January 6, 1910] 



NA TURE 



27- 



Messrs. Bailey and Miller quote Leopold's observa- 

 tions, but they omit to mention that the later in- 

 vestigations of Heape, Sobotta, and others have 

 thrown a new light on the subject. In this connec- 

 tion reference may be made also to the recently pub- 

 lished memoir by Bryce and Teacher, whose con- 

 clusions in regard to the usual time for ovulation in 

 man are in general agreement with those arrived at 

 by investigators of the sexual processes in the lower 

 Mammalia. 



The authors state that the discharged follicle 

 'becomes organised by ingrowth of vessels from the 

 theca to form the corpus haemorrhagicum " (p. 32). 

 The latter name is more correctly applied to the follicle 

 \vhen it contains a blood-clot, as happens frequently 

 (but bv no means invariably) after ovulation, and the 

 term is used in this sense on a later page (p. 413). 

 The cells of the membrana granulosa do not actively 

 proliferate be{pre becoming luteal cells, as stated here 

 1pp. 32 and 413), but undergo a process of simple 

 hvpertrophv. Cell-division in this layer is extremely 

 rare after ovulation has taken place. 



The authors lay due stress on the fact that the 

 ovaries are ductless glands, not only physiologically 

 and anatomically, but also developmentally. On a 

 later page (p. 437) they make the statement that con- 

 genital absence of the ovaries may occur without 

 defects in the other generative organs. We do not 

 know on what authority this observation is cited, and 

 in view of the fact that the uterus undergoes atrophy 

 after ovariotomy (or remains infantile if the opera- 

 tion is performed in early life), the statement seems 

 on the face of it unlikely. 



The question as to the determination of sex is dis- 

 cussed at some length, and the recent observations 

 of Wilson, McClung, Morgan, and Correns are re- 

 ferred to. Some of the older experiments on feeding 

 caterpillars, tadpoles, &c., are also described, but the 

 authors do not mention that the evidence derived from 

 these has been to a large extent invalidated by the 

 recent work of Cuenot, Kellogg, and others. 



The book is divided into two parts, the first deal- 

 ing with general development, including the develop- 

 ment of the external form of the body, while the 

 second is devoted to organogenesis. The sections at 

 the ends of the chapters, treating of the origin of 

 malformations and developmental anomalies, are a 

 special feature. Moreover, there is a final chapter 

 on teratogenesis, in which the views of Beard, Mall, 

 and others are duly referred to. Suggestions for 

 practical work, with descriptions of the necessary 

 technique, are also included. 



There are a few minor errors. For example, on 

 p. 115, "Fig. 107" is a misprint for "Fig. 108," and 

 on p. 416 "Girou" is wrongly written "Giron." 



Among the more noteworthy omissions are absence 

 of reference to the " phylogenetic law " (commonly 

 but erroneously called the law of von Baer), except- 

 ing for a passing mention on p. 387, Miss Lane 

 Claypon's work on the origin of ova from ovarian 

 interstitial cells during adult life, Herring's researches 

 on the development of the pituitary, and Gaskell's 

 work on "The Origin of Vertebrates," which, with 

 all its w'ealth of detail and illustration, morphologists 

 NO. 2097, VOL. 82] 



cannot afford to ignore. However, much valuable 

 and important matter is included, and the volume as a 

 whole forms a useful addition to the literature of 

 medical embryology. 



Fran'cis H. a. Marshall. 



FVKDXUEK'TAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHIATRY. 

 Modern Problems in Psychiatry. By Prof. E. Lugaro. 



Translated by Dr. David Orr and Dr. E. G. Rows. 



Pp. vii + 305. (Manchester: University Press, 1909.) 



Price ys. 6d. net. 



THIS translation will be welcomed by those who are 

 interested in the study of mental disease, but 

 have been unable to read the original Italian work. 

 The book is intended to pass in review the chief 

 fundamental problems which present themselves to the 

 student of psychiatry. As the author states in his 

 preface, the latter must be a man of extensive know- 

 ledge, since his study carries him into the most difficult 

 branches of anatomy, physiology, pathology, psych- 

 ology, sociology and even criminology. The author 

 also hints that one object of his book is to justify 

 the claim of psychiatry to a place among the sciences 

 and by the side of general medicine, and to remove 

 from the public mind the existing prejudice against 

 the study of mental disorders. The work is, how- 

 ever, surely too learned a disquisition to engage the 

 attention of an ordinary layman. We regret to find 

 that the author himself draws a distinction between 

 physicians and "alienists" (p. 71), as if so-called 

 "alienists" were not physicians; yet we understand 

 that even in Italy psychiatry is a well-recognised 

 branch of medicine. 



While admitting that it is still necessarv at the 

 present day to define clearly one's position in relation 

 to metaphysical doctrines, we consider that Prof. 

 Lugaro is "too respectful to effete hypotheses of the 

 nature of mind in devoting so much space to dismiss- 

 ing them. His final attitude is that he accepts the 

 external world as an existing reality independent of 

 our experience of it; while consciousness he regards 

 as coinciding, perhaps identical, with experience; 

 whether the experience be that of the philosopher, 

 peasant, child or brute. This mode of regarding con- 

 sciousness he designates "primitive realism." 



The book as a whole strikes one as the work of a 

 pathologist and anatomist with but limited clinical 

 experience. The chapters on anatomical, physiologi- 

 cal and allied problems should claim the attention of 

 every asylum physician; those on pathogenesis and 

 ctiologv are not so strong, but they repay perusal. 



In the anatomical section the researches of Ramon 

 y Cajal, Nissl, Brodmann and Vogt on the histology 

 of the cortex are passed in review, but we note with 

 regret that the excellent work of Campbell is not even 

 mentioned. Similarly, in the physiological section we 

 regard it as an important omission that no reference 

 is made to Sherrington's researches. 



Prof. Lugaro is a believer in the utility of hypo- 

 theses. "If a hypothesis starts from assured facts 

 and involves no errors of reasoning, it has as much 

 value as the observation from which it takes origin," 

 and "even the observations on which it is based 



