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The Introduction to this book is nearly a sixth of the length of the text proper and, as the point of view of both writers appears to be identical, the two may be considered together. The first question that naturally arises in regard to a book purporting to be a critical study of a branch of science is what qualifications the writers possess for undertaking it. Their names are certainly not known among students of psycho-analysis. From reference to the Medical Directory we learn that Dr. McBride is a throat specialist who obtained his medical qualification in 1876; Sir Bryan Donkin, who obtained his in 1873, was a children's specialist, but in his introduction he tells us that he retired from private medical practice twenty-five years ago. Further inquiry, however, is rendered unnecessary by the authors themselves, both of whom make categorical statements on the matter in uneasy anticipation that the question of competence may be raised. Sir Bryan Donkin quite truly says that most analysts protest that no one without personal experience of the subject is competent to pronounce judgment on the problems involved, but his only reply to this criticism—one which is surely universally valid in science—is that 'Such an attitude … is manifestly sophistical—a mere gesture of retreat in avoidance of forced surrender' (p. 3). Later on (p. 11) he writes: 'Psycho-analysts teach that beginners in the practice of this cult must proceed with confidence in its principles, and that the patient, in order to attain success, must always be ready and willing to undergo the necessary examination and follow the doctor's directions. It is impossible to understand why it is necessary that the theory of psycho-analysis, purporting to be based on a scientific discovery of the first importance, should, alone among all other scientific studies, demand on the part of all inquirers a preliminary conviction of its soundness before any examination has been undertaken to test its truth'. In