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This is an interesting volume consisting of a series of nine essays contributed by Dr. Stanley Hall and some of his pupils under the editorship of Dr. Hall himself. The idea of the book arose from the various psychological studies dealing with child life carried out at Clark University and began, we are told, 'more than three decades ago'. From this accumulation of material, Dr. Hall selected the contents of the above volume, 'not with a view to unity, but rather to suggest as wide and diversified a range of topics as possible (Preface, p. ix). Such a purpose, indeed, leads to some lack of continuity and even to some distraction, but in compensation, it gives a very varied and interesting selection, as will be realized from the titles of the Essays. Three of them, 'The contents of children's minds', 'The story of a sand pile', and 'Boy life in a Massachusetts Country Town forty years ago', are by Dr. Hall himself; in addition we have, 'A study of dolls', by Dr. Hall and A. Caswell Ellis, 'The collecting instinct', 'Curiosity and interest', 'Fetichism in children', 'The psychology of ownership', etc.
From the psycho-analytical standpoint, this book provides excellent material, but it can hardly be said that the various writers have treated their material from such a point of view. In two of the most interesting essays—'A study of dolls' and 'Curiosity and interest'—it is striking that, in spite of ample material for the purpose, references to and conclusions concerning the unconscious mind are almost absent. One feels that the absence of psycho-analytic knowledge goes a good way towards vitiating the work. For instance, in the essay on 'Curiosity and interest', the meaning of curiosity, its sexual source and its emotional motivation seem quite unrecognised, and the distinction made between what is termed 'legitimate' and 'perverted' curiosity is not truly based. In the section dealing with curiosity relating to the origin of life, a good deal of misunderstandi