The New York herald., 1921-03-06
Psychology and Autosuggestion

fear and anger. sex instinct-which. he de-
clares, is a compelling desire. not an in
tellectual concept'-and play. Quite the best
chapter in the volume is that on Memory"
in which he advocates training the memory
by impressing il with a picture connected
with the event desired to be remembered
Thus as a preparation for remembering to
mail d letter he suggests fixing a picture
of the nearest mailbox in the mind. Many
a mail carrier" he says has been converted
into postman by this simple pan," which
is a pretty piece OF wit to be found in a work
on psychology.
In the chapters on THE Crowd" and THE
Delinquent" Dr. Platt touches on things
closely connected with our everyday
temporary social and political life, and con-
meets his subject up on these things I'm this
fashion: Psychology has no quarrel with
democracy: we all believe at least In the re-
publican form Of government, but psychol-
ogy recognizes its difficulties. Democracy
would be easy only we're all men angels
and we'll educated ones at that" Every
reader will find profit and pleasure in Or.
Platt's delightful volume.
Another series Of lectures is Incorporated
in Charles Baudouin's Suggestion and Auto
suggestion" the subject matter Of these
pages having been given as series Of
lectures AT the Jean Jacques Rousseau Insti-
tute in Geneva, Switzerland by the author
tuition He further calls his work "a psyche
logical and pedagogical study based upon
the investigations made by the new Nancy
school," a movement directed by Emile Coue
in that French town since 1910 This new
school Is development Of the work done BY
I.iabault. the father Of the doctrine ~ sug-
gestion, IN the same place in the sos Of
the last century 4 work that was developed
in the United States and whose progress wa"
s,yan ar bv
this F'renchman established his own school
and with Ii eve nave for the first time the
elements OF a really methodcal synthesis OF
the phenomena and the disciplines which
these terms lautosuggestion, the education
OF the will the force OF thought. self-con-
troll connote.'
what coue discovered. and what he
worked out through the clinic he maintained.
IN autosugEestion was "fhe powerful and
widely difrused force Of which hypnotic sug-
gestion. the only form Of suggestion hitherto
studied IN medicine. is but one among many
applications Through repeated experiments
he was further able to show that this force
was eficacious IN troubles that were mani
festly organic: and he proved that the edu
cation OF the force. which. though often con
fused with the will IS quite distinct from
the will IL a simple matter and within the
competence OF all" Prof Baudouin treats
this idea under three heads Spontaneous
Suggestion" Reflective Suggestion" and
Induced Suggestion" giving typical exam
plies. theoretical and practical conclusions.
general rules for the practice of autosuE-
gestion. He makes clear. interesting and en-
tertaining a subject about which there has
grown up, as he says, a good deal that was
nothing better than quackery and humbng
Hereward Carringtons The Problems Of
Psychica Research" Is to some extent an
nbridgement OF the FIRST edition. which ap
peared some years ago. parts Of which have
been omitted. a chapter new To this book,
but which has already appeared in the same
authors Death: Its Causes aid phe-
nomena" is the one on Recent Experiments
in Psychic Photography" There Is also a
new brief chapter on "Sc entihc Investiga
ton OF Psychic Phenomena by Means Of
Laboratory Instruments" from which he
draws the conclusion that the crying need
OF the day Is physical laboratory
wherein such experiments as these could be
,.1rducted"