The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-05-18
SLEEP.
Its Nature, Necessity and Peculiar Char
ncteristics.

IL w AiAAIi "a AlnIIlllVHN AttAuINtA ~
Chickering Hall last evening for the
benefit of the Metropolitan Throat Hos
pital upon the subject Of " sleep" DR..
Hammond began his lecture BY com
pairing the periods Of rest enjoyed BY the
different vital organs Of the human body,
saying that the heart, aggrcgating the
moments between its beats, rested six
hours out Of the twenty-four, and that
the liver. the stomach, etc, enjoyed each
is period Of inactivity and recupcration,
but that the brain had no rest save in
the moments Of sleep sometimes not
then. The lecturer then sketchcd brief
~ the principles Of the wear and tear Of
the human organisms and Of its build
ing up. The waste Of the vital tissues
was repaired almost as soon as ii was
made, but the change was constant.
The hair Of yesterday was not the hair
Of to-day, and the muscle for extending
the arm was not idcnticllly the same
muscle after the arm had been extended.
The refreshment and restorative Of the
brain was sleep.
DR.. Hammond narrated several anec-
dotes illustrating the necessity Of sleep,
and Of the inability 10 resist il after long
wakefulncss, even when the subject Is
laboring under severe physical discom-
fort or pain. Soldiers frequently, the
Doctor said, had been known to sleep
soundly when in the saddle, and he had
often slept himself in this manner. He
also told Of a soldier who walked dis
lance Of POO yards while in sound
sleep, and he would have doubtless
walked further if he had not been awak-
ened by striking his foot sharply against
stone. There was recorded instance
Of a Chinaman, convicted Of the murder
Of his wife, having been condemned 10
die through the deprivation Of sleep.
Guards were posted with him constantly
whose duty il was to keep him always
awake. On the eighth day the wretch
fell upon his knees and begged for the
blessed privilege Of being strangled or
performing harikari. The amount Of
sleep necessary 10 health varies, the
Doctor said, with age. In infancy the
constructive processes are exceptionally
lively and the child needs. accordingly.
a great deal Of sleep; and again, in old
people decay predominates over con
struction, and more sleep is needed
Or. Hammond did not think that the
necessary amount Of sleep which man
required depended absolutely upon the
size Of the brain. He instanced the case
IF celebrated French surgeon who was
said under the excitement Of certain
research in which he was engaged to
have gone without sleep for period Of
six weeks. and Of General whom re-
L. L..x~.. Ill.
sleeping but one hour out Of every TWEEN
ty-four. DR. Hammond thought, how
ever. that these figures are 10 be taken
cum grano sails. Men whose work was
mental required more sleep than men
whose work was physical More than
this, perhaps, there was no positive law
to be set down. The necessity varied
with the individual One human ma
chine seemed pretty well oiled and ran
so a. not to need much repair; another
grated and needed mending constantly.
There was difference of opinion
among medical men, DR.. Hammond
said, as 70 the physical motive Of sleep.
but he did not see why there should be-
The condition Of the brain during sleep,
he thought. was only a greater measure
81 the condition provoking sleep. sleep
was produced by diminution Of blood
in the brain. The Doctor cited several
cases 20 show that there was less blood in
the brain during sleep than during wake
fitness. One. reported by French sur
geon, was Of a young man who fell and
cut a fissure in his skull. The bone new
er grew together, but the scalp grew
over the wound, and lay directly upon
the brain, and when the young man
slept the scalp over the fissnrc sunk
down 10 a considerable extent. but when
he was awake the scalp remained even
and al times bulged out. DR.. Hammond
also explained series 81 experiments
which he had himself made with dogs.
and in which he had determined the
amount Of blood in the brain more ac-
curately by graduated instrument,
which he had inserted through the skull
upon the surface Of the brain. As the
brain enlarged or diminished the fluctu-
ations were registered, and there was
found 10 be great difference in the size
Of the brain during sleep and wakeful-
ness. .And nothing could have altered
the size Of the brain but the blood there
was in il, the Doctor said, $50 we have
il irrcfutably established that during
sleep there i less blood in the brain than
during wakefulness.
DR. Hammond also considered heat
and cold as an influence to sleep, and
discussed how 10 make people sleep who
through nervousness or some other ex-
traneous canse were not SO disposed.
He advised them 10 think Of some dis
agreeable thing. and had known Of
man who was invariably able TO get to
sleep by the simple device Of allowing
water 70 fall drop BY drop into attn pan.
The lecturer questioned also the accur-
acy Of common stories of extraordinary
THINKING lttrtnsr ula.,. Itttl, Enl...sI ~.