We consider this case important because it suggests a number of questions and considerations.

1The constant interaction of aggression and counteraggression, of hostility and yet inability to let go of each other, finally the development of a common symptom, show clearly the communication between the mother's and the child's unconscious. At the same time, in spite of their strong influence upon each other and their intense preoedipal relationship we can by no means speak of a complete mother-child union. Otherwise it cannot be understood how this child of a severely disturbed mother had remained comparatively healthy. The only explanation seems to lie in the fact that in spite of the prolonged dependence of the human child on his mother, the latter is partly only environment and therefore her influence is limited by the child's constitutional endowment. Of course, only a great number of observations of a psychological and biological nature can throw any light upon the question of constitutional factors.