Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1861-10-04
We Gl5ep Too Little,

If night, and not day, is the time to
sleep then 1t may be said that the general
principle prevails, that the amount Of sleep
should be regulated by the dividing line
between Light and darkness; and that this
view may be accepted as the correct one,
is determinable from analogy it being
true that animals aeeert it and act upon
1t III the temperate ATTITUDES, which are
supposed to be the most favorable for the
development Of the human organism in it's
highest proportions Take the year to-
gether, day and night are about equal;
and were mankind within these attitudes
to live according to the laws of life and
health in other directions, they would
sleep while darkness is on the face of the
earth, and be active only during the peri
cd in which light was abundant As a
habit and fashion with our people, we sleep
too little. 1t is admitted by all those WHO
are competent to speak on the subject,
that the people of the United States, from
day to day, do not get sufficient rest
BY the preponderance of the nervous
over the vital temperament, they need all
the recuFerating benefits which sleep can
offer during each night as 1t passes A
far better rule is to get at least eight
hours sleep, and including sleep, ten hours
of recumbent rest. 1t is sad mistake
that some make, who suppose themselves
qualified to speak on the subject, in affirm
ing that persons Of highly wrought ner-
vous temperament need, as compared with
those of more ymphatic, or stolid organ
ization-less sleep. The truth is, that
where power is expended with great rapid
ity, by constitutional law, it is regath-
cred slowly-the reactions after O. while
demanding much more time for the gather
ing up of new force, than the direct eff
fort demands in expanding that force
Thus, man OF the nervous temperament,
after he has established habit of overdo-
ing. RECEIVERS from the effect of such over
action much more slowly than man of
different temperament would if the bal
ance Of his power to do and his power to
rest is destroyed, As between the ner-
vous and the Emphatic temperament,
therefore. where excess Of work is demand
ed, it will always be seen that at the close
Of the days labor, whether it has been of
muscle or thought, the man of nervous
temperament, who is tired. finds it difficult
to fall asleep, sleeps perturbedly, wakes
up excltedly, is more apt than otherwise
to resort to stimulants to place himself in
conditions of pleasurable anxiety; while
a man of Emphatic temperament when
tired falls asleep, sleeps soundly and I'M
interruptly, and wakes up in the morning
a new man.
The facts are against the theory that ner-
vous temperaments recuperate quickly from
fatigues to which their possessors are sub
jscted Three fourths of our drunkards
are from the ranks of the nervous tempera-
ment. The rule therefore, should be the
other way from that which it is supposed
} to be, that persons Of highly wrought Or
CARNATIONS need but little sleep. 1t sho'
be the habit with such persons to sleep
largely, and to insist upon such freedom
from exercise, both Of bod and mind, and
such external conditions Of repose, as
gradually to bring the brain to acknowl
, edge s Oh relations to the general struc.
ture as we'll as to enable its organs to be
come so refreshed that they may, when du
ty Is resumed perform it with accustom-
ed yet healthy vIgor.-Dr. Jackson