Dreams

surprise to both the medical profession and the laity to hear that the subject of dreams is still imperfectly understood. Ancient philosophers endeavoured to attach ?to dreams a prophetic meaning, and even to-day, among the superstitious and ignorant, dreams form a basis for prophecy, necromancy, and the like. There 'is no question about the influence of dreams on modern life and thought. There are few lives which are not influenced to some extent by dreams and the interpretation thereof. It is our object therefore to review briefly modern theory and thought on the significance and interpretation of dreams. To begin with, it is essential to explain the physiological basis of the Dreaming State. We know, of course, that the cerebral cortex is the seat of those processes which we include in the term mentality or mind. Further, we know that the physical basis of these processes is chemical action. These facts have been proved beyond doubt by physiological experiment. Waking consciousness in all animals is accompanied by chemical and histological changes in the nervous system with which we are acquainted. Dreams are associated with sleep. Various theories have been put forward to explain sleep from a physiological point of view. Into these we need ftot enter here. The important point is this: sleep means sleep of the cerebral cortex only, and not ?f the whole brain. The various subcortical