ABSTRACT
Anti-vivisectionist meetings were among the occasions when large bodies of medical students would collect for special purposes, a message being sent round beforehand among the various hospitals. One touches on a problem that has much occupied the author; the exceptional difficulty of teaching psychology to medical students, whose whole training strengthens their natural defence against facing deep emotions—namely, "flight into the material". The first wider circle was of course that of medical students, who certainly in those days had—and presumably have—attributes of their own. Perhaps the most characteristic was levity, which may well be a reaction against the grim aspects of life with which they are brought into contact at an age when they are emotionally unprepared for it. Later on they develop other defences against having their feelings stirred in ways that might interfere with their professional capacities, just as no doctor would dare to treat a member of his family who had a serious illness.
