Children who Run on all Fours and Other Animal-Like Behaviors in the Human Child.: By Ales Hrdlicka, M.D., Sc.D., D.Sc.Nat. Curator, Division of Physical Anthropology, U. S. National Museum, Smithsonian Institution. New York: Whittlesey House. 1931. 418 p.

This book is a record of the behavior and mentality of 387 persons who as children ran on all fours. Of these 369 were white, 18 of other races. Dr. Hrdlicka finds that the usual age at which children run on all fours is in the second half year of life between seven and twelve months. He finds also that this phenomenon may appear somewhat later even after the child has learned to walk

erect, and the capacity may even be retained in latent form in adult life. He records certain related behavior, such as "sleeping on all fours", and mentions other animal-like behavior sometimes found in infants. It is Dr. Hrdlicka's opinion that the phenomenon would be very common if parents did not attempt to suppress it and train the child in other ways of locomotion. He can discover no constant correlation of this finding with any physical or psychic characteristics. He regards it simply as an ontogenetic manifestation of a phylogenetic pattern.

Psychoanalysts will be interested in the short section entitled "Running on All Fours in Dreams". Three persons reported dreaming of this activity. One man writes:

"'I have had several dreams, generally nightmares, in which when pursued I was forced to run on my hands and feet in order to escape. In all of these dreams I realized that this was undignified and felt humiliated at being compelled to resort to it, and yet I knew that I could run on all fours faster than on two feet.'" He did not know whether he ran on all fours as a child.

A physician, who ran on all fours in infancy, and whose sister and probably whose mother did the same describes a recurrent dream:

"'In my dream I find myself fleeing in terror from some unknown pursuer, running as fast as I am able, bending my body somewhat forward. My arms must be a good deal longer than normal, although if this is the case I have never taken any notice of it. At any rate, in my haste and anxiety to get away I find myself frequently placing my hands on the ground and vaulting for