Fullness of the stomach, or the eating of indigestible or highly stimulating food late in the evening, will often cause nightmare. As Motet[107] remarks: “One of the best-established causes is repletion of the stomach, and slowness and difficulty of digestion. Let an individual, habitually systematic, depart for one day from the accustomed regularity of his meals, let him change the hour of his dinner, and go to bed before the work of digestion is completed, and it is probable that his sleep will be troubled, and that nightmare will be the consequence of his indiscretion. The painful feeling will be induced by distention of the stomach, by anxiety, and by the restraint given to the movements of the diaphragm.” Feculent food would appear to be especially powerful in causing nightmare, and according to Motet, strong liquors and sparkling wines and coffee are equally so. I have several times known it produced by the New England dish of baked pork and beans, and by green Indian-corn eaten just before going to bed. Various morbid affections, such as diseases of the heart, aneurism of the large arteries, affections of the brain or spinal cord, and diseases of the digestive or urinary apparatus are often exciting causes of nightmare. It may originate from painful sensations in any part of the body. Some women, about the time of the menstrual flow, are particularly liable to paroxysms of this morbid dreaming. Whatever interferes with the respiration or the easy flow of blood to and from the head may bring on an attack of nightmare. I have known it caused by the collar of the night-gown being too tight, and by the pillow being under the head and not under the shoulders, thus putting the head at such an angle with the body as to constrict the blood-vessels of the neck, and by the head falling over the side of the bed. I have not been able to ascertain that sleeping upon the back or on the left side predisposes to the affection, unless in those cases in which the former position causes snoring from relaxation of the soft palate.