and the time has come for him to behave as big people behave and to cast off the ways and habits of infancy. Lavish on him the things that occupy his hands and that interest him more than anything else, so that he spends all his time with them. Let him understand that you appreciate his doubts and his troubles at their true worth, and all of this may fade away in a few weeks. It is sometimes advisable to bandage his thumb for ten days or thereabouts, alleging some imaginary ailment that has affected the joint of his thumb, or simply to stick a strip of adhesive tape on that thumb. In

difficult cases it is best to call in the doctor, who may suggest other methods of treatment, such as sedative prescriptions for a fortnight.

I have seen children who sucked their thumbs every night because they were afraid of the dark, and the sucking served to calm their fright. And I have seen others who did it because they were suffering from some pain, and the sucking, it appears, eased that pain. In both cases it is a mistake to try to stop the habit by force; rather, you must find out the cause, if you can.