this dream. The free association method brought out certain interesting features. The childhood memories when he used to run about barefooted were first evoked. His father was then at some muffusil station. The death of a near relative which caused his father to leave the place was then recalled and last of all was the association brought forward that a person goes about barefooted when his father or some other near relation dies. The subject next remembered that in the dream he seemed to be in mourning.

The last association, viz. the fact that he was in mourning, formed really a part of the dream and was completely forgotten. The free association method brought it back to memory.

To the psycho-analyst the meaning of the dream is clear. The subject wished for the death of his father. I did not inform S. C. of this interpretation at this stage.

I next asked the subject to recall the incidents in connection with his father's death. I wanted to find the reason of his peculiar behaviour. The subject remembered everything but failed to notice anything out of the ordinary in his conduct at the time. I then pointed out the peculiarities I noticed and asked him to explain them. I mention these in serial order together with his explanations:

(1) Incapacity to render any service to the father.

S. C.'s explanation was that he was completely unnerved owing to the sudden and grave illness of his parent. When I pointed out to him that he was not incapacitated for other work he at first could not offer any explanation but added later on that he could not endure the sight of anyone suffering. Against this I pointed out to him that he nursed his child quite efficiently when he was ill and to this he could only reply that the case was different.

(2) Extreme anxiety about the father's condition.

S. C. told me that it was all natural. I pointed out to him that his brothers were not so apprehensive and he replied that it was so because he loved his father best. He could not however mention any instance where he showed his love in his behaviour.

(3) His exaggerated report to the physician.

S. C.'s explanation was that he was extremely nervous and afraid and thought that it was necessary to report everything to the physician so that he might take the necessary steps. When questioned about the exaggerations he said that his father's condition seemed to him to be really critical and he did not exaggerate anything. I told him that his brothers were not unduly nervous but to this he did not reply.

(4) S. C.'s indecent haste about the bier.

S. C. told me that he was confused and after all when death was really approaching it was not such an indecent affair as it seemed.

(5) His behaviour about the ring.

S. C.'s explanation was that when the father died the whole world lost its attraction and it seemed sinful to wear fineries. When questioned as to why he did not give it to any poor man he could not offer any explanation but simply said that the ring appeared quite valueless to him and he did not think that it would do any good to anybody. (6) The rapid recovery of mental balance.

S. C. thought that perhaps his mental strength was greater than that of his brothers but when I pointed out to him his utter helplessness during his father's illness he remained silent.

When we analyse S. C.'s explanations we find that he had to give different reasons for the different items and that some of the explanations were mutually contradictory. An analysis of the material of the dream coupled with our knowledge of other cases enables us to interpret the subject's behaviour as due to a repressed unconscious hostile attitude towards the father. Now let us find out how this interpretation tallies with the facts. Such an unconscious wish would be resented by the conscious personality and could only attempt fulfilment in indirect ways. We would also expect defence attitude against such a wish. Now supposing this explanation to be correct we would expect the subject to develop exaggerated love in conscious life towards the father to keep his hostile attitude in check. Because this love is opposed by hatred it would be futile and we actually find the subject professing anxiety for the father but incapable of helping him. This incapacity was in evidence when there was the chance of the father's death so that the unconscious wish had an opportunity for fulfilment. The unconscious wish not only prevented the subject from helping his father but actually made him expect his death every moment and he fought against this by running to the doctor on the slightest excuse. The death wish caused the subject to look at the symptoms of his father in an exaggerated perspective. The incident of the bier would be very satisfactorily explained as due to the promptings of the unconscious hostile wish which caused the subject to anticipate the death. When death actually came the unconscious wish had its satisfaction but since this wish was under the ban of the conscious personality a sort of guilty feeling of having committed a sin came up in the subject's mind, and caused him to look upon the wearing of the ring as something improper. The throwing away of the ring into Med. Psych. III

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the river had a double significance. It enabled him to get rid of the feeling of guilt which had attached itself to the ring and at the same time the loss of the valuable property was a sort of expiation for the moral offence.

The quick recovery of the mental balance of the subject naturally follows if we accept the theory of the unconscious wish to be correct. There was not really such grief at the father's death as the subject's love towards the parent was opposed by a contradictory feeling of hostility. The theory of the unconscious death wish further makes it easy for us to explain the dream of the subject and the free-association in connection therewith. It will be seen that the word 'father' occurs more than once in the free association and there is also the idea of the death of a near relation such as father. In the dream the subject seemed to be in mourning.

