Virginia advocate. [volume] (Charlottesville, Va.) 1827-1860, 1829-11-27
MISC ELLANEoUs.
FROM THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH.
TIME FOR SLEEP

SLEEr, tired natures sweet restorer~ -
well known to be essential to The e.is,encc -,
man. Those who are long deprived o. neces.
sary proportion of it, have their health imDair
ed and not unfrequenty the period of their cs.
istencc abridged.
Many would appear to imagine that nov;Jed
certain number of the twenty. f,ur hams ho
passed In sleep 1t matters little how or where
sucn repose Is obtained. This, however, is n
very gross error. The accommodations of tho
night equally with the occupations of the day .
exert very powerful influence upon the health
and well-beng of the system
Night is evidently the period Appropriated
ny nature Tor repnse, and general experience
has proved, that it's the only one during which
we can with certainty obtain that sound. sweet
and refreshing slumber, so necessary for the
preservation of health. Sleeping during the
day Is indeed, on many accounts, n pcrnicions
practice, which should be carefully avoided. ex.
cep;ing under particular cir cumstances ofdisease
or when sufficient amount of repose cannot be
obtained at The natural periods. This, However
does not apply to infants. For the first months
after birth, healthy child sleeps full two.thirds
OF ITS time. This propensity requires to DO in
dulged by day as we'll as by night but, with
Judicious management, it may he brought, in u
short time, to require and enjoy rcpose during
the latter period only. Young children, when
fatigued By exercise, will also, in general be
inclined TO sleep during the day from INDUCING
in a short reposc, under such Giro instances, no
bad effects can result, provided their clothing be
perfectly loose, that every part Of their bodies
iSf fro I h.. a..
The popular maxim, 'i early to bed and early
to rise" is ono which should be rigidly observed
by every individual. 1t has been remarked that.
in the natural state, the disposition to sleep
usually comes on soon after commencement of
daikness; and, according to the oldest and
most accurate observers, three four hours slec
before midnight is very nearly as refreshing as
double that portion in the morning. Persons
who spend the day in manual labor, or active
exercise in the open air, with great difficulty
keep awake for few hours after the night has
closed in; and this disposition to early sleep is,
perhaps, one of the strongest indications Of per-
feet health
The studious noted for their disregard
of the regular hours Of est" The solemn still
ness of night, inviting tn those pursuits which
require fixed attention, and a connected series
of thought and reasoning, leads them first into
The habit which is subsequently strengthened
by the circumstance OF intense application OF
the mind, uninterr upted by sufficient and an.
proprate exercise, producing state Of nervous
irritability inimica to sleep. Hence the student
fears to leave the midnight lamp for a couch
which he can only occupy in a state of restless
ness. Let him, however, reinquish his Nocturnal
studies, and seek, during the natural period, that
repose which his mind and body alike demand
-appropriating " the hours Of early morn
to study, and The residue of the forenoon to ex
eicise, and we arc well persuaded, tia, while hi.
progress in tie pursuits of knowledge would be
in no degree retarded, he will be the gainor, moi
merely in the enjoyment Of more perfect health
but in the increased clcarness and vigour of biz
intellectual faculties.
1t has been very correctly remarked " that tn,
atmosphere of the night is always moro vitiated
and consequently less fit for respiration, tina
| that of the day; and as we respire a grea.e
porptien of air while awake than in sleeping
state, it follows that from these, Independent
of other causes, the system is more liable to in
| jury in the former than in the latter state"
Early rising is equally important to the healtl
Of the system as early rest. On no. accoun
| should my one pcimit himself to again slum
Der, after the moment Of his first awaking in III,
morning, whether this happen at the early dawn
! or before the sun has risen even though from
| accident or unavoidable causes he may not has
| enjoyed his six or eight hours Of repose II i
much better TO make up the deficiency, IL nc
! ccssory, at some other time, than TO attemp
taking another mp. Whoever shall accuston
himself thus TO rice, will enjoy more undistur
bed sleep during the night, ard awake far NOR,
refreshed, than those who indo!ently slumbei
all the morning.
Even this second nap is. however,, by n<
means 90 injurious TO health as the practice O