The true northerner., 1878-02-22
winged-god somnus Is frequently appealed to

-
when he refuses to come.
DIR. Forbes Winslow says There is no symp-
tom, when viewed in relation to the health of
the brain and mind that requires more careful
and unremitting attention than that OF insom-
mia, or wakefulness. 1t Is one of the most con-
slant concomitants OF some types of incipient
brain disease, and, ia many cases. n certain
forerunner Of insanity. 1t is an admitted
axiom in medicine, that the brain cannot be in
healthy condition while state of sleepless-
ness exists. Sound, continuous, unbroken,
regular and uninterrupted sleep is essential to
the preservation of the mental and bodily
health. Any interference with this important
function, or state Of cerebral rest, seriously
damages the health of both body and mind.
In the premonitory stage Of some forms Of
acute insanity and OF delirium tremens
the patient il in constant state of sleepless-
ness by night and restlessness by day. His re-
pose at first is broken and disturbed. He
slumbers lightly and has only snatches OF
sleep. IL asleep, the slightest noise or rnffle Of
the bed clothes awakens him, and, when sud-
denly aroused, he looks like person ,ohose
eyes had neuer been closed in sleep. This is q
characteristic and significant symptom Of the
insomnia OF incipient insanity"
Sleeplessness is sometimes due to other
causes than disease, such as grief, mental
anxiety, etc. Persons have boen known to re-
main awake number Of days, or even weeks,
time. 1t is reported that Boerhave went with
out sleeping for six weeks. Paganini, the cele-
brated musician, rarely slept. Winslow says
he attended a patient who rarely closed her
eyes for ten consecutive minutes in a year.
The Chinese formerly punished criminals by
depriving them OF sleep, and the offenders
against the law stood the punishment from
eighteen to twenty-five days.
How long ought one to sleep? Sir Walter
Scott said he required seven hours sleep. Sir
Edward Coke used to say:
Six hours in sleep, in laws grave study six,
-Four spent in prayer, and the rest on nature fix.
Sir William Jones said
Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven;
Ten to the world allot and all TO heaven.
The ungallant old proverb has it Five hours
for a man, six for a woman, and seven for a
fool"
II we adopt the old saying "Early to bed
and early to rise" as our guide our sleep, es-
pecially in summer, will not amount to more
than seven hours. Milton says:
Midnight brought on the dusky hour
Friendliest to sleep and silence.
And in cities especially is it true that one does
not obtain much sleep before midnight.
must say that fully agree with the writer in
the London Times, who stated that the even
ing and early part of the night was the time to
enjoy oneself or to pursue ones favorite study.
If the former, everything isinit brightest dress
If the latter, the necessary quiet can readily be
obtained.
Thou hast been called, sleep the friend of woe
But tits the happy that have called thee so.
-Southey.
The afflicted and unhappy do not readily find
consolation in sleep Thoughts crowd upon
the mind, keeping them awake for hours while
they pray for sleep, the
Gentle thing
Beloved from pole to pole.
Sleep, that knits up the raveld sleeve of care,
The death of each days life, sore labor's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great natures second course,
Chief nourisher in iifes feast.
Shakespeare.
German physician maintained that sleep
was the natural state of man, and that to be
awake was to be in a state of disease. He
eventually slept himself into an apoplexy.
Sleep, after all that has been said. is TO a GER
tain extent mere matter Of habit. We can
even in these driving times accustom ourselves
to six hours sleep and thrive upon it, or we
can go to the other extreme and sleep eleven
or twelve hours. 1t has been said that an
hours sleep before midnight is worth two after
it. This Is only fable, and not grounded
upon truth. The morning hour compensates
for the two before midnight.
DREAMS
"Your old men shall dream dreams your
young men shall see visions"
o, 1 have passed miserable night
so full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That as am a Christian, faithful man,
would not spend another such night
Though 'twere to buy world of happy days;
So full of dismal terror was the time.
Richard III.
dream is confused or accidental combina-
ton of thoughts, or images, or both, which
come to the mind OF person in sleep. The
dreamer imagines he sees real things or trans
actions. "In Scripture, dreams were some
th
sons made by divine agency"
Having thus defined the word dream we
shall now consider the causes which produce
this confused assemblage of ideas and images.
Constant and laborious exercise of the mental
faculties is one great productive cause of
dreams, disease is another, and external i'm
pressions by far the most productive of all.
Persons in perfect health, free from all cares
and great troubles, do not as general rule
dream, unless, contrary TO their usual habits
they have eaten or drunk something, or smoked
an extra cigar before retiring, or unless some
external cause Is operating upon their senses.
1t Is fact that men to great extent can con-
troll their dreams. Newton and Condorcet
solved subtle problems in their dreams Cole
ridge composed the beautiful poem Of "Kubla
Khan" during sleep. The lover dreams of
his sweetheart, the miser of his gold, the sol
der Of home or Of battles, the lawyer of his
great murder case, ETC., and is IL not because
these things were deeply thought of Just before
sleep?
In disease the dreams vary according to the
part of the body affected and the severity of
the attack. In fevers the patient seems to
travel immense distances with great rapidity.
seeking in vain for some cooling stream or lev
cline. III gentle perspiration breaks out he
stops travelling and rests himself in a shady
spot by the side of some flowing rill, for his
thirst is gone. Epileptic patients dream of
being torn by wild beasts, attacked by murder
ers, falling from height. or OF being crushed
by falling stones. In indigestion the sufferer
dreams of being chained down, of being
walked over by a troop of men, or weighed
down by heavy load of some kind When
the stomach becomes empty the dream changes
and becomes Of pleasant character.
Dreams frequently precede an attack of
asthma. apoplexy epilepsy, paralysis or insan-
ity, and in such cases we cannot say the dream
causes the attack, but that the dream is a re-
snlt of the disease some change having al
ready taken place in the nervous system which
at present we are not able to explain-or why
should certain persons infallibly predict an at
tack OF asthma or epilepsy after dreaming of a
certain thing?
BY far the most productive cause of dreams
is external Impressions M. Giron de Buzer-
lnque, some years ago, made a series OF exper-
iments in order to determine what effect. if
any, external impressions had upon dreaming.
IL he left foot or arm exposed he invariably
dreamed Of travelling in cold country and Of