In dreams we are often the exact opposites of ourselves. Thus, the grave are facetious, the quiet are loquacious, the shy are bold, the fearful are courageous, the unloved maid is surrounded by a galaxy of suitors who seek her favours, - in short, whatever the wish dear to one's heart, and no matter how secret it be, even from the individual, it is very apt to be fulfilled in dreams much sooner than in waking life.

That dreams often bring to fulfilment our unrealized wishes is a point which every student of the dream must have observed. It is not extremely common, however, for the wish fulfilment to be seen in the dream as remembered, especially in the case of adults. It is in young children particularly that the wish element is very evident. The experiences of children are simple and not much varied, their associative processes are not numerous, their reasoning is not complex, they have few cares, and their thoughts are mainly, and more or less directly, concerned with the desire for whatever may afford pleasure. Thus, their night dreams, like their day-dreams, tend to realize ungranted wishes; the impediments that have acted as barriers to actuality during the day are removed with the night, and in dreams the child visits the places it desires to see, plays with the toys it has been denied, is presented with goodies, new clothes, etc.

The simplicity of the dreams of children often aids in the diagnosis and cure of various character and physical abnormalities of childhood. Not rarely children suffer from mental conflicts due to fears, jealousies, mis-understandings. If the conflict is great it may occasion many and marked disturbances, physical and mental. For example, children who are given to unreasonable anger, moodiness, anorhexia, "nervousness," sometimes are so because they are greatly jealous of other members of the family. In their dreams they sometimes see the ones disliked taken away by tramps, lost in the woods, disposed of in various ways. Just how much immorality these dreams show will be again considered.

In adults the wish element of many dreams is not apparent for various reasons. For one thing, few people pay attention to their dreams, and so they fail to note how their transient desires of the day before are frequently brought to an imaginary realization in sleep. Again, the nature of dream life requires that the thoughts be dramatized, done into images; not understanding this fact, many see no association between the apparently absurd actions of the dream characters and desires. If we made it a practice to recall the events of the day each night, and if we meditated on our dreams each morning, we would often see a connection between them. Dreams in which wishes were fulfilled might not be frequent, for, in addition, to the above reasons, the adult has had a larger experience than the child, hence more material at the disposal of dreams; also, the wish content may be so covered by other thoughts, that much dissection, or study, is required before an association with wishes can be made evident.

There are some psychologists who contend that it is the work of the dream to bring to fulfilment our ungratified desires, and particularly those desires which, have been repressed because of their unacceptability to consciousness. Doubtless, the dream does perform a certain amount of work in bringing wishes to fulfilment, and sometimes it is apparent that these wishes are opposed to one's better nature. However, the wish fulfilment may be merely the resuscitation of previously formed wishes, which, probably, have been in mind for only a moment; it is quite certain that forbidden fancies, not necessarily sexual, come to the minds of all individuals at some time or other. Should any of these come to life in a dream, this by no means implies that the wish is a present one, or that the dreamer is struggling against the "desire revealed. The desires may be instigated or awakened by physical stimuli, or the dream, by association, may uncover them. It may happen, also, that certain dream performances may occur, which some dream interpreters might consider of a wish nature, but which are far from being so. Thus, one may in a dream steal, let us say. Naturally, the dreamer knows what stealing means, else he could not dream about it. But he is well supplied with money, and never, as far as can be determined, had any desire to steal. Of course, he may have had a desire to do so in the days of childhood, or he may have indulged in a fantasy dealing with the matter in adult life. However, let us remember that dreams proceed rapidly, their courses cannot be checked. An idea that comes to mind is apt to be carried to completion. And so, ideas may come to consciousness which are unacceptable, and be carried to completion in spite of what the individual would wish. That some unacceptable ideas should be carried to completion in this manner is only natural, and it is also natural that we consider such as a dream vagary, rather than an important index of the individual's psychic life.

The following dreams will give the reader some idea of how dreams often fulfill wishes, and how, by introspection, their wish content may be discovered.

The dreamer, a young physician, dreamt that with his superior, he was examining the elbow of a small boy. The elbow was slightly inflamed but not swollen. The dreamer said mentally, "I told you so," and felt pleased.

This dream was instigated by an incident of the previous day. The physician had been asked to see the elbow of a young boy. He found the elbow swollen considerably, and inflamed; near it was a small boil. Two probabilities came to his mind; either the swelling was due to an injury, without fracture, in which case simple remedies would suffice; or it was due to an infection, in which case it should be opened. The first supposition was accepted, though there was a momentary doubt in the physician's mind lest his superior think differently and order the elbow lanced. This would be a reflection on his judgment, and would lessen his standing in the eyes of those who cared for the boy. We see, therefore, how the dream, by removing the swelling, fulfilled the physician's wish that his judgment be supported.