September 27, 1906J 



NA TURE 



535 



thought; it is impossible, for example, to resolve life 

 and matter into force. Their unity can only be a 

 formal one, i.e. the unity of law which pervades them 

 and which is apprehended by man. Just as in mathe- 

 matics "we chn from the projection of a very com- 

 plicated figure, one for example whose extremities may 

 lie in infinity, derive without error the laws according 

 to which it is composed," so we can project the com- 

 plicated universe on the human mind, and trace the 

 laws which are its formal framework. The second 

 chapter discusses the two great formal schemes of 

 thought, the logical and the mathematical, and a 

 preference is given to the mathematical as being 

 synthetic and not analytic. This leads naturally to 

 a discussion of continuity and " discreteness," and the 

 relation between these two is compared in a suggestive 

 fashion with that between geometry and arithmetic, 

 perception and thought, being and becoming. From 

 the mathematical standpoint there is given also a new 

 expression for life, which represents it as the hypo- 

 tenuse of a right-angled triangle of which the two 

 sides are matter = being and force = becoming. 



Later chapters discuss the problem of spirit and the 

 large question of freedom. An epilogue asks. What 

 is truth? and it appears that in the existence of an 

 abstract, objective truth our author has no faith. 

 Amid much fancifulness and some obscurity there is 

 not a little that is instructive and highly interesting. 



(7) The main conclusion of the work before us is 

 that man does not live by consciousness alone. " The 

 processes of perception of the external world," writes 

 the author, " are in the ordinary use of our faculties 

 as typically sub-conscious as conscious in their mode 

 of functioning." This is revealed in many ways; 

 there is, for example, the well-known experiment in 

 which two equal lines have added to them pairs of 

 shadowy strokes, divergent and convergent respec- 

 tively, the result being that the one line appears 

 considerably longer than the other. 



" Now reduce the shadow-strokes to such a degree 

 of faintness that the eye fails to detect their presence, 

 and continue to judge (naturally with diminished 

 confidence) which seems the longer, and it will be 

 found that the undetected shadows incline the judg- 

 ments in accord with the illusion which their observed 

 presence induces." 



Further, when we talk of crystal-gazing, thought- 

 reading, dissociated consciousness, and the other 

 phenomena so often exploited by charlatanism, we 

 have to remember that, obscure and weird as at first 

 sight they appear, they often reveal themselves on 

 analysis to be but " the exaggerated elaboration of 

 possibilities inherent in every human mind." 



Prof. Jastrow discusses all these problems in a very 

 sane and convincing manner, and his work is a valu- 

 able contribution to the subject. Occasionally the 

 treatment is a little prolix. The first part deals with 

 the normal aspect of the subconscious, the second 

 with the abnormal, and the closing chapters discuss 

 the theory of the matter. Dissociation is explained 

 as " the partial presence, with impaired relations, of 

 factors normally fully associated and integrally co- 

 ordinated"; and to show precisely in what such 

 NO. 1926, VOL. 74] 



impairment of relations is seen, he defines the three 

 privileges of mature psychic procedure as "incorpor- 

 ation, orientation and initiative." The theory which 

 meets with his most vehement opposition is that of 

 the' subliminal self, which he finds to be " but slightly 

 restrained by exacting allegiance to the large body 

 of normal data," and which further indulges in all 

 manner of medi:eval epicycles whenever facts refuse 

 lo fit themselves to it. His main objection to the 

 subliminal self lies in the difficulty of accounting for 

 its maintenance amid the evolutionary conditions 

 under which our consciousness has reached its present 

 form. 



SEA-FISHERIES ADMINISTRATION AND 

 RESEARCH. 

 British Fisheries. Their Administration and their 

 Problems. A Short Account of the Origin and 

 Growth of British Sea-fishery Authorities and 

 Regulations. By James Johnstone. Pp. xxxi-l-350. 

 (London : Williams and Norgate, 1905.) Price 

 JOS. 6d. net. 



THIS book may be described as a summary and 

 critical analysis of all that has been or is being 

 done for the sea-fisheries of this country by means of 

 legislation and scientific investigation. The first part 

 of the book deals with the history of legislation, and 

 the second part with scientific investigation. 



The history of the early legislation is a record of 

 failure, as was proved by the repeal of more than 

 fifty repressive Acts (mostly relating to herring trawl- 

 ing) at the suggestion of the Royal Commission of 

 1863. That commission, of which Huxley was a 

 member, took a very optimistic view of " the resources 

 of the sea." The Trawling Commission of 1882 was 

 not quite so optimistic ; at least it showed that certain 

 inshore grounds had been affected by too much beam 

 trawling. Finally, the Select Committee of 1893 was 

 definitely pessimistic. It felt " that the subject of the 

 diminution of the fish supply is a very pressing one, 

 and the situation is going from bad to worse." 



Mr. Johnstone has a good deal to say about the 

 constitution of the various sea-fisheries committees, 

 and finds that, "on the whole, the system of local 

 regulation of the fisheries, as originally contemplated 

 by the Sea-Fisheries Regulation Acts, cannot be said 

 to be very successful." Where amalgamation has 

 taken place " the administration has been most 

 successful"; but "it is generally agreed that the 

 system under which the regulation of the fisheries is 

 obtained by rates levied on the maritime counties is 

 not altogether a fair one." 



The author is lavish in his praise of the Fishery 

 Board for Scotland, its administration, scientific 

 work, and " perfect system " of statistics, and has, 

 by way of contrast, some very hard things to say 

 about the English authority, its "inertia," lack of 

 scientific investigation, and imperfect statistics. As 

 for the former body, one's admiration, though genuine 

 enough so far as it goes, is tempered by reflections on 

 the very questionable success of its wholesale 

 closure policy. In regard to the English official 



