Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry

medicine, it was almost inevitable that this wishful idea would arise. Unfortunately, this is not the much-wanted definitive text. This feeling of disappointment in the book, however, is not due to any failure to attain the aims stated in the preface: "This volume offers to students of psychiatry a comprehensive view of dynamic psychiatry. The dynamic trend in psychiatry is the result of the impact of psychoanalysis, its theory, its method of investigation, and its therapy, upon the whole of psychiatry." This goal is, by and large, admirably attained. The book is composed of 16 chapters subdivided into three parts dealing with fundamental concepts, clinical psychiatry, and the influence of psychoanalysis on allied fields. The scheme is that each of the chapters is written by an individual with special interest in the topic discussed. In the early chapters, especially, there is insufficient editing. This is reflected in some tedious repetition, lack of integration, and inappropriate emphases. In Part I, Benedek's essay on Personality Development deserves special praise. To a subject which invites pedantry and obfuscation she has brQught refreshing, new, and stimulating viewpoints. The chapters in the section on clinical psychiatry satisfactorily fulfill the general aim of the book and with a few exceptions are scholarly in tone. Whitehorn's article on the psychoses particularly warrants this adjective. In a volume of this size one seems justified in raising the question of the advisability of donating so much space (25 pages) to Acute Neurotic Reactions, especially when the remainder of neurotic disorders is covered in only 33 pages. In this reviewer's opinion, there are two chapters in the clinical psychiatry section which are of such a high level of excellence as to make the volume worth owning just to have them convenient for reference. One is Levine's article on Psychiatric Treatment. With great clarity of style, he offers a tangible means of understanding the aims and levels of psychotherapy. Although it might not be satisfactory to well-advanced psychoanalytic students, it is eminently so for the beginner and the intermediate. The other outstanding chapter is Brosin's Contributions of Psychoanalysis to the Study of Organic Cerebral Disorders. This is an absolutely first-rate contribution. In the first place, it provides a unified collection of information about hypotheses and researches previously obtainable only through laborious library work. In the second place, the author has offered interpretations of data, criticisms, and suggestions for future research which are exhilarating in their originality. The third part of the book makes pleasant, informative, "after-work" reading. As is to be expected, there is an over-all expansiveness of tone, but usually modulated by the obvious authoritativeness of some of the basic ideas. The individual bibliographies of the chapters are ordinarily excellent, especially those for the organic cerebral disorders and the influence of psychoanalysis on current thought. JOHN W. HIGGINS