A very detailed account of the analysis of a seven-year-old boy of working-class parentage. The pavor nocturnus from which he suffered is attributed to the boy's aggression and antagonism to his father arising in his Oedipus complex. His other symptoms and his phantasies are similarly discussed in terms of the classical Oedipus situation. The author was struck by the absence in the analysis of any sign (notwithstanding the boy's familiarity with anal homosexual games) of an inverted Oedipus complex. This, she considers, may perhaps be ascribed to the exclusively hysterical nature of his disposition and illness, a suggestion which is perhaps as remarkable as the circumstance which it seeks to explain. The reader will in all probability be equally struck by the absence of any reference to pregenital (oral and anal) factors. The fact that (mirabile dictu!) a true transference-situation developed is explained partly by reference to