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In this paper I shall endeavour to set forth some ideas on psycho-analytic theory, regarded in the light of findings in other branches of science. Freud developed his conception of the 'supplementary series' (Ergänzungsreihe), in the early stages of his study of neuroses. It is said that neuroses emerge from an interplay of innate dispositional factors and experiences, due to the environment, undergone during a lifetime. This conception may be extended to mental development in general.
We already know a great deal about the processes of development from infancy to the adult stage; an increasing tendency towards tracing the earlier phases, to study the very young child and the newborn infant may be observed in recent psycho-analytic research. In the course of these endeavours it is inevitable that we come up against innate factors (Anlage). Several psycho-analysts, for instance Kubie, Massermann, Szekely, Ostow, Brun, and many others, have therefore in recent years turned their attention to predispositional factors. It is my impression that there are three particular fields of science which demand our special attention:—
i.Modern cerebral anatomy and physiology, which assist us in achieving a better understanding of the physical basis of mind;
ii.Modern physics and mechanics, which stimulate our knowledge of the way in which the brain functions;
iii.Animal psychology, especially ethology, as this teaches us a great deal about instinctive behaviour and its development from the congenital mechanisms of the various types of animal life.
In these branches of science I am myself a layman, and am therefore able only to develop a few tentative trains of thought which doubtless will require verification, revision, or both.
We all know that modern neuro-anatomy, neuro-physiology, and neuro-surgery have taught us a variety of things about the construction of the central nervous system and its physical activities.
We know that the human brain contains approximately 10, 000, 000,