Note 48 — Chapter III
Reading edition
As regards the significance of snakes in dreams, it may be remarked that the followers of Freud regard them as being, in the dreams of women, as they are in the speech and myths of primitive peoples, erotic symbols (e.g. Karl Abraham, Traum und Mythus, 1909, p. 19). It must be remembered, however, that this erotic symbolism is but a small part of the emotional interest aroused by snakes which are an extremely common source of fear, especially in the young. See e.g. Stanley Hall, 'A Study of Fears,' American Journal of Psychology, 1897, pp. 205 et seq.