Dr. Degani, a Museum Curator in Reggio-Emilia, has undertaken the task of collecting our earliest knowledge about music. Separate chapters are devoted to early Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Semitic, Greek and Roman music.

In his introduction the author, who naturally traces the love of music

to vocal experiences, lays stress on the close association between the voice and dancing. In his opinion there were two emotional experiences above all others which evoked these manifestations, one the crescendo or orgiastic activities, the other the emotions of grief and remorse. On the basis of Freud's Totem and Taboo he combines these two emotional experiences in relation to the primal act of father-murder and subsequent remorse. One would congratulate the author on his remarkable perception.