If we now apply our postulates to this case we find that our theory of the unconscious hostile wish directed towards the father explains the facts in a better and simpler manner than the multiple and somewhat contradictory explanations offered by the patient. This explanation fits in with the other events in the patient's life as manifested in his dream and his quarrels with his father to be mentioned presently. The fact of bearing ill will towards the father is not a very unfamiliar thing in actual life and numerous instances can be cited where the son has killed the father. The death wish towards the father has been the theme of many a myth and drama from the earliest time up to the present day and hostility of the father and the son is a biologic fact throughout the animal kingdom. Psycho-analysts will also testify to the correctness of this interpretation as it has been proved by direct appreciation in many other similar cases. How far there was appreciation of the truth of the interpretation by the subject remains to be described. After I had obtained all the information detailed above from the subject I explained to him the nature and genesis of unconscious wishes and told him that he harboured death wishes towards his father in his unconscious. He was at first indignant and would not proceed any further with the discussions. A few days later his indignation subsided and he told me that he had been furiously thinking. He recalled to mind many instances of violent quarrel with his father in the course of which he sometimes actually wished for his death in a conscious way. The subject was ultimately fully convinced of the truth of the interpretation. I might mention here that the direct appreciation of an interpretation is not possible in every case. There are some wishes which can never be brought

into the conscious sphere. Their existence is always a matter of inference. I propose to restrict the use of the term 'unconscious' to these wishes. For those wishes which can be brought up to the conscious level by analysis I would use the term 'subconscious'; the 'foreconscious' wishes are such as can be directly appreciated when the attention is directed towards them but which are not ordinarily present in the consciousness. All the three above types of wishes have got to be tackled by the psychoanalyst.

Now reverting to my case I should like to point out here that the theory of the unconscious death wish satisfied all the postulates I enumerated before and no other rival explanation could be put forward which would explain all the facts in a satisfactory manner. It is not always that we are so fortunate with a psycho-analytic interpretation. When the wish is of the unconscious type, as in many symbolisms, it can never be directly appreciated and even wishes of the subconscious type may not be made available to consciousness owing to difficulties of analysis in individual cases.

It is on such evidence as mentioned above that the whole fabric of psycho-analysis has been built up and I would urge hasty critics to pause and consider carefully the nature of the evidence before they venture to condemn psycho-analysis. To workers in the field I would press for an unbiassed mind and would urge them to weigh the evidence very carefully before asserting anything definitely. It is unfortunate that this warning should be necessary as there are evidences in current literature of personal and race bias masquerading as psycho-analytical interpretations.

PSYCHONEUROTIC ASPECTS OF

MINERS' NYSTAGMUS

By H. WILFRED EDDISON.

UPON the kind recommendation of the late Dr W. H. R. Rivers I was appointed by the Medical Research Council to undertake a study of the psychoneurotic aspects of Miners' Nystagmus during the six months Dec. 1920-June 1921, and subsequently given permission to publish my results independently.

The investigations were carried out at Tredegar in S. Wales (75 cases), Newcastle in Staffs. (185 cases), and at Sheffield in Yorks. (50 cases).

It is my intention here to give only a brief résumé of the information obtained and the conclusions arrived at, and to omit long descriptions of individual cases.

The majority of the symptoms are admirably described in T. Lister Llewellyn's Miners' Nystagmus, its Causes and Prevention1.

Among those symptoms, in addition to nystagmus, to which most attention has been paid, are: tremors of the head, headache, photophobia, blepharospasm, unsteadiness of the field of vision and strained attitude of the head and eyes. These I have called "symptoms secondary to the nystagmus" in contradistinction to other symptoms of a neurotic nature to which I have paid special attention.

Review of the Symptoms.

Headache. This is usually the first and frequently the most severe symptom. It is also the most persistent, often being the last to clear up when improvement occurs as the result of rest from work in the pit.

In a few cases the headache was hemicranial in distribution and appeared to be hysterical in origin. In other cases a relationship existed between waking up with a headache in the morning and being troubled with anxiety dreams the night before.

Giddiness. Almost invariably present and at first secondary to the nystagmus. But giddiness can also be elicited under the same conditions which formerly brought on the nystagmus in those cases where nystagmus can no longer be elicited. That giddiness is, in such cases, psychically determined seems probable, as in numerous patients who complained 1 Llewellyn, Miners' Nystagmus, Chap. I and p. 22.