Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-09-09
Spurious Sleeplness.

Hard workers, especially If not ro-
bust, after their evening meal are
apt to feel an intense desire to sleep;
at this hour they believe sleep is
what they need, and consider that
their bedtime Is at hand. They re-
tire but to experience theevils which
q loaded stomach entails. But if
kept awake by some cause for two
hours, all their sleepiness passes off
and does not return till late in the
evening; If then they retire to rest
they sleep sOuntlly. These two sem
sations are quite different in charac-
ter; the former we must call spurious
sleepiness, for 1t is not from true need
Of sleep, but is sort of dull heaviness
which disappears when the food
passes from the stomach; and what
is needed is not rest for the brain so
much as for the digestive organs, and
more solicitude and care for the
health; but the sleepiness which
comes on later is the call of those
parts of the organism for rest which
cannot be gained except by sleep.
The number of those who begin their
nights sleep in answer to this un-
natural sensation is enormous; and
this is one reason so many have dis
turbed sleep, and SO many have
dyspepsia, dependency, and ILL
health. This same call to sleep comes
to many after dinner as we'll; people
wonder why they cannot get enough
during the night, and grow into the
belief that they require and need
more sleep than the average of man.
kind.
How does it happen that a man in
the full vigOr Of his mental faculties,
and as wide awake as he can be just
before dinner, becomes in half an
hour SO much exhausted and so
sleepy? Certainty the labor of eating
is not great, and what there is of it
is not mental. Plainly the man has
dyspepsia, or he has been guilty of
some dietetic vice; he has eaten too
much or too rapidly; his blood and
nervous power are both drawn upon
largely to digest his meal, and he
feels heavy and stupid. His eyes
droop, his mind becomes obtuse, and
he falls into heavy browse; he is
sick, and fancies he needs a great
deal Of sleep. Well, sleep is good for
him in one way: it will enable his
system to get over it's excitement,
and perhaps his food will digest
faster than it would if he was ut
work; but that his brain from its
effort needs sleep is not true; it will
get Obtuse and dull, but it is from
being robbed of its due by improper
living, and not by its own labor.
This class of persons are much in
the habit of taking morning snoose,
which consists Of q dozen or SO short
maps after the main sleep is over; it
is not a condition of sound sleep, but
is a half-waking state; it lisa fruitlcss
endeavOr to get good sleep. After
each nap the drowsy individual turns
over, takes long breath, and gives
back a-grunt. Now, as a rule, this
snooze is q humbug; all this kind Of
sleep we get after the long, deep
slumber Of the night is over, does
very little good; and our advice
would be that everybody, in health,
get up when all continuous, quiet
sleep is ended. If we really need
more sleep, why do we wake and
find it impossible to get it that is
natural? The fact of this waking
shows that the conditions Of proper
sleep do not exist-have ceased; were
this not so we would sleep on. Al
though the nights rest has been dis
turbed and has failed to revive us,
this snooze will not help the matter,
for its very irregularity and per-
turbation prevent it utterly from
accomplishing the object PNysi-
clan in Uesteyn R,uul.