Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-16

father, when writing the eBridgepOr
Treatise" had his own way of working
He was an excessively busy man durinj
the day, and had only the night hours ii
| which he could write. He generally dinet
at Z o'clock, and Immediately after Dime
went to sleep for two or three hours. II,
theL got up and worked on until or
O'Clock in the morning. Just before re
firing be took some light pudding or sand
| witch, with cocoa or milk. Thus he Away:
slept well, as the blood was diverted from
the brain to the stomach.
This fact, think, shows the ACCESSIBILITY
of going to sleep Immediately after eating.
| This ignored fact always occurs to mymem
DRY when l see old gentlemen nOdding Ovel
their wine. Nature says to them, go tC
bed" They will not 60 to bed, but still
nature will not allow her law to be broken
50 she sends them to sleep sitting in the
chairs. People, therefore, who feel sleepy
after dinner ought to dine late, and e
straight to bed when sleepy feeling comes
over them.
Most good folks, however, do the worst
possible thing imaginable; they retire al
together into tie drawing room, and then,
to make matters worse, they drink tea and
coffee. Now regard tea and coffee, when
taken at night, to be poison 10 certain con-
situations. IL is very well in the morning,
but it is very bad at night. The reason
why tea and coffee should not be taken at
night is that the one contains an alkalOid
called theme, and the other contains an al
kaloid called caffein. These two alkaloids
taken into the system stimulate the brain,
and do not allow it to go to rest. l speak
of this matter from experience. If take
thOughtlessly cup Of tea or coffee after
o'clock in the evening, going to bed about
II, cannot 90 to sleep; and if the brain
does fail asleep, the alkalOid will wake it
up in about an hour OrtwO. Sleeplessness,
therefore, is usually caused by tea or
coffee, though, strange to say, tea and coffee
actually send some people into sound slum-
Der.
Iwel recoIlect the late DR.. Wherefore,
then Bishop Of Oxford, telling nv father,
then most actively engaged as Dean Of
Westminster, Of his patient way of going
to sleep. II is better than the old fas =
iOnedprescriptiOn Of watching sheep jump
ing through a hedge one afer another, ships
sailing out to sea, etc. The Bishops pre-
scnptiOn was to repeat very slowly the
vOwels A Z | o. In doing this, they were
to be fyintly pronounced with each iDspi-
ration and expiration. 1t will be found
easy TO do this without moving the lips,
but the vowel L must net be pronounced,
for TO do this the muscular action Of the
lips necessarily takes place, and sleep
comes not. / advise my readers to try this
plan.
once heard midshipman who COM
nlain1A fhaf bn aDrrll mot c1aar Of r,irrl,f no
cause there were no waves dashing against
the sides Of the ship. To this noise he had
so many months been accustomed that he
could not sleep without the familiar sound.
II e asked his mother TO dash pals Of water
against his bedroom door till he went to
sleep. l was once told, when on salmon
inspection, that a certain miller could sleep
so long as the continued whirr Of the mill
wheel was going on, but directly after the
noise stopped he awOke.
The deepest sleep is always just before
dawn. 1t is, believe, probable that some
change takes place al this time in the at
mOspheric condition, as the hour Just be
fore dawn is selected by sa7ages to make
their attack, and it is at this time also, /
believe, that a great proportion Of children
are born. When staying at a country
house, unfortunately the visitor not accus-
toned to country sounds gets often woke
up The abOminable cocks begin their
horrible growing, called in HerefOrdshire
''cOck shoot" l recollect on one occasion,
after the Wretched cocks had gone from the
fowl house to feed, / fell asleep, and then
came a most awful cry Of agony; in fact,
he farmer killed a pig under my window
enough to wake anybody. This pig was
most vOciferous, but as he was inundated
in honor Of my arrival, l could not say
much
My monkeys always get sleepy when the
gas is lighted in my study, where l and my
always sit. This room was once
,alled by the servants the "master's ROOM"
but l found tout lately, by accident, that
hey now call it the "mOnkeys' TCOm.n
This is Darwin going backward!
Dogs, likewise, will sleep at night if they
ian; cats, 1 observe, are sleepy in the morn
inc, the reason being that the wretches
have been out all night, and, Of course, feel |
very seedy in the morning, and doubtless
their heads ache sometimes, and it serves
them right if they do, considering the row
they make, fighting and caterwauling. l
have strong reasons to think that my own
black cat is President Of a free-and-easy
club, for they hold their meetings among
the ruins of the Colosseum at the back Of
nv house. This is a regular s'cattery.n
All the stray cats in the Regents Park and
the HeighbOrhOOd come here to arrange
family matters; sometimes they come into
a back cellar where keep skeletons, casts,
etc, and kindly supply me with lot Of
kittens, which l convert into skeletons,
casts, etc. confess l do not know how to
get rid Of caterwauling cats. VIII any one
Tell US?
now venture to suggest a new and sim
pie remedy for want of sleep. Opiates in
any form, even the liquor Opii SedGt., and
chlOTOfOrm will leave traces Of their in
hCence the next morning. Therefore pre-
scribe for myself-and have frequently
done so for others-OniOns; simply COM
mon onions raw, but Spanish onions stewed |
will do. Everybody knows the taste Of
onions; this is due to a peculiar essential
oil cont aimed in this most valuable and
healthy root. This oil has, l am sure,
highly sOpOritc powers. In my own case
they never fail, If am much pressed
with work, and feel shall not sleep, eat
two or three small onions, and the effect is
magical. Onions are also excellent /
things to eat when much exposed
TO intense cold. MIR. Parnaby,
TrOutdale Fishery, KeswicK, informs me
that, when collecting salmon and trout
eggs in the winter, he finds that common
raw onions enable him and his men to
bear the ice and cold Of the semi-frOzen
water much better than spirits, beer, etc.
The Arctic expedition, just now about to
start, should therefore take a good stock of
onions. Finally, if person eannQt sleep,
it is because the blood is in the brain, not
in his stomach; the remedy, therefore, is
obvious; call the blood down from the
brain to tine stomach. This is to be done
by eating biscuit, hard boiled egg, bit
Of bread and cheese, or something. Follow
this up with a glass of wine or milk, or
even water, and you will fall asleep, and
Will, trust, bless the name Of the writer