The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-09-25
Natural Sleep.

The most perfect anu TelTcSLiHSS--iH y
word, natural-sleep is that which COM
bines the whole series in such healthy
proportions as an orderly and active
life will establish, by a eOnstitutiOnally
equal distribution Of work, looking to
the comparative powers of the several
parts of the system, the opportunities
Tor rest, the food supply, and the meas
ure of strength each department OF the
mental and physical organism of the in
dividual enjoys. This wise adaptation
of work to the different energies, so that
each shall tighten the task and contrib
ute to the efficiency of the others, is a
duty to self which every step forward in
the march of intellect and the progress
of civilization seems to make it increas-
ingly difficult to discharge !" Tea
To sum up, sleep is rhythmical func-
ton of life. 1t is performed by the
nervous system either through single
center or by the several centers connect
ed with various parts or organs of the
body from the supreme cerebral GEN.
tiers which control the immediate APP
paratus of intentional thought to the
ganglia that regulate the work Of the
viscera. l believe the sympathetic sys-
tenn plays Il conspicuous part in the pro-
duction Of the phenomenon, and this is
why the due performances of the func-
tons is SO readily prevented as it is, by
disorderly action in almost any part of
the body, even when there is no sensa-
tion, of pain OF uneasiness at the seat of
the disturbance. Persons who do not
sleep we'll and regularly are peculiarly
liable to functional disorders; and, con-
versely, those who are subject
to the anomalous maladies and
SYMPTOMS too often set down to
fancy, but actually existing and
traeeable with care to some special
ganglion of the sympathetic system for
example, uneasiness in the spit of the
stomach" or aching pain in the lower
lumbar region Of the spine), are dis
turbed or disorderly sleepers. Sleep is
a nerve state, whether the part sleeping
be the brain, or certain parts of that
organ, the muscular system, or the
viscera.t The notifications which take
place in the vessels supplying the organ
or system that sleeps are the effects Or
instead of the causes Of its
.+
Habit greatly helps the performance
of the initial act; and the cultivation of
a habit of going to sleep in particular
way, at a particular time, will do more
to procure regular and healthy sleep
than any other artifice. The formation
of the habit is, i'm fact, the creation or !
of a special center or COM
in the nervous system, which
will henceforward produce sleep as a
rhythmical process rIfthis We're
more generally recognized, persons who
suffer from sleeplessness of the sort
which consists in being simply ''unable
to 60 to sleep" would set themselves
to form such habit. 1t is
necessary that the training should be
specific, and include attention to details.
1t i. not very important rhat person
does with the intention of going to sleep;
but he should do precisely the same
thing, in the same way, at the same
time, and under as nearly as possible
the same conditions, night after night |
for considerable period say, three or |
four weeks at least. The result will |
Position affects sleep. A constrained
Oh uncomfortable posture will often pre-
vent repose. Lying fiat on the back
with the limbs relaxed would, seem to /
secure the greatest amount of rest for |
the muscular system. This is the posi- I
ion assumed in the most exhausting dis
eases, and tits generally hailed as a token
9frevival when a patient voluntarily turns
On the side; but there are several dis
advantages in the supine posture which
mpare or embarrass sleep. Thus, in |
weakly states of the heart and blood
vessels, and in certain morbid conditions
IT the brain, the blood seems to gravitate
% the back of the head, and to produce
dreams. In persons who
1abitually, in their gait or work, stoop,
here is probably some distress conse-
luent on Strengthening the spine. Those
who have contracted chests, especially
persons who have had pleurisy and re-
ain adhesions of the lungs, do not sleep
veil on the back: Nearly all who are
Inclined to snore do so when in that
position, because the soft palate and
lvula hang on the tongue, and that or
,an falls back so as to partially close the
OPP of the windpipe. It is better, there
ore, to lie on the side, and in the absence
Il
# special chest-disease, rendering it
to lie on the weak side so as to
cave the healthy lung free to expand, it
s well TO choose the right side,s because
when the body is thus placed the food |
,ravitates more easily out of the stomach
INTO the intestines,, and the weight Of tile
liver does not compress the upper por-
ion of the intestines. A glance at any
'late of the visceral anatomy will show
low this must be. Many persons are
leaf in one ear, and prefer to lie on
particular side; but, if possible the right
ide should be chosen, and the body
oiled a little forward, 50 that any saliva
which may be secreted shall run easily
ut of the mouth, if not unconsciously
wallowed. Again, sleeping with the
rms thrown over the head is to be dep
ecated; but this position is often assum-
d during sleep, because the circulation
J then free IN the extremities and the
ead and neck, aud the muscles of the
hest are drawn up and fixed by the +
houlders, and thus the expansion of the
horax is easy: The chief objection to
his position are that il creates. a tend