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This monograph is a posthumous publication which, however, the author practically finished before his death. It has required some corrections in the details and a few modifications to round it into form. The
material is well organized, the presentation clear, and the style very readable.
The subject is divided into two parts; the first part, comprising six chapters, deals with “character.” The first chapter is composed chiefly of definitions of temperament, character and personality. The second chapter discusses the physical basis of character as expressed in the anatomical, morphological and chemical types with particular emphasis on the endocrine glands, the neurovegetative and the cerebrospinal systems. This subject is illustrated by thirteen figures, chiefly portraying facial forms and temperament types, among which are the “primitive,” “imaginative,” “affective,” “active-combative,” “intuitive,” “intellectual,” “social” and “radiant” varieties. Temperaments having outstanding endocrine components such as thyroid, pituitary, genital, suprarenal and thymic are also described.
Chapters three, four and five present the forces forming the character with a division of topics into heredity, habit, imitation, psychical attraction, type of profession and imagination, and chapter six is devoted to a discussion of the plastic elements and modifiability of character.
The second part of the book includes five chapters with special sections given to the presentation of the theories of personality according to Hume, Taine, Kant, James and Bergson. Freedom and control of the will, conscience, and the construction of images and ideas are among the topics discussed at some length.
The discussions on the nature of habit and on volition are rather ponderous and complicated, but they include many fundamental problems of the human mind, as well as serve to stimulate the interest along purely speculative lines. There are given many observations of facts which will appeal to the layman