Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1855-03-16
Uses of SIeeD,

| While there are some that abuse this recu
perative blessing by excess. there are more
that do not sufficiently appreciate its use or
its necessity, and neglect its assistance
By SO doing, they shorten life by too great
an expenditure Of vital energy. Our learn
ed men are the most fOrgetful of this prin-
ciple in animal existence, and the premature
decay of their mental and bodily faculties
may be ascribed, in part, to neglect of ma
ture's great reslorer."
In our daily employments, there is, even
in the most vigorous daily waste of ami
NAL energy--a daily expenditure of the
vital current. The re-supplies Of this ener-
gy are obtained from sleep; the fountains
whence, by wise intermittent flow, springs
this current, are the hours of sleep. As
Hufeland very beautifully observes, sleep
forms stations for our physical and moral
existence; and we thereby obtain the hap
piness Of being daily reborn, and of passing
every morning through state of annihila-
tion, into a new and refreshed life.
Let any one try an existence without
sleep and he will soon discover not the fail
ure of bis bodily powers and the entire dis
arrangement and discord of a once harmon
ious nervous system, but destruction of
the very powers of wakeful intellect on
which he has prided himself. Mind needs
the refreshment of sleep as well as body.
Vigor of intellect or patience of investiga-
ton can never be found in connection with
the shattered nerves and over-wroughi
brain of sleepless vigilance.
There are those who foollshly feel that
every hour snatched from sleep is an hour
added to existence. 1t is rather an hour
taken from the recruit of our tired system,
which will be followed by an equal short
ness of life at its close, or by an hour of dis
eased and parslyzed intellect in decrepid
old age. Such persons may indeed, during
youth and vigorous manhood, spend more
hours with their eyes open, but the real en-
| ljoylrent Of life is freshness of intellect and
the feeling of strengthened sinews aud new
strung nerves will not be theirs. The inner
life, which it is granted, is 10 be measured
by impulses and actions rather than by
time, will soon suffer for want of sleep, in
the loss of tone and animation. Sleep is
the great tuner Of the delicate chords of the
inner man TO keep them in their harmony
up to the concert pitch.
So far as external life is concerned, sleep
is no less necessary for its duration and its
health. Without the proper amount of
sleep, our vital energy is dried up and with
cred, and we waste away as tree would,
deprived of the sap that nourishes it. As
the author we have quoted observes, 'the
physical effects of sleep are, that it retards
all the vital movements, collects the vital
power, and restores what has been lost in
the course of the day; and that it separates
from US what is useless and pernicious. 1t
is, as it we're, daily crisis, during which
all secretions are performed in the greatest
tranquility and with the utmost perfection"
These remarks must be understood with
reference to the proper time of sleep, which
should never be less than six, nor more
than eight hours. Long sleep is like an
other attempted restorative, when in excess
it sccumulates pernicious secretions, and
makes the organs too aaccid, and therefore
shortens life.
For the enjoyment of sound and health
full sleep, Hufeland gives the following dir
eciions.
lst The place where one sleeps must
be quiet and secure. The less our senses
are acted upon by external impressions, the
more perfectly can the soul rest. One may
see from this how improper the custom sof
having a candle burning in ones bed-cham-
Der during the night.
I'd. People ought always to reflect that
their bed-chamber is place in which they
pass great part of their lives; at least,
they do not remain in any place so long in
The same situation. 1t is of the utmost i'm
portance, therefore, that this place should
contain pure, sound air. A sleeping apart
ment must, consequently, be roomy and
high; neither inhabited nor heated during
the day; and the windows ought always to
be kept open, except in the night time
Sd. One should eat little, and only cold
food for supper, and always some hours be
fore going to bed.
4th. When a-bed, one should lie not in
a fol ced or constrained posture, bu: almos:
horizontally; the head excepted, which
ought to be little raised. Nothing is
more prejudicial than to lie in bed half sit
ting The body then forms an angle; cir
cuiation in the stomach is checked, and the
spine is always very much compressed
By this custom, one of the principal ends of
sleep, free and uninterrupted circulation
of the blood is defeated and in infancy and
youth, deformity and crOokedness are often
the consequence.
5th. All the cares and burdens of the
day must be laid aside with ones clothes
none of them must be carried to bed with
US; and in this respect, one by custom,
obtain great power over their thoughts. l
am acquainted with no practice more de-
structive than that of studying in bed and |
of reading till one falls asleep. By these
means the soul is put into too great activity,
at period when every thing conspires to
allow it perfect rest; and it is natural that
the ideas thus excited, should wander and
float through the brain during the whole
night 1t is not enough to sleep physically;
man must sleep also spiritually. Such a
disturbed sleep is as insufficient as its op-
posite-that is, when our spiritual part
sleeps, but rot our corporal; such, for ex-
ample, as sleep in jolting carriage on
journey.
9th. One circumstance, in particular,