The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Psychoanalysis Now Stirs the Public
Both in England and America

Within year this condition of apathy
in England has been succeeded by lively
interest, psychoanaysis ranking only second
or third to internal strikes and Irish politics
in the list of popular discussions, and in
Vulnerable practitioners many of them
without medical experience. and many doc
tors also, have begun to heal sick brains in
the Freudian way.
There signs that similar conditions
are to be seen in this country. For a decade
the people" paid no attention to the squab-
bles of a new school of brain healers and
the more temperate physicians who opposed
1t or but partly indorsed it. Now psyche
analysis is being talked of everywhere, with
more or less understanding of il, and here as
in England men and women who never
studied medicine are starting up as profess
sors of what the academies still call the
pseudo science of Freud
Since the discussion of psychoanalysis has
progressed out of the academic stage-and
there is always an element of danger in
ignorance of what soul study really is-the
utterance OF broad minded man, a doctor
of mental and nervous diseases of fifty
years experience, was bound to be widely
heard. And DIR. Mllss address at Atlantic
City was heard countrywide. By the fair
ness of his attitude toward pronounced
Freudians and his wish that their ideas
1t is certain that the criticism of them by
this master neurologist will count for all 1t
is worth.
Dr. Charles karsner Mills was born in
Philadelphia in 1s45 and was graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1869 re-
ceivng from 1t two years later the degree
of Ph. d. His field in medicine is neurology
which he still practises; for thirty five years
he taught on the subject i'm the University
IfgV. Htxrs...t
nected as emeritus professor. he is consult
i'm neurologist to the Philadelphia General
Hospital and to the Philadelphia Orthopedic
Hospital and Inirmary for Nervous Dis
eases. Age and experience have meowed
him and broadened his views until narrow
ideas are foreign to him; that this is so was
indicated by a remark which he made sub
sequent to the delivery of his now famous
address to the effect that as he was still here
he believed 1t was because there were still
things to learn. Then he began:
Although I am not charter member of
the American Neurological Association. yet
you see in me it's oldest member In the
forty years oe my connection with It many
new things have come up. many theories
have perished, and progress. certain IL de-
liberate in its pace. has been made. can
not agree with those who claim they see
absolute novelty in the ideas Of Freud.
T'-ese ideas are almost as old as the race.
and even their present aspect Is matter
of quarter of century. ] have used
some thing like them in my own practice for
many years, and am always ready to study
any new system that holds out a hope OF
perfecting my diagnosis.
What has occurred in Great Britain
what Is occurring here to assist or retard
the acceptance Of psychoanalytcal methods
interests me deeply; follow with eager zest
all new discussion. and particularly every
new development. That obtained at the meet
ing last year of the British Medico-Psych-
ical Association at Buxton was OF profound
value 10 all open minded mon. IT revealed
discord in the ranks Of Freudians them
selves and gave data from which 1t was pos