shut spasmodically. During the whole attack she cannot talk; but towards the end she speaks, although not yet recovered from her state of somnambulism. When the crisis is over, the child remembers nothing of what she has said or done in her sleep, and is much surprised at everything told her.” _Somnambulic Dreams._--The preceding cases illustrate the variable character of the manifestations of somnambulism, and may also serve as an introduction to the more common form of the affection, in which the patient experiences a dream, probably excited by the same causes that produce ordinary dreams, and also acts out his dream. The differences between an ordinary dream and a somnambulic dream lie in the fact that the one produces an often vivid impression upon consciousness and memory, while the other is entirely expended upon the organs of external expression. Starting probably from the same portion of the brain, the physiological dream sets in motion the cortical structures which are in immediate relation with conscious memory; the impulses of the somnambulic dream, on the contrary, are directed towards the lower portions of the nervous system, where they serve to excite the organs of locomotion and expression, which are destitute of every form of mnemonic register. Consequently, the somnambulist retains no recollection of the incidents of his dream. The simplest form of this affection is presented by the restless child who talks, cries out, and brandishes its fists in sleep. In the majority of instances these manifestations create little more disturbance than the half uttered yelping of a dog that barks in its sleep. But in some cases the outbreak assumes a distressing, if not an alarming character, constituting the affection known by the name of _night terrors_. The disorder is usually observed in young children of a highly nervous temperament, before the conclusion of their second dentition. The little patients are generally of neurotic lineage. Insanity, hysteria, neurasthenia, epilepsy, chorea, and nervous dyspepsia, are often discovered among their near relatives. Not unfrequently they have been, or will become, choreic. The attack is often preceded by symptoms of indigestion and constipation; but the exciting cause may be usually traced in the commotion of a brain that has been wearied by the exertions of the previous day. The child starts up out of an apparently sound sleep, crying with seeming alarm, calling for his mother, and staring wildly around, with every possible expression of terror. Sometimes he jumps from his couch, and runs headlong into a corner, or seeks concealment under the bed, as if escaping from some frightful object. The eyes are open, tears flow, perspiration covers the skin, there is the greatest excitement, and the little one, clinging convulsively to its parent, will not be quieted. Only after a number of minutes does the child seem to recover the power of recognizing his friends.