A Mind that Pound Itself. By Clifford Whittingham Beers. (Longmans
and Co. 75. 6d. net.)—To put the subject of this book into a few words, we may say that the writer tells the story of his life during two years of delusion and mania. • It is introduced by a letter from Professor James of Harvard, who describes it as "the best written out case "that he has ever seen, and hopes that it will be published. He speaks highly of the style and temper, and believes that it will be useful in promoting the object for which it is written,—an amelioration in the treatment of the insane. On this part of the subject it would be rash for a reviewer, especially in another country, to pronounce any judgment. That an inquiry may advantageously be made seems likely enough ; but this, too, is for others to decide. We cannot do more than record the appearance of the book, and state the recommendation with which it comes. We may add, however, that such inspection as we have been able to give to it indicates no small amount of interest. Here is a curious detail. One strange delusion was that the patient imagined that as he lay in bed a detective underneath was applying lumps of ice to his heels in order to extort some confession that he desired. The founda- tion for this fancy was the movements of the lump of ice in the ice-water as it gradually melted, and so shifted its centre of gravity.
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