848 



SCIENCE. 



[N, S. Vol. XXIV. No. 626. 



medusEe it buds off from plant-like masses of 

 fixed hydroid polyps.' As a matter of fact, 

 this medusa forms a conspicuous exception to 

 the general rule and does not arise by bud- 

 ding, as in Olielia or Pennaria. The typog- 

 raphy and press work are excellent. The 

 mode of binding is, however, far from ideal. 

 Much better covers for such notes are now 

 provided, which are far simpler and more 

 effective than the rather crude ' shoe-string ' 

 method used in this book. 



C. W. H. 



The Subconscious. Joseph Jastrow. Boston 



and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 



Pp. ix + 549. 



This book is not so much a theory of the 

 subconscious or an analysis of the concept of 

 subconsciousness, as an attempt to schematize 

 certain portions of normal and abnormal psy- 

 chology, on the basis of a definite assumption 

 of a subconscious, the conception of which, 

 however, is very indefinitely outlined. The 

 course of the whole exposition is directed 

 toward a specific development of a familiar 

 theory of the self. The treatise throughout is 

 furnished with a wealth of illustration which 

 may be of use to the instructing psychologist, 

 but it is embellished with a profusion of 

 metaphor, simile and analogy, which, under 

 the author's mastery of polysyllabic verbiage, 

 gives rise to a florid fluency apt to cause the 

 newly introduced reader to lose the path of 

 the argument amidst the rhetorical gardens 

 which surround it. 



In the ten chapters of Part I., which deals 

 with the normal consciousness, the author 

 takes us through an elaborate exposition of 

 the doctrines of habit, attention, automatic 

 action, will and self -consciousness, with which 

 we have been made familiar by James. This 

 part seems apt to be found of much use for 

 students covering intensively these topics of 

 psychology. 



It is in this part, however, that the concept 

 of the subconscious (or perhaps we should say 

 the term subconscious) is made a useful 

 basket for the reception of the odds and ends 

 left loose by more timid authors. First is 

 shown how processes go on without conscious- 



ness. Then in Chapter VI. (The Mechanism 

 of Consciousness) is assumed a subconscious 

 control without definite definition of the same, 

 and the ' apportionment of mental life to the 

 subconscious and conscious participants ' is 

 discussed, the topic being continued through 

 the succeeding chapters. 



In the course of this discussion, not only 

 are various types of automatic and habitual 

 action handed over to the responsibility of 

 the subconscious, but active recall, and spon- 

 taneous trains of association in sleep or 

 waking, are construed as the * bringing of the 

 subconscious activity to bear for the service 

 of the conscious.' The associative mechanism 

 in general is said to ' find its sphere of activity 

 largely in the subconscious realm.' Self feel- 

 ing is said to be strongly tinged with subcon- 

 scious elements; subconscious feelings of our 

 own importance, of the attitude of others, etc. 

 By way of strengthening the useful concept, 

 the experimentally ascertained effects of im- 

 perceptible stimuli on consciousness are cited. 



So far, the term subconscious covers the 

 general field of (1) unconscious control of 

 activity, (2) production of conscious effects 

 by factors not themselves in consciousness, 

 and (3) vague consciousness. 



In Part II., which deals with abnormal 

 phenomena, dreams, hypnagogic hallucina- 

 tions, deliria, drug intoxications, somnambu- 

 lisms, hypnotic states, hysterias, and altera- 

 tions of personality, or the psychological side 

 of these, are considered and described on the 

 basis of the same concept (or term) of the 

 subconscious. The principal factor in these 

 abnormalities is almost stated to be the dom- 

 inance of the subconscious as over against 

 the dominance of the conscious in normal 

 experience. 



In general the role this subconscious plays 

 is shown as identical with that in the actions, 

 perceptions and associations of normal con- 

 sciousness. The important new phases which 

 are reduced to a basis of subconscious activity 

 are: (1) anesthesias, which are shown to be 

 not physical losses of sensibility, and to be 

 even psychically contradictory, (2) confusion 

 of hallucination with reality, and (3) the loss 

 of conscious control over actions which yet go 



