Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-02-15
WOOfug of Sleep,


An endeavor to go to sleep is a mistake
For example, when the will makes an effort
to dull the ear, the mental sense behind the
sense organ is thrown into a condition of
listening and tension. The power of hear
ing is not diminished, but, as il were, re-
stricted in its range and in its heightened SEN
sibility-as the vibratile capacity of mu-
steal reed may be raised by reducing the
length Of the fiber along which its vibrations
are propagated. Noises that would not pre-
viousiy have been noticed are perceived, and
become sources of annoyances. This intensi-
flying OF the sensations in the attempt 10 go to
sleep, of which most persons are conscious, is
doubtless partly due to the quiet that pre-
walls in the house and bed-chamber; but
there is also an increase of the susceptibility
Of the perceptive faculty, frequently to such
an extent that the ticking of a watch or the
tapping of an insect behind the wallpaper
will not only be heard, but be actually pain
ful. So it is with sight; when the eyelids
are closed the iuner-mentSl sense of vision
becomes increasingly acute, and the field of
sight is soon crowded with grotesque and
rapidly changing images. The worrying
effect of this phantasmagoria is too familiar
experience Of the sleep-waiter. All the
mental senses are in like manner stimu-
lated and their acuteness intensified
by the endeavor TO lower the sensibility
of the sense organs. The mental sense Of
smell may be rendered so keen that the
scarcely perceptible odor of bed-linen will
prove offensive. Taste may be so stimulated
that the natural moisture of the mouth be-
comes loathsome. General sensation may be
intensified that rough thread in a sheet,
or little stream of cold air finding Its way
under the coverlet will occasion the most ir-
ritating experience. In short, the whole pro-
cess of attempted sense-subduing is unnatural
and opposed to the dictates of reason. No
such effort ought to be made. External
quiet should be secured, if quiet be person
ally agreeable, and whether light or
darkness be preferable must depend
on the idiosyncrasy. No control ought
to be exercised over the senses. The eyelids
should not be closed, but allowed to droop
when weary. There should be no resolutions
to disregard sounds, or 10 suppress sensations
of any kind. The surroundings being pro-
pitious and eonsonant with the feelings" or,
still better, disregarded, mind and body
should be left to take their chance of sleep,
without the striving which, in truth, is the
principal cause of wakefulness. This is why
it often happens that persons who cannot
sleep in bed by night will drop off to sleep
readily in a chair by day. 1t is the effort to
sleep that keeps of slumber, and when there
is no effort sleep comes naturally.
If the endeavor to sleep is made,
as soon as it commences expectancy
begins, and, paradoxical as it may seem,
the consciousness is actually kept awake TO
watch for sleep! This watchfulness, arising
out of the eagerness of the desire for sleep
and the intensity of the effort made TO WOO
it, throws the mind into state OF tensive
anticipation incompatible with somnolence.
Then comes the period of restless and irri-
tated disappointment, in which the mind is
30 vexed, the brain so excited, and the
as whole, thrown into such
state OF irritability that the best thing 10 do
is to rise and take bath, or wash from head
to feet, with the double purpose OF allaying
the excitement and inducing a more peace
full mood by physical exercise.