Morning journal and courier., 1882-01-25
The Woofng ofSlesP.

An endeavor to go to sleep is a mistake
 For example whenthe 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 hearing is not diminished, but, as it were restricted in its range and in its heightened sensibihty -as the vibratile capacity of musical reed may be raised by reducing the length of the fibre along which it's vibrations are propagat- ed Noises that would not previously have been noticed are perceived, and become sources of annoyance. This intensifying of the sensations in the attempt to go to sleep, of which most persons are conscious, is doubtless partly due to the quiet that pre- vails ia the house and bed-chRmber 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 full So it is with sight; when the eyelids are closed the innermental 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 phansasmagoria is a too familiar experience of the sleep-waiter. All the men, tai senses are in like manner stimulated 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 becomes loathsome. General sen sation may be so intensified that a rough thread in sheet, or a little stream of cold air finding it's way under the covsrlet, will occasion the most irritating experience. In short, the whole process 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 personally 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 resolution to disregard sounds, or to suppress sensations
 of any kind. The surroundings being pro- pitious and consonant 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 1t often happens that persons who cannot sleep in bed by night will drop off to sleep readily in a chair by day. It is the effort to sleep that keeps of slumber, and when there is no effort sleep comes naturally If the en- deavor to sleep Is made, as soon as it com mences expectancy begins. and paradoxical as it may seem, the consciousness is actually kept awake to watch for sleep This watch fulness, arising out of the eagerness of the desire for sleep and the intensity of the effort made to WOO 1t, throws the mind into state of tsnsiVe anticipation incompatible with somnolence. Then comes the period of rest less and irritated disappointment. in which the mind is so vexed, the brain so excited. and the organism. as a whole, thrown into such state of irritability that the best thing to do is to rise and take a bath, or wash from head to feet. with the double purpose of allaying the excitement and inducing 6 more peaceful mood by physical exercise.