June 6, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



857 



estimating the scope and the character of 

 the investigations to be carried on in this 

 building, might defeat the efforts of those 

 upon whom the responsibility of equalizing 

 opportunity and achievement must fall. 



This clinic, in a peculiarly distinctive 

 manner, typifies the human as well as the 

 humane spirit of the twentieth century. 

 During the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 

 turies the physical sciences had succeeded 

 in breaking away from the traditions and 

 superstitions which had hampered their 

 development. Astronomy had been di- 

 vorced from astrology, chemistry from al- 

 chemy, and the foundations of geology had 

 actually been laid. In the nineteenth cen- 

 tury the renaissance of the biological sci- 

 ences was accompanied by the formulation 

 and expression of a rational idea of man's 

 position in cosmos. Towards the close of 

 the eighteenth and the beginning of the 

 nineteenth century a few investigators had 

 already called attention to the importance 

 of studjdng the activities of human beings ; 

 but not until the second half of the last 

 century was there any realization of the 

 fact that the most interesting phenomena 

 of the universe for human beings to study 

 were their own activities. How do we live, 

 move and have our being? 



To the lay mind the term psychiatry 

 often suggests a very limited field in med- 

 ical science, but those who take an active 

 part in the work of this clinic will easily 

 appreciate that they are engaged in at- 

 tempting to find the solution of problems 

 of far greater importance than any relating 

 merely to the care of patients suffering 

 from mental or nervous disorder. Anom- 

 alies of thought and conduct are studied 

 in order that the knowledge acquired may 

 be applied directly to making life for the 

 majority of persons pleasanter and more 

 effective. Institutions of this character 

 are intended primarily for the study of 



human nature along broad biological lines. 



"We are justified in considering disease as 

 an analytical process which reduces to a 

 comprehensive form the complex activities 

 we designate collectively as health. An 

 intimate knowledge of abnormal states of 

 mind and body is, as Pinel afSrmed, a key 

 that unlocks the secrets of human history. 

 By making use of nature's contrast of 

 functions we may also gain an insight into 

 that continuous process of adjustment we 

 call life. From the study of disease the 

 facts have been gathered for the founda- 

 tions upon which modern preventive medi- 

 cine has been established, and through it 

 a new meaning has been given to life and 

 greater efficiency in thought and action to 

 those who profit by the lessons of science. 

 For centuries the different parts of the 

 body have been studied by physicians, and 

 a knowledge of the structure and function 

 of the separate parts has been attained. 

 It is essential, if we are to comprehend the 

 fundamental mechanisms of response of 

 the organism, that we familiarize ourselves 

 with the laws which govern the relation- 

 ship of all these organs as they are ex- 

 pressed in each individual, and we must 

 accustom ourselves to study man as a liv- 

 ing organism. 



Living beings have the capacity of ex- 

 pressing their integral unity as individ- 

 uals, and in the case of man there are spe- 

 cial mechanisms of adjustment, collectively 

 designated as the personality. The com- 

 plex adjustments synthesized in the per- 

 sonality may easily be deranged by inter- 

 ference with the activities of organs or by 

 disturbing the capacity for adaptation ; the 

 chief function of sense organs, brain and 

 nervous system. We all know how inti- 

 mately dependent human beings are upon 

 their environment. Changes in the latter 

 call for delicate and immediate adaptation, 

 and it may be said the problems of psy- 



