TWELVE LECTURES ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. By Ludwig Edinger. Philadelphia and London: F. A. Davis, Publisher, 1890.
Dr. Edinger, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, is one of the very best authorities on the anatomy of the nervous system and the brain. His twelve lectures contain a statement of our present knowledge of the subject, to which the author has added considerably in several not unimportant details. No one who is a student of the human brain can do without Edinger's book, and we are glad that so soon after its appearance in German it has been translated by competent men into English.
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HYPNOTISM. By Albert Moll. New York: Scribner & Welford. 1890.
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Company.
The present book is a translation from the second edition of the German original. It reviews in 410 pages the main facts of Hypnotism. The author begins with the history of Hypnotism (Chap. i); he then explains the different hypnotic methods and stages of hypnotism (Chap. ii). The symptoms of hypnotism (Chap. iii) are contrasted and compared with cognate states (Chap. iv). Information is given concerning several theories of hypnotism (Chap. v); all of them, however, are meagrely sketched and the author does not arrive at a conclusion himself. Simulation and its influences are briefly treated (Chap. vi). The medical and legal aspects of hypnotism (Chap. vii and viii) are good expositions of the matter, presented in lucid terms and impartially. The last chapter, on Animal Magnetism, treats of a series of questions which, as the author rightly remarks, refer to "phenomena which are often mentioned in connection with hypnotism, although the connection is rather historical than essential." In Mr. Moll's view they "are the consequences of erroneously interpreted observations." The topics here discussed are (1) animal magnetism, (2) telepathy, (3) supernormal acts of somnambulism, (4) the experiments with the magnet, and (5) the effects of the mere approach of drugs.
The author does not present new views of his subject, but he is considerate in his statements, as well as scientific and clear. He is not blind to the dangers of hypnotism, yet upon the whole he looks upon it favorably, saying that "hypnotism and suggestion will outlive many remedies whose praises fill the columns of medical journals at present."
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DER HYPNOTISMUS: SEINE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGISCHE, MEDICINISCHE,
STRAFRECHTLICHE BEDEUTUNG UND SEINE HANDHABUNG. By Dr. August
Forel. Zweite umgearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage. Stuttgart:
Verlag von Ferdinand Enke. 1891.
Prof. August Forel's pamphlet on hypnotism was, even in its first edition, one of the best publications of its kind. The second edition which now lies before us is enlarged and improved. The author has not changed his views; he retains his old definitions, explaining hypnosis as a state of abnormally increased suggestibility; but at the same time he has added some chapters which present his position much more accurately than he has ever done before. He rejects most positively the fluidum theories; he opposes the views of Dr. Luys whose experiments Dr. Forel repeated with his most sensitive somnambulists and obtained negative results.
The position which Professor Forel takes is unequivocal Monism. He says in his preface: