svsiein from tin- foods we consume." It is not 

 surprising, therefore, that his advice to those who 

 wish to maintain or recover health deals largerj 

 with matters of diet. In the fifteen chapters of 

 which the work consists only three are devoted 

 NO. 2554, VOL. I02] 



to matters other than food — namely, No. 10 on 

 "Water," No. 11 on "Air," and No. 12 on 

 "Climate and Temperature." Even water and 

 air are claimed to be fi u 



Two reasons are given for undertaking the work 



namely, that the author has been a life student 

 of the breeding and feeding o 01 tic animals, 

 and that he has been led to study the nutrition of 

 the human body by having suffered lor a period of 

 four years from a disorder of his own digestive 

 organs, whereby he was reduced to a mental and 

 physical wreck. In consequence, the pull: is 

 1 1 cited to a dissertation on foods containing some 

 useful maxims of a general nature, for the most 

 part repeated several times throughout its p. 

 I he chiei points made are that insufficient a 

 lion is paid to the minerals and life in plants, ah 

 that too much meat is consumed. The author 

 therefore recommends a diet almost entirely vege- 

 tarian, and lays special stress on the use of salads 

 and raw fruits. For this a quaint reason reiterated 

 many times is assigned — namely, that "they main- 

 lain a clean digestive track [sic] throughout the 

 entire system." Nevertheless, the best section of 

 the book is that which de.als with salads. It would 

 be even more useful if detailed recipes had been 

 given. Prof. Long would in no circumstances 

 allow entrails to be eaten, and believes that all 

 kinds of meat cause a craving for drink, both non- 

 intoxicating and intoxicating, whereas vegetables 

 have not this effect. He recommends a vegetable 

 and fruit diet for the cure of inebriates, also for 

 cancer and tuberculosis. Cane-sugar is likewise 

 strongly condemned owing to its "high property 

 of fermentation." Nevertheless, the ration of this 

 sugar which he allows would nowadays be con- 

 sidered very liberal -namely, 2 to 5 oz. per day, 

 according to age and constitution. 



It is admitted that there are possible objections 

 to vegetarianism — namelv, bulkiness of the food, 

 possible irritation caused by a high proportion of 

 indigestible residue, and the difficulty of obtaining 

 sufficient nitrogen to cover wear-and-tear. 



A considerable number of mis-statements are to 

 be found, some of which appear to be based on 

 misconceptions. Thus "heal and energy" is an 

 expression which frequently occurs. It is stated 

 on p. 67 that "the liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, 

 stomach, and intestines consist of muscular tissue 

 to which more or less fat is attached." The word 

 "ilium " is used instead of "ileum" for the third 

 section of the small intestine. Fat is said to 

 produce heat at more than twice the rate of the 

 carbohydrates. The loss entailed by boiling vege- 

 tables is, as rule, placed too high. Parsnips 

 (p. 35) are sa '1 to lose more than one-half of the 

 total digestible food they contain; and in a more 

 detailed statement (p. 40) the nutritive matt 

 said to be reduced by boiling : in the parsnip from 

 15 to ;! per cent. ; in the carrot from 10 to 4 per 

 1 . hi ; in the turnip from 6 to 1 h per cent. ; in the 

 heel from it to 3 J, per cent.; and in the potato 

 20 per cent. Probably the author means that a 

 reduction of the nutritive matter takes place, vary- 

 ing in the parsnip from 15 to 3J per cent., and 



