Night terrors, or pavor nocturnus, comparable to the nightmare of adults, is a fairly common sleep disorder of childhood. It occurs between the third and seventh year. One attack in the night is most common, though several may take place. The attacks may occur at intervals of a few days and continue indefinitely, or, as is generally the case, after a few attacks the terrors disappear. In some instances the terror is replaced by somnambulism which may or may not be accompanied by fright and which may last a number of years, even a lifetime unless the underlying cause is removed.

In the usual attacks of night terrors the child is awakened, or partly so, a few hours after going to sleep. Sometimes the terror is experienced just as the child is falling asleep. There are evidences of a great fright, - hurried respirations, sweating, trembling, increased heart action, etc. The child may remain in bed and endeavour to hide beneath the bedclothes, or it may run about the room striving to hide under bureaus, chairs, the bed. It may cry out so that the observer can com-prehend that the child believes it is being pursued by an animal or other terrifying creatures, or it may say something like "I won't do it again," leading one to assume that the child is dreaming of being punished. After a few minutes the child may be quieted, or it may be anxious, require the parent at the bedside, and sleep fitfully the remainder of the night. Generally there is no remembrance of the attack on awaking in the morning, due probably to the child's forgetting the dream. During the attack the parents and others outside of the dream characters are not recognized.

Parents are wont to attribute these attacks to bad dreams. That they represent vivid dreams is true, but to dismiss them lightly, especially when they occur often, is dangerous for the child's future health and happiness. We will take up this aspect of the problem further on.

It is customary to assign two causes for night terrors, namely physical and mental. In the first, some physical error is held accountable; in the second, some terrifying experience, under which we include thoughts. If the child has had an unpleasant experience, well-marked physical disorders, by producing a profound impression on the brain during sleep, may awaken the experience and give rise to terror. If the experience has been particularly vivid, even slight physical disorders may awaken it. Usually when we fear something in particular we are apt to fear everything, and to quickly conclude that our fear is realized on the slightest provocation. As it is practically impossible to prevent children from day-dreaming of the unpleasant, and exaggerating their liability to danger, so well-marked physical impairments may easily instigate some unpleasant dream.

Among physical disorders which may provoke night terrors adenoids, enlarged tonsils, diseased teeth and gums, phimosis, constipation, digestive troubles deserve attention. These may act in various ways; for example, adenoids and enlarged tonsils by interfering with breathing may suggest suffocation; they also undermine the general health and render the child very impressionable or nervous. Eyestrain unbalances the nervous system and, as is well known, so-called bad dreams are fairly common when the nervous system is below par. Constipation, diseased gums and teeth may cause the terror by reason of the poisons to which they give rise. Phimosis may excite an unpleasant dream by reflexly exciting the nervous system or through local irritation.

Errors of hygiene may be solely at fault, - as insufficient exercise, heavy bed-clothing, poorly ventilated sleeping and living rooms, unsuitable diet, irregularity in eating, improper mastication, etc. Whether or not a physical cause is responsible for the attacks of night terror is a question which can be best determined by the physician. At any rate, -a physical examination would not be profitless even if it did not explain the nocturnal attacks. Any number of children are suffering from physical errors which receive no attention, and as a result are below par and are regarded as peculiar, or victims of indefinable disturbances, apparently idiosyncrasies.

Probably more cases of night terror can be explained by mental than physical causes. And the most common cause is some fright which the child has experienced. The fright may have been occasioned by accident, as a fall; or as is more usual, the fright may have been produced by an injudicious act on the part of the child's parents, instructors, or associates. Too many people still believe that the best way to teach the child is by making it fear. Those who are of this belief should bear in mind the words of Mosso: "Every ugly thing told to the child, every shock, every fright given him will remain like minute splinters in the flesh, to torture him all his life long."

If we were to consider the various ways in which the child may be frightened by reason of improper training we would have need of a book on this subject alone. Here space permits us to consider briefly but a few of the chief ways. One of these is allowing the child to read unsuitable books, and by improper story-telling. We should not do away with fairy stories, as has been suggested, as these serve the same purpose to the child as a good novel does to the adult. However, in allowing such stories much depends upon the nature of the child. Some children are more impressionable than others, and are wont to take as fact whatever they read, and whatever they are told, especially by those considered as authorities. These children are usually the so-called quiet children, who are "different" from their brothers and sisters. In these oases, if not in all, it may be well to explain why the story was written: to say that it was written for amusement and not because the characters really exist. Particularly harmful are the cheap paper-back novels, ghost, Indian, detective and similar stories, especially when told near bed-time. In telling stories many people are unwise. Many misguided individuals seem to take a particular delight in frightening children by describing Jack the Ripper, ghosts, murder, etc. Very much depends upon how one tells a story, no matter the kind. If we tell it with a serious mien the child is apt to believe, but if we smile incredulously the child is likely not to spend much time wondering about its veracity.