Should the child be troubled by night terrors or in other ways give evidences of abnormality, the best advice is to take the child to a competent medical psychologist. Sometimes the parent may be able to discover the thoughts which are tormenting the child, and tactfully remove them. In most cases the physician can do this better. By no means should frequent night terrors be disregarded. True they tend to disappear, but they may indicate some deep seated trouble which, if not removed, may destroy the child's future happiness.

Many children, while in the hypnagogic state, see various visions which may be pleasant or unpleasant.

These visions may represent animals, angels, devils, incidents of the day, etc. These visions are not to be regarded as pathological; children in good health art usually not troubled by them. If the child is of nervous type or is in poor physical health the visions may cause terror. In such a case the child may be quieted if the parent explains that the visions are not real, by emphasizing the absence of danger, by pointing out in playful fashion the peculiarities of the characters seen in the vision, etc. If these measures do not suffice a physician should be consulted.

Night terrors should not be confused with so-called night cries which the child utters, as if in pain, but is found sleeping when the parent reaches its side. These cries may be due to many causes, as physical discomforts; a possible factor deserving of being kept in mind is beginning hip disease. Should the latter be responsible, and should it be discovered early and properly treated, years of troublesome care and possible deformity will be avoided.

In passing, it might be mentioned that adults who suffer from fears of any kind - there are at least 150 different varieties of fears - would do well to consult a competent physician psychologist. Many persons, victims of phobias, refrain from seeking treatment, lest the physician laugh at them or tell them that they are going insane. Such scruples are unwarranted; and one may feel assured that no matter how ridiculous he may regard his worries, the physician has listened to and removed countless similar and worse ones. Today, fortunately, we understand the mind better. If Nicanor, mentioned by Hippocrates, could consult a modern mental analyst he would learn why he swooned on hearing a flute; Bacon would learn why he fainted at the sight of a lunar eclipse; Peter the Great would ascertain why he became nauseated, and why he became trem- -ulous and covered with cold sweat when crossing a bridge; Vincent, the painter, would discover why he fainted in the presence of roses. There is really no good reason why persons, victims of many strange fears, should eke out the same wretched existence that is theirs, especially when they have at hand physicians who, given a little time and the patients' co-operation, are able to ascertain the nature and location of the mental thorns responsible for the unrest and pluck them away. It would be better if fears could be prevented, at least such fears as are pathological, for certain fears are more or less instinctive. Unfortunately, the prevention of pathological fears will be impossible until such a time as parents and teachers are well conversant with psychology. This will come in time. In the meanwhile we can only urge adults to acquaint themselves with mental hygiene and to be particularly careful about the mental health of those under their care.