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The purpose and plan of this book is expressed by the authors in the first chapter as the “development of fundamental concepts and points of view; … to present a systematic description of some of the forces and factors which give the human mind its dynamic quality, and to point out some of the controls and adjustments demanded of these forces in our remodeled and changing world.” In the first ten chapters, the authors enter into a discussion of mental hygiene from many points of view, beginning with man as an energy system, and proceeding through a popular presentation of mind and the genesis of mental attitudes, the part played by sex and family relationships, and the experiences of childhood and youth, to a survey of “the total product, human personality.” From this point on the book is concerned largely with methods of studying the personality, with deviated or abnormal personalities and attempts at their reconstruction. This part of the work is based upon Adolf Meyer's “Ergasiology” or objective psycho-biology. Chapter XI, in which ergasiology is defined and its methods described, is by far the most difficult portion of the book, a fact which is recognized by the authors in a footnote, where they state their unwillingness to deviate too for from Dr. Meyer's actual formulation.
One can appreciate their attitude, but at the same time it would add immeasurably to the usefulness of the book, especially as a text, if the material in this chapter were simplified and clarified in keeping with the preceding discussion. The following chapter on “Mental Ill Health” is also in part unnecessarily difficult. It is questionable if it is worth while to pack so much psychiatric material into a book avowedly designed largely for teachers and professional workers. The remaining half of the book, which, after a chapter on “Deviations in Child Behavior,” is concerned almost wholly with methods of reconstructing the personality, is excellent. It contains a fund of information on proc