The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-10-11

The effects Of protractcd wakefulness
sooner or later show themselves In the
strongest constitution. The person becomes
gloomy, irritable, and peevish. The memory
Is defective, and tho thoughts confused.
Perhaps the most terrible punishment which
Chinese ingenuity has devised Is prolonged
loss Of rest. In some instances, It leads tho
way To and even seems 10 be the cause OF In
sanity. Some Of the greatest iutellects have
suffered from privation OF sleep. Newtou's
mind was impaired by Il In his later years;
southey's insanity was preceded BY Il. The
more gifted and cultivated the mind OF an
Individual is the more liable he will be to
wakefulness. The untutored sons Of bodily
toll have but few vigils, and among all the
animals, sleeplessness without external cause
probably belongs to man alone. The lower
animals are boon affected bytoss ofsleep. In
awake until they become tamei,by this means
the spirit Of the most refractory ID soon sub
dued. r...-.
In order to promote sleep In cases where
Ills wanting, Il Is Of course, In tho nrst place,
necessary to remove every exciting cause Of
wakefulness. 1t is generally essential to
give upthe use oftea and coffee, and, a. has
been said Il ID sometimes necessary 10 leave on
stimulants. The person should take care
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or with q stomach that has been long empty.
Many devices for inducing somnoleuce
have been practised with moro or less
success; one OF these 10 combing the hair,
which has Q very soothing effect on some
persons. Another Is 10 have the feet gently
shampooed. Walking about the bedroom
In ones night.dress, so as TO get what Dr..
Franklin called an air-bath, Is q good plan,
and the cold-water bath Just before retiring
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10 often successful. In more refractory case
the warm bath may be tricd-h acts by
Withdrawing the blood from the brain. On
the same principle, the upright position, by
favoring the return OF blood from the head,
10 sometimes useful. Il ID, indeed, no I'M
common thing to meet people who sleep
with great facility when sitting In chair,
or In carriage, but who sleep with Diff
Guilty when lying down In q bed.
The best bed TO sleep upon Is halr-mat-
tress, and the worst Of all Ia that made Of
feathers. Many people are so susceptible
that they are unable TO sleep In . strange
bed. A pillow filed with hops, the emana-
lions from which are narcotic, has been
sometimes used with success TO induce
sleep.
People, as q rule, 60 to sleep most easily
OF the bedroom Is indispensable for sound
sleep and for health.
In state Of health, when the balance b.
tween mind and body ID properly maintained,
sleep will naturally follow either mental or
bodily fatigue. This balance Is often sadly
disturbed, because an over-stimulatlon Of
all our powers Is the besetting evil Of our
generation. Nothing Is more important In
order TO secure sleep than to diminish tho
Intensity Of thought. Under favorable cir
cumstanccs, this can generally DO effected
by the will. In other Instances, however,
the more the will Is exercised against them,
the more attention 10 given TO the truant
thoughts. At length the will, borne down
by the torrent Of ideas, gives way altogether,
aud protracted sleeplessness results. It Is
hardly necessary to repeat here that such an
active state OF brain implies that the circula-
ton through II Is active, and that It 10 the
opposite ofthls condition which prevails In
sleep.-Good Health.