May 20. 1909] 



NA TURE 



335 



Again, in reference to the mythologic process, his 

 position is that in tlie function which gives rise to 

 all mythological ideas we have a characteristic kind 

 of apperception belonging to all naive consciousness, 

 and suitably designated by the name personifying 

 apperception. 



" Myth-making or personifying apperception is not 

 to be regarded as a special form or even as 

 a distinct sub-form of apperception. It is nothing 

 but the natural inceptive stage of apperception in 

 general." 



There is nothing to complain of here, in this illu- 

 minating identification of primitive mythological im- 

 pulse with primitive apperception, except the term 

 " personifying." For the sociological amateur the 

 term " personification," and its connotation to the 

 effect that early man assigned a human personality, 

 with sensations, feelings, and volitions, all human, 

 to everything in nature, from the mammoth and the 

 lion to the humblest insect, and not only this, but to 

 all inanimate objects, all processes, from the sun and 

 the moon to the sand on the sea-shore, from the 

 thunder and lightning to the rustling of a leaf — this 

 has been an intellectual fetish for too long. But un- 

 less the author's meaning has been misunderstood, it 

 would seem that he has not reached the true explana- 

 tion, simple as it is, of the facts which gave rise to 

 this easy result of " mythology in science." We still 

 need an exact demonstration by psychology of the 

 mental habits of early man in the direction of ani- 

 mistic and personificational beliefs. 



The content of the social mythological conscious- 

 ness is huge. Wundt, we are glad to obser\'e, em'- 

 phasises the predominance of the motive of " luck " 

 in Marchen, fable, and saga. Here the free mental 

 activity connepts with the economic basis of life, which, 

 by the conditions of the work, is not brought forward 

 to any great extent. The hypothesis of an original 

 monotheism or crypto-monotheism is rejected. The 

 complex origin of religion is fully discussed, and its 

 development is traced to the present day. Popular 

 Christianity as trltheism, Christianity as a religion of 

 feeling and will in contrast to intellectualistic systems 

 like Buddhism, are among the interesting side-issues 

 which the author follows out. 



The origin and function of art supply a peculiarly 

 fruitful field for psychology. It is interesting to notice 

 that from Aristotle onwards the criticism of this e.x- 

 pression of mind has been in striking contrast to that 

 of other expressions in its freedom from metaphysical 

 prejudice. The theory of art has been studied more 

 or less empirically from the beginning. 



"Play," as Wundt remarks, following the well- 

 established opinion, " is the mother of art." As a 

 motor-expression of ideas art is in interesting con- 

 nection with cult and custom. Like everything else, 

 it has its historical and its psychical origin. Thus, 

 the Greek di-ama has its historical origin in the re- 

 ligious play,' Its psychical origin in imitation and 

 catharsis. Aristotle gives us both ; we mention his 

 explanation by way of directing attention to the 

 modern development in psychology of his original idea. 

 He would recognise in the present analysis of the play- 

 NO. 2064, VOL. So] 



impulse his own germ-idea in a complete differentiated 

 form. 



In the description of early forms of art, significant 

 tendencies are well illustrated. Its momentary char- 

 acter and its frequent bondage to assimilation are 

 interesting peculiarities. For instance, the double- 

 formed objects of Egyptian and Assyrian art are 

 equally prevalent in savagery. The curious tables 

 made out of animals with flat backs ; the decorative 

 motive of the alligator in Chiriqui art ; the Gorgon 

 series in Greek sculpture, are well-chosen types. 



The dramatic magical plays of the Central Aus- 

 tralians deserve analysis. Is not also the theory of 

 sexual selection still to be reckoned with in the origin 

 of art? 



These are but " requests for more " where so much 

 is given. Science owes a debt to one of her greatest 

 intellects for this application of his psychology to the 

 concrete mental history of the world. 



A. E. Crawley. 



THE RIDDLE OF OLD AGE. 

 The Prohlem of Age, Growth, and Death: a Study 

 of Cytomorphosis. By Prof. Charles S. Minot. 

 Pp. xxiii + 280. (London : John Murray, 1908.) 

 Price 6s. net. 



FROM the time of Cicero, perhaps before, the 

 problems of longevity and of the cause of old 

 age have again and again been subjects of specula- 

 tion. Not long ago, Metchnikoff, in his optimistic 

 work, " The Nature of Man," ascribed old age to 

 a poisoning by bacterial poisons developed as a result 

 of fermentations occurring in the large intestine. The 

 effect of this poisoning is to produce a weakening of 

 various cells and tissues, which then become a prey 

 to the scavenging cells of the body, the phagocytes. 



Prof. Minot, in the work under review, develops 

 another conception of the nature of " growing old." 

 .■Mthough in old age a condition of atrophy is fre- 

 quent, and various degenerations of cells and tissues 

 are usually present, in particular of the arterial 

 system, so that it has been said " a man is only as 

 old as his arteries," Prof. Minot combats the view 

 that old age is a kind of disease, and regards it as 

 a necessary consequence of the changes in the cells 

 of the bod}', which are inevitably progressive from 

 birth to death ; this succession of cellular changes is 

 termed "cytomorphosis." In the development of his 

 subject, the author first discusses the rate of growth 

 in the embryo and in the young after birth. The 

 rate of growth, very rapid at first, becomes slower 

 and slower, and with the progress of growth various 

 structural changes in the cells can be demonstrated 

 to occur. These changes always progress, and ulti- 

 mately end in degeneration and death, so that even 

 at the period when the body is most vigorous, cellular 

 death is of constant occurrence. The rate of growth 

 is instructively illustrated by tables and curves of the 

 height and weight of boys and girls, and of the 

 weight of rabbits, guinea-pigs, and chicken at 

 various age periods. It is shown that the greatest 



