The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-05-09
The Value Of Sleep.

1t is related that Chinese merchant,
having been convicted Of the murder of
his wife under peculiarly cruel circum-
stances, the Judges before whom he was
tried determined to punish him in such
manner as to inflict the utmost amount
of suffering, and at the same time strike
terror into the hearts of all who might
entertain the idea of following his exam
pile. He was accordingly condemned to
die by being deprived of sleep. The
prisoner was placed in confinement under
the care of three of the police guard, who
were ordered to relieve each other at
regular intervals, and were instructed to
supply the condemned man with full
allowance of food and drink, but were to
prevent him falling asleep night or day.
At first he congratulated himself on the
mildness of his punishment, and was
rather disposed to regard the whole mat
ter as joke. The excitement of his sit
uation tended to keep him awake, and
for day or two his guards had little to
do. By the third day he began to feel
very uncomfortable. His eyes were red,
his mouth parched, his skin dry and hot,
and his head ached. These symptoms
continued to increase in intensity, until,
at the commencement of the eighth day,
his suferings were so acute that he was
at times delirious. Tn his moments of
reason he begged the authorities to put
an end to his terrible torture. He i'm
plored them to grant him the blessed op-
portunity of being strang gled, guillotined,
burned at the stake, drowned, garfoted,
shot, quartered, blown up with gunpow.
der, cut into small pieces, or Killed in
any conceivable way their humanity or
ferocity might suggest. All was in vain,
however. His tormentofs coolly did
their work till there was ne occasion for
their interference, for, it lis said, period
was reached at which he could not have
slept even if let afcre. The brain was
feeding on the products of its own disin-
tegration, and sleep was impossible.
He was now entirely insane. 1
1t is faeS well known to the medical
profession that wakefulness is the most
,commoa cause of insanity. Illusions of
his sight and hearing were almost con-
stant and erroneous fancies filled his
thoughts. At one moment he fought his
guards with al the fury of a maniac; at
the next, he covered with terror at some
imaginary monster, and then relapsing
into calmness, would smile with delight
at some enchanting vision which fitted
through his mind. Finally, nature gave
away altogether. He lay upon the floor
OF his prison, breathing slowly and heav-
lily; stupor ensued, and, on the nine
teenth day, death released him from his
terrible suffcrings.
Repeated and prolonged vigils, while
depriving the body Of resi-, oVerexcite the
cerebral activity, augment that enormous
expense Of nervous energy made in the
work of thought, and keep up fuxion
of blood to the head. They thus pre-
vent repair of the waste force, or Mt least
oppose complete restoration of power.
Often indeed, the thinker, wearied,and
overcome, leaves his work to court sleep;
but sleep shuns him, the excited circula-
ton of the brIin continues, aud the
wished-for calm comes not. It is related
of the Able de Ia Caille, famous as
tronomer, that he invented Kind of
fork in which he adjusted his head, and
thus passed nights in observation of the
sky, without knowing any other enemies
than sleep and the clouds. He contrac-
ted in this way an inflammation of the
chest, which carried him off in a few
days, so exhausted was the system from
loss Of required sleep. 1t is said of the
painter Girodet, that he did not like to
work in the day time. Seized in the
middle of the night, or at an earlier or
later hour, with fever of inspiration,
he would rise, light lustres suspended in
his studio, set upon his head an enor:
nous hat covered with wax lights, and
then paint for whole hours. As might
be expected, few men had more wretched
constitutions or more dissipated health
than Girodet, and it is said toward the
end of his short life, his genius seemed
welded to q corpse.