Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-07-21
CONCERNING SLEEP.
Evil Result. Of the Modern Lack of Repo.e.

Prom the Providence Journal
A medical man of eminence believes
that he has discovered that WEAKNESS is
caused by what he calls " fatigue mate
RIAL" a 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 is not yet demonstrated,
but whether continued experiment
proves or disproves it, the Importance
of sleep as giving opportunity for the
repair Of wasted tissues, and winding up
the system for fresh work, can not be
overestimated. One great cause of the
superior health of our ancestors over the
men and women of to-day was that they
slept more There were other differ
the most important. That was a rare
occasion of pleasure, business, or neces-
sity that kept a young person, at least,
out of bed until midnight, and their ro-
bust forms and healthy color proved the
value of early hours and abundant rest.
Certainly they did not have so lively a
time as we do, did not crowd so much
excitement into given period, but as
they lived longer and had simplertastes
it seems probable that they got quite as
much out of life.
One meets on every hand tired-look-
ing young men whose faces evoke pity.
A hasty inference might be drawn from
the often repeated injunctions of health
critics not to overstudy or overwork,
that their wan faces
Are sieklied DER with the pale cast of
thought
but such is not often the case, nor
are many Of them suffering from
too great eXertions of muscles.
They are exhausted from lack of
sleep, that is all but it is a serious mat
ter, for giving themselves too little time
at night for ..tired natures sweet re-
storer" to repair damages, they are not
only spending each day the strength
gained at night, but drawing on their
capital. BY and by, when an emergen-
CIV comes, there is no reserved strength
TO meet it, and they become physically
bankrupt, involving those dependent
upon them in distress of one sort or an
other.
In mos: cases it is the unrestrained
love of amusement that causes this
wrong-doing. Exciting forms of pleas
ure which are protracted to and beyond
midnight are INDUCED in, not once or
twice month, but nightly, and irrepar-
able inroads are made upon the consti-
tuition, at period when the body is not
vet hardened for life's work, by too
great and constant excitement as well
as by insufficient sleep. Not only so,
but while the capacity for simple pleas
ures is smothered, so much indulgence
in mere amusement robs il of all zest
Young misanthropes, who have drained
their cups of life to the dregs, are not
infreqnent. They 90 to bed tired, rise
unrested, and go 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, INDUCING constantly their de-
sire for pleasure, they lose the power Of
self-restraint. ~ wish" rules them in
stead of ~ l ought" and instead of be-
ing 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 wont wear, the wont wear"
Young men are not the only sinners
ia respect 10 sleep. Schoolgirls study
at night-some of them-but their pale
cheeks are oftener caused by late novel
reading and entertaining company. Go
to bed at 9 O'Clock, Missy tip-tilts her
small nose in disdsin. She is not a
child she would have you to know, but
young lady, say Is wears, and knows
how to take care of herself. The one
thing that IA American mother is pro-
foundly ignorant Of is how either TO eN-