The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-07-26
CONCERNING SLEEP.
Evil Results of the Modern Lack of Repo.e.

Evil Results of the Modern Lack of Reposc.
A medical man OF eminence believes
that he has discovered that weariness Ia
caused NY What hi calls Il fhiioiie i6Ateri
ial, substance formed in the blood by
the action of the muscles and nerves. and
which he alleges is only DESTROYED by
the oxygen of the blood during sleep.
This statement 10 not yet demonstrated,
but ,whethfr, ,eontDpej experiment
pr6vos or tlispfoves IL, The Importance
of sleep rs giving opportun .ty for the l., :
pair of wasted tissues, and winding nm
the system for fresh work, cannot be
overestimated. One great cause of the
superior health of our pattern ancestors
over the riieh and Women OF to-day was
that they slept mofe,. There were 6ther
differences III their favBr, hut this was
one OF the most IMPORTANT. Th6t was d
rare occasion of PLEASURE, business or
necessity that kept Il youtig petsoh; at
least, oiit Of bed ahtii h{idhight, and
their robust forms and healthy color
proved the value Of early hours and
abundant rest. Certainly they did not
have 80 lively time rs we do did not
crowd SO much excitement into given
period, but rs they lived longer and had
simpler testep, it seems probable that
they got duite as mueh out Of life.
One meets ON every hand tired looking
young men whose faces evoke pity, A
hh5ty iifefence might be drawn from the
oft-repeated injunetions of health critics
not to over-study or over-work, that
their wan faces
"Are sicklied DER with tho pale cast of
thought y
But such is not often the case, nor are
many of them suffering from too great
exertiot of MUSCLES. They are exhausted
ffoin lick Of sleep, HAT is ALL; but it is
a serious matter, for giving themselves
too little time at night for " tired
nature s sweet restoier" to repair dam
ages, they are not OILY spending each
day the strength gained at night, but
drawing on their capital. By-and-bye,
when IN emergency comes. there is no
reserved strength to meet it, and thgy
become physically bankrupt, involving
those dependent upon them in distress
of one sort or another
In most cases it is the unrestrained
love of amusement that causes this
wrong doing. Exciting forms of pleas
ure which are protraded to and beyond
midnight are indulged in, not once or
twice month, but nightly, and irrepara-
bic inroads are made upon the constitu-
ton, at period when the body Ia not
yet hardened for life's work, by too great
md constant excitement, as well as by
insufficient sleep. Not only so, but
while the capacity for simple pleasures
is smothered, SO mudh indulgence in
mere amusement robs it of all zest.
Young misanthropes who have drained
their cups of life to the dregs: are not in
frequent. They go to bed tired, rise
unrested, and 60 to their daily tasks
without interest. They conclude that
life doesn't pay, and they are right. 1t
does not pay them because they misuse
it. 1t has no sparkle, and they come to
their sere and yellow leaves before they
are fairly men. The worst feature of
all is, indulging constantly their desire
for pleasure they lose the power of
restraint. 81 wish rules them instead
of "1 ought" and instead of being
manly, self-denying, energetic, studious,
they are, as one of George Eliot's sharp
women says /: "Poor, squashy things.
The locke well anoof, but the woont
wear, the woont wear"
Young men are not the only sinners in
respect to sleep. School girls study at
night-some of them-but their pale
cheeks are oftener caused by late novel
reading and entertaining company. Go
to bed at nine o'clock! Missy tip-tilts
her small nose in disdain. She is not a
child, she would have you to know, but
a young lady of, say fifteen years.. and
one thing that an American mother is
usually profoundly ignorant of is how
either to exact or win obedi, nee from
her chits of girls. So the waste goes on.
Clergymen who spend Saturday night
over their sermons enter their pulpits
worn and dull on Sunday, and preach
people to sleep because they are them
selves half asleep in body and wholly SO
in spirit. They go on sea voyages and
European tours in search of lost health
which they would find at home if they
would sleep enough and at proper
hours.
The poor mothers and housekeepers
who are kept awake by restless children
and unfinished tasks have more of our
pity, but even they might manage better
than they do. Babies are sure to be ill
and restless if their mothers get over
tired. 1t is surprising to see how many
of the indispensable pieces of work may
be postponed if one will but think so.
81 might have done little more, 1"
wrote Faith Rachester once, "but L re-
membered that was the baby's mother,
and so went to bed" Sensible woman
and good mother! 1t is pitiful to think
how many nursing babies die of en-
broidery and ruffled skirts; of cake and
pies, and supertluous machine and
housework of all sorts. 1t is not put
down SO in the registry of deaths. They
call the trouble by various names
cholera infantum, marasmus, hydro
cephalus, etc.-but the recording angel
knows better, and, without mincing
matters, writes "Died of fatigue be-
cause its mother was ignorant, or
obstinate, or vain and silly" as the case
may be.
Thank Heaven it is no longer thought
an enyiable distinction in woman to
have delicate health. The time has
turned since the days that some of us can
remember, when the girl who tainted
easily was thought to be of little higher
order of beings than her more robust
companions. Health is becoming fash
ionable, but public sentiment will not
be entirely sound upon the question SO
long as the fact is not generally recog-
nized that to risk the health for present
personal qualification is worse than a
stupid blunder, it is sinful, and while
there is no little cultivation of the
ropr,1 canoa thof ,~oa,,lo ,,o,,xx ILL.