The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-03-31
WHY WE SLEEP.
From Appleton's Journal.

WHY WE SLEEP.
From Appleton'g Journal.
| 1t is related that Chinese merchant,
! having been convicted OF numbering
his wife, the Judges determined to
punish him in such a manner as to
| inflict the utmost amount OF suffering,
and, at the same time, strike terror
into the hearts of all those who might
entertain the idea OF following his eX-
ample. He was accordingly, condemn
ed 10 die by being deprived of sleep.
The prisoner was placed in confinement
under the care of three of the police
guard, who relieved each other every
alternate hour, and were instructed to
supply him with a full allowance of
food and drink, but who prevented him
the condemned man congratulated him
self on the mildness of his punishment,
and was rather disposed to regard the
| whole matter as joke. The excite
ment of his situation tended to keep
him awake, and for a day or so his
guards had little to do. BY the third
day, however, he began to feel very I'M
comfortable. His eyes were red, his
mouth parched, his skin dry and hot,
and his head ached. These symptoms
continued to increase in intensity, and at
the commencement OF the eighth day his
]
times deliriOus. In his moments of
reason he begged the authorities to
put an end to his torture. He i'm
plured them to grant him the blessed
opportunity OF being stranGled, gull
| lolined, burned to death, drowned,
garroted, shot, quartered, blown up
with gunpowder, cut into small pieces,
or killed in any conceivable way their
humanity or ferocity might suggest.
All was in vain-his tOrnentOrs coolly
did their work till there was no occa-
sion for their interference. period
was reached Mt which he could not
have slept even if let alone. The brain
was feeding on the products of its own
disintegratiOn, and sleep was impOS-
sible. He was not entirely insane. H.
lusions of his sight and hearing were
almost constant, and erroneous fan.
cies filled his thoughts. AT one mo-
ment he fought his guards with all the
fury of maniac; at the next he cow
cred with terror before some imngin-
airy monster, and then relapsing into
calmness. would smile with delight at
some enchanting vision which fitted
through his mind. Finally, nature
gave way altogether. He lay upon the
floor of his prison, breathing slowly
and heavily, stupor ensued, and, on
the nineteenth day, death released him
from his sufferinEs.
The story is probably founded on fact,
| IOr, OIL All Iu6 WIZ udNc
waited tho subject OF punishments as a
science, the Chinese stand among the
first.
But the question arises, Why should
the mere deprivation of sleep be pro-
duCtive OF such degree of torture as
| to make the victim beg for some more
speedy and apparently more horrible
death? The answer involves certain
facts connected with the physiology of
sleep, which, if generally understood
and acted upon by those who make
much use of their brains, would do
great deal toward lessening the popula-
| ton of our insane asylums.
The brain is the organ which evolves
the mind. To perform its function, 1t
requires to be supplied with sufficient
quantity of good blood. In this respect
| il does not differ from any other organ
of the body. 1.-THE liver be deprived of
blood, the secretion of bile stops; if the
vital fluid be cut of from the stomach,
there will be no more gnsiric juice; II
the renal vessels be tied or divided. the
action of the kidneys is at once arrested.
| Now within certain limits, the more
blood there Is in the brain, the more en-
ergetically does it work in the produc-
ton of mind. If the proper limit,
however, be passed. and especially If
the blood be "black" or non-aerated,
the manifestations of mental action
become abnormal, and may altogether
gestion. III all these respects the brain
| is submitted to the same laws that
| govern the other organs. A moderate
| increase in the activity of the clrcula-
| ton in the gastric vessels leads 10 an
augmentation in the quantity OF gas
trio Juice, and thus digestion is accele-
rated a like cause acting upon the
liver promotes the secretion of bile, and
so on for the other organs. Let the Ru.
bicon of healthy activity be passed, ana
| the vessels become unduly overloaded,
| and we have bad gastric juice or bile,
as the case may be, and, perhaps, none
at all.
Mankind have found ont certain
| WAYS of increasing the amount of blood
| in their organs, and thus of producing
results which they deem beneficial or
necessary. Thus, to help digestion, we
eat cayenne pepper, mustard. and other
condiments, or follow Paul's advice to
Timothy, and take little wine for our
stomach's sake. When the mothers
breast fails in nourishment for her babe,
we employ medicines which have the
effect of reopening the fountains. sim
ply by their influence on the circulation
| of the blood where il is deemed ne
cessary to increase the amount of sails
va, and thus to eliminate certain poi
sons from the system, we "salivate"
we did, few of US do so now. The glands
become enlarged by the increased
amount OF blood in their tissues, and
the saliva is poured out in torrents.
We know, too, how TO increase the
amount of blood in our brains, and
thus to add to the number and bril-
liancy OF our thoughts. A glass OF
wine by it's action upon the heart,
causes it to beat with more force and
frequency, and appears to especially
act upon the cerebral circulation. Eu-
gene Sue never wrote without bottle
of champagne by his side, from which
he imbibed great part of his genius.
Others take opium for the same pur-
pose; and others again resort to still
more dangerous means. One of the
most effectual and safest is a cup OF
strong coffee. Sydney Smith said, "If
YOU want to improve your understand
ing, drink cotfee;" and Sir James Mac.
kintosh used to declare that he believed
the difference between one man and
another was produced by the quantity
OF coffee they drank.
Then, again, the quantity of blood in
the brain 10 increased by those portions
of the body which mechanically favor
its entrance into the Uranium, or re-
tard its exit. Many persons have no
ticed the influence of position OH the
activity of thought. Pope used to lie
awake at night thinking, and, when a
particularly brilliant thought occurred,
would ring for pens, ink end paper, in
order that he might record it ere it was
lost. The engineer Brindly used to re-
tire to bed for day or two, when he
was rejecting on grand or sclentihc