Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-07-05

| that take hashish, the Indian hemp. soon go
raving mad. Even bromide of potassium de-
| stroys the stomach and Kidneys. IL it be posi-
ble it is better to suffer and trust to hvg;enic
building up of the system for relief; but if NOR
| phine must be taken. let the doses be small end
! let them be injected hypodermicaly The effect
| is greater and therefore the quantity required is
| less. Moreover, the stomach and digestion are
not so directly impaired.
But even SO, you must bid farewell to healthy
color In your cheek. frmnesS in your step. elias
tcity in your mental feelings, and that exuber
| ant enjoyment of ones own consciousness which
alone makes life worth living.
| Probably the most accurate as well as the most
| narrowing description ever given of insomnia is
| Suetonius account of the Roman Emperor Ca
| iigula: "ifcltd6Gt,u insomnia marine, he was
| tormented chiefly by nervous irritation from
sleeplessness; neQue enim Plus t5us ho,-is noe
| tta'niS gniesceJdt for lie was quiet only three
hours night; ne mas pl1cidd quiete. at pdUida
| mdis ret'ttn in,Hgtni5as. nor even these in IN
troubled rest. but fearful with portentous i'm
ages Of things; at gti inter ceteras gelag Qton-
dam specieHa coIoq:ehten Scum riere UisttS SIT
so that on one occasion he fancied he beheld the
sea. under some representation. conversing with
| himself. SuetOnus adds that from this inabili-
| ty to sleep. and from WEAKNESS of living awake
| the wretcned tyrant fell into the habit of wan
dcring all night long through the palace some
times throwing himself on q couch. sometimes
ranging listlessly through the vast corridors
invoking piteOusy and awaiting eagerly the
dawn of another day. Can any picture trans
cend this in horror. outside of a mad-house?
| Yet it might be written of many hundreds of
nervous sufferers every night in Brooklyn and
| New York.
REMEDIES THAT HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED. :.
Many remedies for this abject and pitiable con-
dition have been proposed by various philan-
thrOpic inventors, and the mention of few OF
them must conclude this article
We presume the reader is familiar with the
hop pillow which, it is alleged gave sleep and so
saved the life of the Prince of Wales. Hot water
for the feet cold water applied to the base of
the skull. warm bath. cold bath. and shower
bath, rubbing of the spine with rough towels,
etc, have all been strongly recommended
They are all harmless except the tepid BATH
which is too enervating to be salutary. A bath
for the whole body should be either as cold or as
hot as one can bear it, both extremes having
the same effect. Mesmeric passes made by
person of stronger will than our own are I'M
doubtedly effcacious with many persons. though
not with all. Tea and coffee late at night should
| be avoided. but milk promotes sleep if one can
| take it. If stimulant that should soothe while
it strengthens the nerves be needed, good
milk punch made with pure brandy or rum, is
the least Injurious.
OF mental remedies the repetition system is
the best, and we would suggest the Bible and
Shakespeare as supplying tranquiliZing passages
about sleep itself There is q soothing music in
the mere sound of such texts as these: "When
| thou lest down thou shalt not be afraid: YEA
| thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet"
| Il will lay me down in peace and sleep for it is
Thou only that malest me to dwell in safety"
a little sleep. little slumber, a little folding
of the hands to sleep" The sleep Of the labor
ing man is sweet" MAN goeth forth to his
work and to his labor until the evening"" THE
maiden is not dead, but sleepcth." Our friend
Lazarus slecpeth: and go that may awaken
| him out of sleep" Awake thou that sleepest
and arise from the dead and Christ shall give
thee light" In the first epistle to the Thessa-
lonians. written by Paul at Athens. and which is
| the first in date of all his letters. ne reminds
them that Christ died for us. that whether we
wake or sleep we should live together with
! him" The thought of divine protection is al
ways comforting. kebe has well applied it in
| his Evening Hymn, as good Bishop Ken had
done before him. and Mr. Lyle did after him.
and the simple. trusting disciples of Galiiee had
done before any of them. when they cried to
Jesus: abide with lis. for it is toward evening
and the day is far spent" The train of thought
| suggested by such passages and the memory Of
their context will be quoting: Our own sorrows
and experiences will be toned down into pen
Siye shade by the words and thoughts so beau
| tiful; and though. like Peter we may often be
sleeping between two soldiers. bound with
| two chains. on either side Of our tired brain
and aching heart some stern disaster or dire
| misfortune real or imaginary, keeping sentry,
and the inmOst thoughts being fast bound in
misery and irOn,s yet thoughts like those sug |
| gested by these texts which occur to Us I'M |
sought for may be as the angel of deliverance to
| unlock the mental prison house strike of the |
chains and shed light upon our darkness.
Next to the best of books forreef in the long |
nights of silence and unrest is Shakespeare I'VE |
are such stuff as dreams are made Of and our |
little life is rounded by Sleep" and we should |
make great allowance for the nervous irritable |
| lty OF the SlecplesS. whose natures are made |
angular and Jagged 10y not being thus rounded" |
by the great recreatiye balm of tired and |
wounded spirits Weread much about sleep in |
Macbeth" The power Of guilty conscience |
to murder sleep is almost as terrible the |
Chinese mode of Furnishing criminals by keeping |
them constantly awake. the torture being APP |
piled whenever they dose off. On the ether |
hand, there is much about sleep in Shakespeare
that is helpful to it; as. 'I'll pray and then I'll |
Seep," in king Lear" latter lifes titful fever,
he sleeps WE'LL thus to dream. still let me |
sleep" i'll the Tempest" and a hundred other |
passages which any one can remember for him
self. Indeed. all the greater poets. as Homer,
virgil. Milton. have tine descriptions and eulo
gies OF sleep. as well as Shakespeare.
GARDENERS WILL. POWER REMEDY.
An amiable and ingenious gentleman named |
Gardner. ROW some years dead, was thrown out |
of a chase, and had his spine severely injured
He suffered terribly from want of sleep, until he |
discovered his ''volition" remedy and acquired |
the name of 'the hypnologst." Among those
who tried his method and found it efficacious
were the late Prince Albert. husband OF Queen
Victoria: Sir FoWell Buxton Sheridan Knowles;
Mr.. Dodd of the London Times; Sir w. S. r.
t0ckOurn; Sir j. Z. Anderson, Sir j. h. Al2Xan-
der. DIS Hurst, Little Balbilne ofmedicine Dr.
Bryce. of law; Mr.. Stephens, author. and sew
era other telligentWitnesses. Others have tried
it to no purpose. 1t can do no harm and is very
simple The patient is to turn on his right side
place his head on the pillow so that it exactly oc-
cupie5 the angle line drawn from the head to
the shoulder would form. and then slightly clos
ing his lips take full inspiration, breathing as
much as possible through the nostrils. He must
then depict TO himself that he sees the breath
passing from his nostrils in continuous stream,
and the very instant that he brings his mind to
conceive this apart from all other ideas. con-
seriousness and memory will depart. For"
says Gardner, 1.-The instant the mind is brought
to contemplation of a single sensation. the
censorum abdicates the throne and the hypnotic
faculty sleeps it in oblivion"
COLLECTING FLOWERS.
Practical Suggestions fer Young People
who are Studying botany.