General: R. de Saussure. La valeur scientifique de la psychanalyse. L'Encéphale, 1924.

The writer gives a concise but very clear account of the scientific value of the psycho-analytic method, stressing the fact that it must be reckoned amongst psychiatric methods of examination. Of these he distinguishes two groups: the method of questioning and that of observation, and includes psycho-analysis in the latter. He makes use of a very apt metaphor in order to distinguish the psycho-analytic from the ordinary psychiatric method of observation. The psychiatrist, he says, is like a student of language who looks for the nouns and verbs in a sentence; the psycho-analyst, on the other hand, tries to explore the syntax. He divides the subject-matter of psycho-analytic research under three headings: investigation (1) of repressed instincts and experiences, (2) of the factors determining the interests and behaviour of patients (interdépendance des préoccupations des malades), (3) of the mode in which the unconscious expresses itself. He indicates certain ways in which the unconscious manifests itself in dreams and symptoms. He quotes various instructive examples in support of his exposition and concludes with the remark that psycho-analysis is the best method we possess for exploring the unconscious.