May 15, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



789 



solution of which will determine the status 

 of hypnotism, of suggestion and of other 

 varieties of mental states, is the problem of 

 the subconscious and its relation to the ordi- 

 nary form of mental action. Dr. Grasset's 

 solution of this problem, or rather his attitude 

 towards it, is not helpful. His discussion 

 thereof is more like a logomachy than a psy- 

 chological analysis, and his use of his favorite 

 diagram decidedly illogical. He accepts the 

 hypothesis, now current in such diverse forms, 

 of two separate forms or types of psychic ex- 

 pression; by the letter he designates the 

 superior form of psychic action or the highest 

 center; the stands at the apex, and de- 

 pendent thereon and with connections be- 

 tween them, are the members of the group 

 of inferior psychic centers arranged in the 

 form of a polygon. By this painfully arti- 

 ficial representation the words ' polygonal ' and 

 ' suspolygonal ' become synonymous with sub- 

 conscious and subvoluntary sources of action. 

 We read of the ' dissociation of the polygon ' 

 of the individual, of ' polygonal spontaneity,' 

 of ' polygonal patients or maladies ' and other 

 confusing and absurd expressions. This type 

 of logicality is hardly pedagogical. It must 

 also be added that the author's attitude to- 

 wards many other questions of fact and inter- 

 pretation are far from commendable. His 

 reference to the independence of the action 

 of the two hemispheres of the brain as proven 

 by the phenomena of hypnosis, and his accept- 

 ance of questionable hypotheses in regard to 

 the nervous substrata of hypnotic behavior, 

 are instances in point. His entertainment 

 of the hypothesis of telepathy and clairvoyance 

 — though he believes that neither of these is 

 proven — suggests weakness of grasp of their 

 status, rather than judicial toleration. 



The author's main positions are these : that 

 there is a real hypnotic state, distinct from 

 suggestion, marked by independent physical 

 signs as well as by increased suggestibility; 

 that the source of this state is in the dissocia- 

 tion or disaggregation of the subconscious psy- 

 chic mechanism; that though normally the 

 higher and lower psychic centers act in com- 

 plexly coordinated, unified manner, in ab- 

 normal states — of which hypnosis is one great 



type — they act separately; that hypnosis does 

 not present sufficient analogies to sleep or to 

 any normal mental state to be affiliated with 

 it or interpreted by it ; that a significance may 

 be given to spiritistic or mediumistic phe- 

 nomena analogous to the various states and 

 types of hypnosis; that the phenomena of 

 normal suggestion, which in the conception 

 of the Nancy school is made almost synony- 

 mous with the acquisition of ideas, are not 

 truly analogous to the increased suggestibility 

 characteristic of the true hypnosis. These are 

 all debatable positions that yet await a more 

 competent master to set forth their bearing 

 and value for experimental psychology. Dr. 

 Grasset contributes something of value to the 

 consideration of these positions, but not what 

 one has a right to expect of a volume that is 

 presented as authoritative in character. It 

 only remains to add that there are the usual 

 chapters upon the medical and legal aspects 

 of hypnotism, and interesting, though some- 

 what prolix and not properly systematized pre- 

 sentation of the facts of hypnotism, and a 

 better index than the average of French books 

 oilers. It is to be hoped that the further vol- 

 umes of this series, the contributors to which 

 include a few American names, will meet a 

 higher standard. The ten volumes already 

 published give the impression of very unequal 

 care in their preparation and merit in their 

 authors. Some of the volumes are distinctly 

 commendable. . May the rest prove to be so ! 



J. J. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Plant World for April contains the 

 fiLfth of the ' Extracts from the Note-Book 

 of a Naturalist on the Island of Guam,' by 

 W. E. Safford. ' Monocotyledons or Dico- 

 tyledons,' by J. Arthur Harris, calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that there are some plants 

 whose position in this respect is very puzzling, 

 and briefly discusses the question which of 

 the two forms is the older. George V. Nash 

 describes * The Palm Collection at the New 

 York Botanical Garden,' and there is much 

 of interest in the section on ' The Home Gar- 

 den and Greenhouse.' 



