The New York herald., 1921-01-23

which he cannot but feel is quite uncalled
for He will note, with approval or amuse-
ment, as the case may be. occasional pass
agcs in which faint odor of sulphur be-
trays the existence of the authors own
crowd-creed, which happens to be Personal
Liberty. Few persons, however, it seems
fair to hope, are so incurably loyal to their
crowds that this delightfully."- written and
fascinating study of human folly will make
no impression them. Freud and his
theories are so widely known, though in
completely digested, that an essay such as
this ought to find ready and sympathetic
audience. Later researches may change the
scientific attitude toward the unconscious
but for the moment we have at least high
ly plausible explanation Of why the human
race makes such mess of its affairs Mr..
Martin has the happy faculty Of enlisting
our sense of humor on the side of sanity. 1t
is a breath of real fresh air that fills our
lungs as we laugh and say: We'll, what
fools we are. for sure!"
THE SECRET SPRINGS. BY Harvey o'Hig-
gins Harper Brothers.
ITO a far wider extent than the public
realizes the most intelligent physi-
clans are making of the fruits
Of research in psychology. They do not
limit themselves TO Freud or any other
scientist, but seek to apply in practice such
hints as offer hope of health.
O'Higgins has done the public service in
bringing together from the actual expert
ence of doctor illustrations of the truth
that the source of many physical ills is in
the mind. To put it more generally, the
whole nature of man is unit and what
ever affects any part of 1t is likely to show
results In any other part
There is a relation between such truths
and the crowd psychology treated in the
book reviewed with this. The man who
understands his own nature and the in
fiuences that modify 1t for good or i'll can
more quickly perceive and resist these mass
impulses when they are opposed to his own
view Of truth With the slow spread of the
habit of clear thinking and resistance to
crowd madness some Of the worst evils that
af1ict mankind should be lessened.
The principle most emphasized is that
instructive impulses must not be arbitrarily
suppressed. If they are they will retreat
into the subconscious area and work them
selves out in some way we cannot control
If we face them frankly and recognize them
for what they are we can deal with them.
OHiggins gives the case Of small boy
whose mother had made favorite of an
other child Tommy's repressed resentment
showed itself in facial contortions and also
in difficulty with his lessons The physician
summed, the case up thus:
Although an instinct compels some form
of physical expression it will accept a lesser
expression for greater one. The wolfish
snarl of an animal showing it's teeth becomes
the polite sneer of the cynic through what
we call a process Of physical intimidation.
The blow of anger becomes the clenched
hand. The face of the civilized man ex-
presses emotions which would be given ex-
preston in action by the savage and our
faces are made more mobile by the process.
In Tommy the sniff accepted the duty of ex-
pressing anger the more readily. because in
many animals the sniff serves to denote
angry disgust.
"It was necessary to teach Tommy to say
to himself. I'm Jealous of my brother in
stead of saying, I hate him. 1t was also
necessary to teach him not to repress his
anger, but to vent 1t In some innocent way
to go into another room, for instance and
kick chair instead of striking his brother.
Instead of shifting his resentment. he had
to be taught to say to himself I'm mad.
I'm good and mad.' so as to let the emotion
loose in its proper channel"
Analysing many cases Of so-called shell
shock in the war. OHiggins refers again to
the difference between the animal obedient
to instinct and man:
"A rabbit hears the bark of dog. AT
once, as science has discovered, the rabbits
heart speeds up and its blood pressure RISES
It's breathing quickens in order to gain more
oxygen. Sugar. which Is a muscle food, is
thrown into the blood Digestion is stopped
and blood is shunted into the running mus
cles. All this is automatic and Independent
of intelligence. That Is to say, 1t is in
stinctive. The rabbit bounds away toward
the safety Of his hole and reaches it with