Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-08-20
A Chat About Sleep.

had frequently met her when she
seemed even more emaciated. but now
she "would give the world to be plump"
Sitting down in front of me, she began
with
Don't you think. doctor. that l look
very old for twenty?"
! admitted that she looked raMer old
for twenty.
"Can anything be done for me : What
can l take for it should be willing to
take a hundred bottles of the worst stuff
in the world, if only could get some
fat on these bones. A friend of mine
Cher beau)w was saying yesterday that he
would give fortune to see me round and
plump"
Would you be willing to go to the
Cliff spring in Arkansas ~
Il would start tomorrow"
"But the waters are very bad to
drink" 1 said.
IL don't care how bad they are, l
knouo can drink them"
Il asked you whether you are willing
to 60 to the Arkansas springs to test the
strength of your purpose, 1t is not ne
cessary to leave your home. Nine thin
people in ten can become reasonably
plump without such a sacrifice"
"Why, doctor, I am delighted to hear
it, but l suppose it is lot Of some awful
bitter stuff"
"Yes, it is pretty bitter dose, and
has to be taken every night
IL don't care, l would take it if was
ten times as bad. What is itf What is
the name Of it p
1.-THE technical name of the stuff is
'Bedibus Nine o'clockibus.'
why, doctor, what an awful name !!
l am sure l shall never be able to speak
it. Is there no common English word
for it"
"Oh yes The English of it is, "You
must be in bed every night at nine
O'Clock. We doctors generally use Latin.
.Bedibus Nine o'clockibus' is the Latin
for You must be in bed every night by
nine o'clock
ooh, that is dreadful. l thought it
was something l could take"
at is. You must take your bed every
night before the clock strikes nne..'
mo, thought that you would give
me something in bottle to take.'
"Of course know very well what
you thought. That's the way with all
Of you. One person eats enormously Of
rich food till his stomach and liver refuse
to bulge; then he cries out, 'Oh, doctor,
what can l take; / must take some
thing Another fills his system with
tobacco until his nerves are ruined, and
then, trembling and full of horrors, he
exclaims, oh, doctor, what shall take !?
l write a prescription for him-Quitibus
GaUibxs ct Smokibus. l will suppose
my patient is not a classical scholar, SC
| translated it into English. He cries
out at once, oh, doctor. l thought you
would give me something to take.' An
other sits up till thirteen and fourteen
o'clock, leads life Of theatres and Other
designations, becomes pale, dyspeptic and
wretched, and then flies to the doctor
and cries, oh. doctor, what shall take
What shall take p Now, madam, you
are distressed because your lover has
been looking at your skin and bones -
"But, doctor. you are entirely"
"Oh. well, we'll say nothing about
him, then. But. tell me, what time do
you 60 to bed p
"Generally about twelve O'clock
"Yes, l thought so. Now, if you
will 60 to bed every night for six months
at nine o'clock without making any other
change in your habits, you will gain ten
pounds in weight and look five years
younger. Your skin will become fresh,
and your spirits improve wonderfully"
"I'll do it. But when l have CON-
pany and during the opera can't do it. :"
ut is regularity that does the business.
To sit up till twelve o'clock three nights
of the week, and then get to bed at nine
o'clock four nights, one might think
would do very well, and that at any rate
it would be so far 80 good l don't
think this every other night early, and
every other night late, Is much better
than every night late 1t is regularity
that is vital in the case. Even sitting
up one night a week deranges the ner-
vOus system for the whole week. have
sometimes thought that these people who
sit up to eleven or twelve o'clock every
night get on quite as well as those who
turn in early six nights, and then sit up
once a week till midnight. Regularity
in sleep is every whit as important as
regularity in food"
At length my patient exclaimed. "Doc-
tor. will go to bed every night for six
months before nine o'clock, if it kills me,
or rather if it breaks the hearts of al
my friends"
She did it. Twenty-one pounds was