December 22, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



881 



The last two chapters are devoted to indi- 

 vidual tests, including visual acuity, sensory 

 discrimination of various sorts, tests of men- 

 tal and physical work and fatigue, and asso- 

 ciation tests. Dr. Myers describes in full the 

 Binet tests, which have recently attracted such 

 attention in this country, and concludes with 

 an explanation of the methods used in cor- 

 relating different sorts of tests. All his de- 

 scriptions of tests are very clear, though in 

 one table (p. 98) the value of the standard is 

 inadvertently omitted. 



A short bibliography is appended, which 

 seems rather condensed and general for col- 

 lateral reading. The text will certainly im- 

 press the reader with the value of the science, 

 and stimulate him to take up work in the 

 laboratory. 



Those of us who were first introduced to 

 physiological psychology through Ladd's "Ele- 

 ments," will be pleased to see that classic work 

 revised and brought thoroughly up to date. 

 Professor Woodworth, who is in close touch 

 with recent neurological research, is associ- 

 ated with Professor Ladd as joint author. 

 The edition in no way yields to the old as an 

 accurate compendium of facts. The length 

 remains about the same. To make way for 

 the wealth of new material much of the old 

 has been condensed. In its new form the 

 book contains a mass of anatomical and physi- 

 ological facts which every psychologist needs 

 to know — facts which he would otherwise have 

 to gather laboriously from many different 

 sources. To give a single instance: the num- 

 ber of fibers in the dorsal and ventral spinal 

 roots of the frog, and of fibers in the dorsal 

 roots of man, are taken from separate maga- 

 zine articles which the psychologist would not 

 readily find (p. 75). Authorities are freely 

 cited in footnotes. As in the old edition, the 

 theory of mind and matter is given a promi- 

 nent place; but the philosophical standpoint 

 never biases the statements of anatomical or 

 physiological fact. 



The present work, like the earlier edition, is 

 divided into three parts. The first part, about 



300 pages, is devoted to anatomy and general 

 physiology. The second part, slightly longer, 

 embraces what is now known as experimental 

 psychology. It contains an excellent compen- 

 dium of results from the psychological labora- 

 tory, carefully selected and more suitably ar- 

 ranged than even the historic " Grundziige." 

 The third part, on the " nature of mind," has 

 been considerably shortened. The subject in- 

 dex is unusually good, but the text itself is 

 not easy to consult, for the chapters in each 

 part and sections in each chapter are niim- 

 bered separately, instead of continuously 

 through the book. Placing the chapter num- 

 ber at the head of the page would have facili- 

 tated reference work considerably. Recent 

 terms, such as distance receptor (p. 25) and 

 archi-pallium (p. 31) are used so far as they 

 have been sanctioned, and other new terms, 

 not generally accepted, are mentioned in foot- 

 notes; thus, a list is given of the nervous 

 tracts named according to their place of origin 

 and termination (p. 89). 



Part I. opens with a new chapter on the 

 evolution of the nervous system from ameba 

 up. The vertebrate and invertebrate types of 

 brain are compared, and an interesting table 

 of brain weight and body weight is copied 

 from Warnecke (p. 34). Chapter II. contains 

 a very explicit account of the development of 

 nervous system and end organs in the human 

 individual, followed by two chapters on 

 grosser and finer nerve structures. The con- 

 trol of each hemisphere over the opposite side 

 of the body is explained with special clearness 

 in the complicated case of vision : " Since the 

 rays of light cross within the eyeball, the 

 right half of each retina receives light from 

 the left side, and therefore the right half of 

 the brain receives the impressions that come 

 from the left side" (p. 92). Another new 

 chapter describes the chemistry of the nervous 

 system, which is seldom brought to the notice 

 of psychologists. This is followed by a dis- 

 cussion of nervous conduction. 



Chapter VII. treats of reflex and automatic 

 functions. The authors regard reflex as a 

 relative term. " The fatality and predictabil- 



