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over the work of the day. On account of the loss of sleep, etc.. she be- 

 gins to suffer in health, and feels sure that at times if there were a few 

 more days of it she would break down. But she admits one advantage of 

 this automatic action of the mind or brain : Errors are constantly oc- 

 curring, and when the books are balanced at night no one can account 

 for the various discrepancies, and, of course, there is worry. Now in her 

 '"night work," during this automatic cerebration, she generally "sees" just 

 where the discrepancies are and the next morning is usually able to 

 make the corrections promptly. 



She has some well-defined ideas regarding causes, that is, of the con- 

 ditions under which such activity comes on, and I shall consider her re- 

 marks later on in summing up "causes'' and "supposed causes.'' 



Asked about dreams, she said they occurred in the winter time, rarely 

 in the summer — the exceptions usually being times of actual illness. 



Another patient told me that as a boy in school he worked out his 

 mathematical problems while in bed at night. After he left school this 

 form of mental activity largely disappeared and now only occasionally 

 returns; he utilizes it in planning his business affairs. 



Insojixia. After a wakeful period at night, perhaps of an hour or 

 two, there may gradually come repose, and then when one is about to 

 fall asleep, subconscious mental activity may come on with a flow of 

 thoughts, perhaps valuable in one's work. Then comes the conscious 

 thought, "If I don't jot down these thoughts or ideas they will be lost : 

 if I do write, then the composure to sleep will disappear and I will 

 again be wakeful and sleepless. Shall I write or not? Shall I put the 

 thoughts on paper or get the sleep?" While undecided, sleep may come 

 on, there may even be a dreaming that the thoughts have been written ; 

 the mind is relieved and deep sleep follows. In the morning nothing is 

 remembered of the train of thoughts. If. however, they were written out. 

 then on awakening the whole occurrence likely comes vividly to mind. 

 or at least there are notes more or less clearly decipherable. This may 

 also occur in the morning when one is about to turn over for another nap, 

 and then this mental activity is confused with dreaming, but the coher- 

 ency of ideas enables us to distinguish. 



Sleepless nights of active minded people who utilize their thoughts 

 are often due to the fact that they do not want to let go of the thoughts 

 thai come. They lie awake, thinking aboul them, or they will be kept 



