JlJLT 15, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



87 



would doubtless have averted, in favorable sur- 

 roundings, so long a propagation of an error 

 so gigantic." 



12. Georges Bohn: The Acquisition of 

 Habits in Animals (17 pp.). — A review of 

 experiments by different observers, showing 

 that all animals, even to the lowest forms, are 

 capable of forming associations between sen- 

 sations and movements. " It is very possible 

 that the mechanism for acquiring habits does 

 not differ greatly in the inferior animals from 

 that of higher animals." 



13. Crepieus- Jamin : Expert Examination 

 of Handwriting, and the Lessons of the Drey- 

 fus Affair (43 pp.). — Careful examination of 

 the handwriting of the famous " bordereau," 

 and comparison with the wi-iting of Dreyfus 

 and of Esterhazy, prove conclusively, as is 

 here shown in detail, that Esterhazy was its 

 author. The history of the case is instructive 

 as to the present situation concerning expert 

 testimony in regard to handwriting. There 

 are real experts, reliable though not infallible, 

 and the subject requires much further study 

 and research. But there are also unfortu- 

 nately many who merely pose as experts, with- 

 out real knowledge or conscience. It would be 

 desirable to have an official commission ap- 

 pointed to study the subject (as was done, 

 with important chemical conclusions, in 

 1826), and especially to decide upon practical 

 tests to which would-be experts might be sub- 

 jected. 



14. Etienne Maigre: The Nature and Ori- 

 gin of Instincts according to Weismann 

 (15 pp.). — An exposition of Weismann's 

 proofs that instincts are complex combina- 

 tions of reflexes. 



15. A. Imbert : The Experimental Scien- 

 tific Study of Professional Work (15 pp.). — 

 In spite of the fact that no reliable estimate 

 in kilogrammeters of the energy expended in 

 the work of laborers is possible, yet definite 

 experimental studies can and should be made 

 as an aid to the establishment of just laws 

 and regulations regarding workmen. 



16. R. Masselon: Intellectual Weakness in 

 Dementia Precox, Senile Dementia, and Gen- 

 eral Paralysis (15 pp.). — ^Dementia precox is 



characterized by disappearance of affective 

 phenomena as a primary feature, leading to 

 indifference, apathy, aboulia; by loss of in- 

 telligence and by incoherence; but memories 

 are very persistent, disappearing only in the 

 most severe cases. — In senile dementia, mem- 

 ory disturbances are primary; the patient is 

 coherent, and is depressively emotional. — Gen- 

 eral paralysis shows decrease in memory with 

 increasing incoherence, and relative preser- 

 vation of the emotional life, involving sudden 

 variations from depression to expansion, with 

 the latter predominant. 



17. E. Eegis et G. Laures : Clinical and 

 Psychological Study of Chronic Mental Con- 

 fusion (17 pp.). — This condition, the char- 

 acteristic psychosis of organic states of in- 

 toxication, is implicitly recognized but has 

 never been described. In it, along with im- 

 provement in bodily health, persist the funda- 

 mental psychical symptoms of torpor, stupid- 

 ity, loss of orientation, amnesia. Experi- 

 mental studies show that the symptoms are 

 due to complete apathy, intellectual, emo- 

 tional and voluntary, corresponding to the 

 condition of sleep or torpor of the cerebral 

 cells due to the toxic poisons of the acute 

 stage. There are two forms, the simple and 

 the delirious. Dementia may be but a final 

 stage of the series that begins with acute 

 mental confusion and continues in chronic 

 confusion. 



18. J. Deniker: The Question of Eaces in 

 Psychology (16 pp.). — A summary of the au- 

 thor's opinions, as expressed in his book: 

 " Les races et les peuples de la terre," 1900 ; 

 since which time nothing has been published 

 tending to modify his classification. He rec- 

 ognizes 29 races, divisible into 6 groups on the 

 basis of the character of the hair, or into 17 

 groups, according to geographical distribu- 

 tion; and he gives briefly the characteristics 

 of these groups. 



19. L. Eredericq: The Physico-chemical 

 Conditions of the Action of the Nervous 

 Centers (16 pp.). — Reviews recent progress of 

 knowledge with a bibliography of 48 titles. 

 Considers organic combustion, circulation, 

 materials and products of combustion, elec- 



