■42 



NATURE 



j_i. 19 tS 



Leverhulme, with a sens, oi humour, 

 which is in strong contrast with the author's ex 

 emphasis, makes the poinl thai his fore- 

 word is "-in apl illustration oi thai kind of 

 which is the saddesl type ol .ill wastes — 

 a wasted opportunity." Here we join issue with 

 his lordship. So far from neglecting it, he seizes 

 the opportunity to stale that in his opinion "the 

 itesl wasters are those who concentrate their 

 whole time on mere efforts for immediate and 

 direct money-making." Such a preachmenl from 

 so -real a captain of industr) serves to point a 

 moral for which we share Prof. Spoonedg grati- 

 tude. 



MENTAL DISORDERS LVD THEIR TREAT- 

 MENT. 



iii lh,' Modern Treatment oi Mental and. Nervous 

 Disorders. A Lecture delivered at the Univer- 

 sity ol .Manchester, on March J5, 1918, bv 

 Dr, I!. Hart. Pp. a8. (Manchester: At the 

 University Press; London: Longmans, Green, 



and Co., 1918.) Price IS. net. 



(2) The Re-education <<i the Adult: I. The Neuras- 

 thenic in War and Peace. By Capt. A. J. 

 Brock. (London: Headle) Bros.) 6d. 



(1) TN this lecture Dr. Hart discusses modern 

 J- conceptions of the nature and treatment of 

 mental and nervous disorders. lie points out 

 that, though the "physiological conception "- 

 the belief that mental and nervous disorders are 

 due to deranged bodily processes, and in parti- 

 cular lo diseases of the brain- still holds its place, 

 its sway is no longer undisputed, for there has 



now arisen the "psychological conception," which 

 holds 1 hat some at least of these phenomena are 

 due to mental causes, 1 apable of determination 

 by psychological investigation, and of removal 

 b\ psychological methods of treatment. The con- 

 spicuous sin rrs> of this latter treatment has been 

 amply demonstrated in our military hospitals tor 

 "shell shock " and similar disorders. Dr. Hart 

 is upon the present imperative necessity of 

 provision for civilian patients, both men and 

 women, in thosi incipient phases of mental and 

 nervous disorder when treatment promises the 

 besl results, and urges the desirability of institu- 

 tions in which physiologist, chemist, and psvcho- 

 logisl cm attack, together and from every side, 

 the man problems thai await solution. In em- 

 phasising the necessit) foi the closi association 

 ol treatment with organised investigation and with 

 teaching, he points out that these three functions 

 have their natural home in the universities and 

 medical schools, and it is from them that we shall 

 confidently expect the developments that arc s., 

 urgently needed. 



(2) This essay forms pari ol No. 4 of the second 

 scries of "Papers for the Present." Describing 

 the "shell shock" hospital as "a microcosm of 

 the modern world, showing the salient features of 

 our society (and especially its weaknesses) in- 

 NO. 2556, VOL. I02] 



tensified, and on a narrower slave," the author 

 il.cs some of the re-eduralive methods which, 

 having proved successful, mav be commended to 

 the attention ol the educationist and those de- 

 voting themselves to the general problems of 

 social reconstruction. Underlying all the symp- 

 toms of neurasthenia is found the element of 



separatis 1 dissociation a significant fact for 



social psychology. Some of the current psycho- 

 logical methods ol dealing with neurasthenia are 

 placed bv 'he writer into three groups, which, he 

 savs, are steps in a progressive series: (]) Psvcho- 

 antbsis; |_) therapeutic conversations; (3) "ergO- 



therapy." In methods belonging to the first group 

 1 he menial condition is analysed, in the second 



the patient is "encouraged to look sensibly and 

 squarely at things," while in the last he is 

 "prompted lo follow up bis thoughts by action — 

 by real functioning in relation to his environment." 



WORG [NIC CHEMISTRY FOR Sit DENTS. 

 (1) Introduction i" Inorganic Chemistry. By 



Prof. \. Smith. Third edition. Pp. xiv 925. 



I London: G. Hell and Sons, Ltd., 1918.) Price 



Nv 6d. net. 

 (jj Experimental Inorganic Chemistry. By Prof. 



A. Smith. Sixth edition. Pp. vii 171. 



(London: (L Hell and Sons. Lid., [918.) Price 



3s. in/, net. 

 ( ;,) .1 Laboratory Outline of College Chemistry. 



By Prof. \. Smith. Pp. v 206. (London: G. 



Hell and Sons, Ltd., 1918.)' Price 3s, ml. 

 (1) A MOM, the text-books of 



inorganic 



chemistry of the newer type, in 

 which the attempt is made to present the 

 descriptive material so far as possible in 

 connection with underlying theoretical prin- 

 ciples, Prof. Alexander Smith's "Introduction to 

 Inorganic Chemistry " is one the merits of which 

 have gained wide recognition, and that a third 

 edition ol ! his work has become necessary will 

 occasion no surprise. 



A comparison of the present with llu previous 

 edition shows that some alterations have been 



made in the arrangement of the subject-matter 

 and thai a considerable amount of additional in- 

 formation has been inserted, corresponding with 

 I he advances of the past decade where these have 

 come within the scope ol an introductory text- 

 book. Thus the account oi" the radio-active ele- 

 ments has been greatly extended, and there are 

 new sections on colloidal solutions, the atomic 

 numbers, and other subjects of a theoretical 

 character. A number of paragraphs have also 

 been inserted on some of the more recent 



technical applications of chemistry, such as 



the manufacture ol nitric acid from the atmo- 

 sphere, synthetical ammonia, the oxyacetylene 

 flame, the application of tungsten, the use of per- 

 mutite lor water-softening, and so forth. Rv 

 these additions the usefulness of the book is fully 

 maintained, ami it continue-, to give a scientific 



