ABSTRACT
A GREAT deal may be learned from a study of the transition between waking life and dream-life. The phenomena of transition have not, of course, escaped the observation of previous enquirers. A special name—’hypnagogic’ or ‘sleep introducing’—has even been invented for them. But I do not know that their full significance has been recognized. They appear to me to render two great services to common sense. First, they put out of court the ‘psychical explosion’ theory of dreams. Second, they disprove the theory that all the incidents of the dream-life have a rational meaning, if only we could arrive at it.
