April 29, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



423 



to recognize his own image in a glass. Even the 

 famihar scenes of his childhood had faded from 

 his memory. In order to understand what he 

 read, he had to cultivate an auditory memory, and 

 read every thing aloud. He no longer dreamt 

 of seeing, but only of hearing. Deprived of the 

 mental imagery which sight furnished, and which 

 in his case was a more serious loss than to pereons 

 with less brilliant visualizing powers, his mental 

 life became sluggish and his moods melancholic 

 and sad. The second case from Dr. Wilbrand's 

 practice is no less remarkable, and presents cer- 

 tain peculiar characteristics. Chief among these 

 is a falling-out of the left half of the visual field ; 

 that is, the patient could not see with the outer 

 portion of the left retina nor with the inner por- 

 tion of the right retina (homonymous hemianop- 

 sia). This symptom indicates a unilateral corti- 

 cal lesion. 



Dr. Wilbrand analyzes the process of vision one 

 step further. He gives reasons for believing, that, 

 besides the centre for the reception of the visual 

 impression and that for its apperception, there is a 

 third group of cells, whose function it is to store 

 up visual memories, which form the visual mem- 

 ory-area (Erinnerungsfeld). If the retina or the 

 optic nerve is destroyed, the result is blindness in 

 the usual sense of the word. But the optical 

 memory remains intact ; the visual phantasy is 

 still active ; sight hallucinations and dreams may 

 occur, and so on. If the apperceptive centre of 

 one hemisphere is involved, then homonymous 

 hemianopsia of the opposite half of the visual 

 field occurs, and there is psychic blindness in one- 

 half of the brain. If both apperceptive centres 

 are involved, sight hallucinations are impossible ; 

 but the visual memory is not directly affected, 

 and sight dreams may occur. If the memory- 

 area is diseased , objects are no longer recognized as 

 familiar : all seems strange and new. The fantasy 

 is dulled : there are no visual imageries or dreams. 



Many of these suppositions receive a striking 

 confirmation from the observation of those born 

 blind and restored to sight by successful opera- 

 tions. Such persons are just like infants as re- 

 gards sight, except that they learn to see much 

 more quickly. Their higher sight-centres must 

 be developed, and in this process one can dis- 

 tinguish the three stages above marked out. Such 

 persons recognize at once after the operation that 

 they have a new sensation, — they see. But the 

 object before them is not apperceived : it is not 

 recognized as the same object they have been 

 touching all along. They soon learn the meaning 

 of their visual impressions, though they con- 

 stantly call on the sense of touch to prevent de- 

 ception ; but they often fail for some time to re- 



member what they have seen, and rarely dream of 

 seeing things for many months : in other words, 

 their apperceptive and visual memory-centres are 

 developing. The chapter devoted to this topic 

 records other interesting points in these cases, 

 and can be recommended as an admirable account 

 of the subject. 



The rest of the book is devoted to the explana- 

 tion of the detailed pathological symptoms and 

 the discussion of their relation to the centres of 

 language, both written and oral. This more tech- 

 nical part of the subject does not readily admit of 

 a brief exposition. Suffice it to say that Dr. 

 Wilbrand has rendered an important service to 

 several branches of science by this convenient and 

 thorough account of a most important topic. 

 Some of his theories are doubtless to be modified 

 and perhaps rejected by future research, but the 

 spirit and point of view of his exposition is in the 

 right direction. As was said at first, it shows the 

 vast explanatory power of the modern theories of 

 brain-physiology. J- J- 



BASCOM'S SOCIOLOGY. 



Herbert Spencer, who has done more than 

 any other one man of this generation to popular- 

 ize the study of social science, points out very 

 forcibly, in his book on the ' Study of sociology,' 

 the difficulties which beset the student of social 

 phenomena and conditions. He shows us there 

 that something is true of sociology that holds 

 good in no other science ; namely, the facts to be 

 observed and generalized by the student are 

 exhibited by an aggregate of which the student 

 himself forms a part. His functions and life as a 

 citizen, therefore, determine in a large measure 

 his stand-point and methods as an investigator. 

 It is on this account essential, in estimating the 

 value of sociological researches, that we know 

 something about the personality of the observer. 

 In the case of President Bascom we are peculiarly 

 fortunate in this respect. His long and honorable 

 career as a teacher and professor both in the east 

 and in the west, as well as his numerous writings 

 in the fields of philosophy, literature, and reli- 

 gion, afford us ample information as to the meth- 

 ods and postulates of his thought. 



In fact, this newest book from his pen is best 

 understood when read in connection with his 

 previous books on psychology, ethics, and the 

 philosophy of religion. The tone and the style of 

 treatment are the same in all. 



In his preface to the present work, President 

 Bascom expressly says that his aim has been to 

 cover a large field suggestively, rather than a nar- 



Sociology. By John Bascom. New York, Putnam. 13°. 



