Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-02-17
From Ftaah Lestic's Chimney Corner.
On Sleeping.

There arcIthousands of busy people who
die every yen for want of sleep. 1t may bo
TINT too much sleep Injuries some; but in an
rXotable people, and i'll our intense business
habits, there \, far more mischief for want of
sleep than fr,Sn too mnnh of it. Sloeplcss.
ness bocomest tIisoase. 1t is the precursor
OF insanity. When it does not reach to that
sad result, it lSsti full Of peril, as well us of
suffering. Thousands Of men have been in
dobted for baS bargains, for lack of courage,
for incffcctiveNess, to loss of sleep.
1t Is curious, that all the popular poctical
representations Of sleeping and waking are
the reverse of The truth. We sneak of slecp
as the image,.of death, and of our waking
hours as the is'ase Of life. But ull activity
Is the result otsome form of decomposition in
the body. Every thought, still more, every
emotion, any volition, wastes some part of the
nervous substance, precisely as fame is pro
duced by wasting the fuel It is the death
OF sono part Of tho physical substance that
produces the phenomena of intelligent aud
voluntary life On tho other hand sleep is
not like death; for it is the period iu which
the waste of tho system ceases, or is reduced
to its minimnla. Sleep repairs the wastes
which waking hours have made. 1t rcbuilds
the system. The night is Tho repair shop of
tho body. Every part Of tho system is silent.
y ovcrhaulcd, and all the organs, tissues and
substances are replon;shcd. Waking con
sumes, sleep replaces; waking cxhausts, sleep
repairs; waking is death, sleep is life
The man wl5 sleeps little, repairs little !;
il sleeps poorly, be repairs poorly. fhc uses
up in the day less than he accumulatcs at
night, he will gin in health and visor If
he uses up al! Nat he gains at night, he will
Just hold his own. If he uses moro by day
than he gathers 1t night, he will lose. Aud
II this last process be long continued, he must
succumo A slsn who would be a good
worker must ooeS sit that he is good sleep.
cr Human lifS84 M,.A a r,atcr. mill soma.
times tho straam is so copious that one needs
care but little about his supply. Now, often,
the stream that turns the mill needs to be
cconomized. A dam is built to hold large
supply. The mill runs the pond pretty low
through the day, but by shutting down the
gate, the night relils the ponds and the wheel
goes merrily around again the next day
Once In while, when spring rains arc cop
Gus, and freshcts overflow, the mill may run
night and day; but this is rare. Ordinarily
the mill should run by day, and the pond ill
up by night.
A man has as much force in him as he has
provided for by sleep. The quality of action,
especially mental activity, depends upon the
quality of sleep If the day time is the loom
In which men weave their purposes, night is
the tine when the threads arc laid ;n a:. the
filing prepared.
Men need, on an average, eight hours of
sleep day, or one. third of their whole time
A man of Emphatic temperament may re.
qurc nine. A nervous temperament NAV
require but seven, or six, and instances have
been known In which four hours was enough
The reason is plain. A lymphatic man is
sluggish in all his functions. lie moves
slowly, thinks slowly, eats slowly, digcsts
slowly, and sleeps slowly; that is, oil the re.
storative acts Of his system go on slowly, in
analogy with his temperament. But ner
vous man acts quickly in everything, by
night or by day. When awake, hc does more
IN an hour than sluggish man in two hours;
and SO in his sleep. lie sleeps faster, and
his system nimbly repairs in six hours what
it would take another ono eight hours to Der.
form.
Every man must sleep according to his
temperament. But eight hours is the ave.
rage. Ii one requires little more or little
LESS, he will find it out for himself. Who.
ever by work, pleasure, sorrow, or by any
other cause, is regularly diminishing his sleep
Is destroying his life. a man may hold out
tor a time. But Nature keeps close accounts,
and no man can dodge her settlements.
Fancy m impoverished railroad that cannot
keep tho limo in order, nor spare the engines
to bo thoroughly repaired. Every year, line
and equipments deteriorate BY and bv
comes crash, and tho road ia In heap of
confusion and destruction. So it ia with
men. They cannot spare time to slccp
enough They slowly run behiud. Symptoms
OF general waste appear. Premature wrinkles,
weak eyes, depression of spirits, failure of di.
gestion, fecbleness in the morning, and over.
whclming melancholy those md n,bar o;,.,s