In several previous publications, Anzieu has argued for his theory of the skin-ego. He reviews evidence for this theory from various sources in contemporary science and then defends it by relying on Freud's article on the mystic writing pad. He traces Freud's passage from a topographical model purified of anatomical and neurological references, which acquires, implicitly, a reliance by the ego on the experiences and functions of the skin. Anzieu discusses the psychological schema of word representations as found in "On Aphasia." It was a schema that Freud used until his break with it in Beyond the Pleasure Principle and The Ego and the Id. In these latter works he switched from this asymmetrical double branching schema and began to use that of an envelope as a model. In the mystic writing pad article it is evident how