Under any circumstances, the dissociation in dream life is the most prominent feature. Just as sensations of smell or visceral sensations follow one another in point of time in the mirror of our consciousness during waking, almost without being associated, and replace one another, so we see that nearly all dream impressions, and also visual impressions, relieve each other either directly or only partly, and without meaning. In her dreams my sister can change into a man, or into a table and such like things.

A transition between sleep and the condition of waking is formed by the so-called light sleep (Liebeault), in which the brain activity is much more like that of the waking condition, and during which one is only partly amnesic or not at all amnesic. The time appears to our consciousness to be shortened. Many light sleepers declare that they have not slept, but only dozed. They are more or less aware when they awake of all that has taken place around them. Still, they are able to dream, and may even dream vividly. Moreover, among these persons there are many individual variations. Some of them can awaken out of the light sleep at will, and move about; others do not gain the mastery over their movements. As a matter of fact, the light spontaneous sleep corresponds more or less to the lighter degree of hypnosis (bypotaxis), in which the hypnotized person has the subjective feeling that he ha3 not slept, but has nevertheless been influenced (Liebeault).

As has already been said, it is well known that many persons can measure time during normal sleep, and awaken at any given time which they have determined on on the preceding evening. This determination is productive of a light, uneasy sleep in some persons; other persons, however, sleep as usual, and still awaken at the given time. We can produce the same phenomenon by means of suggestion, not only in hypnosis, but also in normal sleep, when this capability is wanting. I can give the suggestion to an easily suggestible person, that he shall awaken at such and such an hour in the night, and this will take place punctually.

I have also been able to fix by means of suggestion those associations which would awaken a normal sleeper, and, conversely, those which a normal sleeper does not hear. Thus, the suggested person, for example, sleeps quietly through a loud noise, while the faintest noise of another character awakens him. (See the spontaneous analogies without suggestion mentioned above.) This has proved very useful to me with the attendants in the asylum who had the care of noisy and even dangerous patients. For example, I hypnotized one attendant, and told him that he would not hear the loudest noise, and would not be awakened by it. I clapped my hands close to his ears, whistled loudly into them, but he did not awaken. Then I told him that he would awaken at once when I made a soft noise with my nails three times. This was done so softly that not one of those present heard it. He awoke, remembered the scratching noise, but had not heard anything of the clapping and whistling. Then I told him that he would hear absolutely nothing of the greatest noise and knocking of the maniacal patients, but would sleep on quietly; but, on the other hand, he would awaken at once if any patient did anything unusual or dangerous.

I have carried this out for ten years consistently with all the attendants of the noisy wards who agreed to it (this was a large majority of them), and since this time nervous exhaustion, sleeplessness, and the like, have, so to say, disappeared from the attendants, while the supervision of the patients has gained in safety.

In the same way, I have allowed a nurse to sleep in bed next to a suicidal melancholic. I had previously tested the safety of the nurse's suggestive reaction during sleep, and then gave her the suggestion to sleep well, not to hear the groaning and noises, but to awaken at once if the patient made the least attempt to get out of bed or to do anything to himself. As soon as the patient had been brought back to bed, the nurse was to go to sleep again at once. This occurred so regularly that several patients who had been looked after in this way regarded their nurses as being bewitched. Nurses who had carried out this duty for periods up to six months, and who had worked hard during the daytime, remained lively and bright, looked well, and did not show a trace of tiredness. It is true that only very suggestible people are suited for this; still, I always had several nurses and male attendants who were adapted for such duties.

My successor, Professor Bleuler, and Professor Mahaim, of Cery-Lausanne, have been able to confirm this experience.

The following case illustrates the safety of this method of supervision very strikingly:

Mrs. M. S. was admitted into the Burghoelzli Asylum on August 25, 1892, suffering from extreme, completely demented mania. She had brought fourteen children into the world, and eleven of these were still living. The births were always very easy and rapid, none having lasted more than a quarter of an hour. The mania became chronic, and Mrs. S. became so brutal and violent that she could only sleep at night time in the padded room. She remained completely demented, and did not recognize anyone. It was only in January, 1893, that one noticed that she was pregnant. I was very anxious about this pregnancy. On the one hand, her violence excluded the possibility of a nurse helping her during the night time, and, on the other hand, I feared that an unnoticed partus during the night would be accompanied by the death of the child. The date of the partus was naturally quite uncertain. On March 13th I resolved on the following plan: I placed the patient in bed alone in a room with protected windows. The best somnambulist among the nurses was put in a bed in the corridor near the door of the patient's room. She was given the suggestion that she would sleep exceedingly well each night, and not hear the usual noises which Mrs. S. made. However, as soon as the birth should begin at night time, she would notice it through the door, and awaken at once. I do not know bow she was to notice this; perhaps the patient would become somewhat quieter (but this takes place from time to time), or she might whine a little - in short, I do not know, but she (the nurse) was to notice it. She was to get up at once, look in at the patient, go for the sister, and then have the doctor sent for. I only gave this suggestion once or twice definitely, and from that time onward the nurse slept in the corridor outside Mrs. S.'s door. The latter remained extremely excited, dirty, and demented, destroyed and tore everything up.