References to names of authorities in the field are interspersed with some rough sketch graphs and data.

Rivers's work on reactions to danger (flight, aggression, immobility etc.) form part of his investigation into the effects of war trauma and the neuroses exhibited by some of those who had fought in the First World War. Rivers differentiates between cowardice and neurosis.

Rivers refers to the work of Henry Head, a colleague with who he had worked closely, on neurology.