A thorough review of the theory of the compensatory function of dream contents as an addition to, but not as Jacoby points out, in opposition to their personal reductive value. He illustrates from the symbolic significance of animals as representatives of the instinctive side of the dreamer. He amplifies this from mythological sources. Finally he gives two clinical examples from his own practice, one of a young anorexic girl, the other of a middle-aged woman. In both instances the animal contents of their dreams enabled them to gain insight into their denial of their basic instinctive needs, and so to integrate them.