Child Psychology: The Child's Discovery of Death. By Sylvia Anthony. (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., London, 1940. Pp. xvi + 231. Price, 11 s. 6 d.)

The author summarizes her findings thus (pp. 206–208):

• 1That the idea of death occurs readily in children's phantasy thinking. (Chapter III.)

• 2That the idea arises as a response to suggestions of grief and fear, the grief being frequently associated by the child with loss or separation and the fear with aggressive intrusion. (Chapter III.)

• 3That phantasy about death is commonly found together with talion ideas (retaliation, reparation); the talion idea, however, appears to be as much a mode of mental functioning as a content of thought. It is a mode according to which phantasy-themes oscillate as to the aspect they present, somewhat as the aspect of perceived objects may oscillate when held in the forefront of attention. That such oscillation occurs in connection with the process of identification. (Chapter III.)

• 4That genetically the idea develops according to a certain form similar to that described by Piaget for the development of the child's conceptual thought in general; namely, from a stage of ignorance (with egocentric characteristics), through an intermediate stage (C), here characterized as being homocentric and concerned mainly with cultural-symbolic aspects of the idea, to a mature stage (E) which shows objectivity and wider generalization. (Chapters IV and VI.)

• 5That the idea of death becomes emotionally charged through being brought into association with memory-complexes relating to birth (and pre-natal life) and to hostility and aggression. This emotional charge and the gradual assimilation of it appear to correspond to stage C. (Chapter VII.)

• 6That in the death-aggression complex, animals play an important part, as being the