March 24, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



429 



9. Was Sx. ; attempted to hang herself; flew 

 into fits of temper; was slovenly, seclusive, in- 

 decent; at 32 had delusions of being poisoned; 

 threw herself out of window. 



10. Cut his throat with a razor. 



11. Cut his throat as his father did. 



12. Garrulous; jumps from one topic to 

 another; has sudden emotional changes; said to 

 have attempted suicide. 



13. Had a nervous breakdown twice; is very hot- 

 tempered; jumps from one topic to another. 



14. An actress who is obstinate, irritable and 

 passionate; after childbirth she became deranged 

 and is now obstinate, silly and shameless; has at- 

 tempted suicide. 



15. A great talker; at 31 became violent, rest- 

 less, noisy; developed delusions and hallucinations 

 and threatened to commit suicide. 



16. Contrary and stubborn; hyper-religious; be- 

 came noisy, restless, sullen, had delusions. 



17. Impulsive, irritable and passionate; became 

 excited; attempted to shoot himself. 



18. Quick-tempered; at 32 became excited; had 

 acute mania, 



19. Alcoholic, cross, irritable; at 37 threatened 

 suicide; was excitable; had delusions and halluci- 

 nations. 



20. Quick-tempered, had delirium tremens and 

 hallucinations. 



21. Sulky and impatient as a boy; drank; 

 quick-tempered, homicidal and suicidal; has hal- 

 lucinations and delusions. 



22. High-tempered, extravagant; became insane 

 and jumped out of window, killing herself. 



23. At 20 became erratic, silly, irresponsible; 

 wanted to travel and follow girls. 



24. Obstinate, irritable and passionate as a 

 child; became hysterical and tried to hang herself 

 and kill her child. 



These are a random half of his cases of the 

 choleric-cheerful. 



Is it not wise to delay acceptance of any 

 simple Mendelian hypotheses for the inherit- 

 ance of the strength of the tendencies to 

 wander, to be excited, calm, elated and de- 

 pressed, until the pedigree individuals are 

 measured, or at least classified, by some cri- 

 teria that are objectively definable? The re- 

 viewer welcomes the studies of the Eugenics 

 Laboratory and appreciates the devotion that 

 inspires them and the labor which sustains 



them. But he is left unconverted by each one 

 — indeed, more confirmed in the faith, or fear, 

 that human mental traits are due to a num- 

 ber of determiners or a variation in strength 

 of the same determiner. 



Edward L. Thorndike 

 Teachers College, 

 Columbia University 



A Comparison of Methods for Determining 

 the Respiratory Exchange of Man. By 

 Thorne M. Carpenter. 265 pp. 

 Energy Trans formations during Horizontal 

 Walking. By Eeancis G. Benedict and 

 Hans Mdeschhauser. 100 pp. 

 Physiology of the New-Born Infant. Char- 

 acter and Amount of the Kataholism. By 

 Francis G. Benedict and Fritz B. Talbot. 

 126 pp. Publications ISTos. 216, 231, 233. 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, Nu- 

 trition Laboratory. 



The study of the respiratory exchange of 

 man has long been, and will doubtless long 

 continue to be, one of the most fruitful fields 

 of physiological investigation. Its value rests 

 chiefly upon this fact of supreme importance: 

 namely, that alike during rest and exercise, in 

 health and disease, the method of indirect 

 calorimetry as calculated from the respiratory 

 exchange affords measurements of the energy 

 expenditures of the body which are in close 

 agreement with direct calorimetric determina- 

 tions. 'Eot only are the technical procedures 

 of the indirect method far simpler and more 

 generally applicable than are those of the 

 direct method, but the former also afford a 

 deeper insight into the sources of the energy 

 than do the latter. Thus from a measurement 

 of the volume of the air expired in a given 

 time, and an analysis of its content of oxygen 

 and carbon dioxide, we can determine accu- 

 rately the amount and the character of the 

 food stuffs consumed in the body. From such 

 data are to be deduced the dietetic needs of 

 the clerk and the stevedore, the bread cards 

 of a blockaded people, the ration of the march- 

 ing soldier, the food needed by the new-born 

 infant, and the requirements of the typhoid 

 patient. With such data we may meet more 



