The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1882-03-03

Supplying drug it will not sleep, no
matter how healthy it may be. Not
even an angel who learned the art of
minstrelsy in celestial choir can sing
baby TO sleep on an empty stomach
We use the oft-quoted illustration,
sleeping as sweetly as an infant" be-
cause this slumber of child follows i'm
mediately after its stomach is complete
ly filled with wholesome food. The sleep
which comes to adults long hours after
the partaking of food, and when the
stomach is nearly or quite empty, is not
after the type OF infantine repose. There
is all the difference in the world between
the sleep of refreshment and the sleep OF
exhaustion.
TO sleep well the blood that swells the
veins in the head during the busy hours
must flow back, leaving greatly dimin
| ished volume behind the brow that late
ly throbbed with such vehemence. To
digest well this blood is needed at the
stomach and nearer the fountains of life
1t is fact established beyond the posi-
bility of contradiction that sleep aids di-
gestlon, and the process of digestion is
conducive of refreshing sleep. 1t needs
no argument to convince us of this mu-
tual relation The drowsiness which al.
ways follows the well ordered meal is it.
self testimony of nature to this inter.
dependence.
The waste of human life by this lesson
is very great. The daily wear and tear
of the body might be restored more fully
than it usually is if this simple rule was
not so Systematically violated. Sleep is
wonderfully recuperative, but it may be
shorn of half its benefits by untavorabe
conditions Foul air in the chamber
leaves the sleeper almost exhausted in
the morning as when weary with the
days labors he sank upon his bed. A
gnawing stomach, empty of food, takes
out of the nightly sleep that refreshing
sense OF comfort which properly belongs
! to it. 1t leaves the blood to throb in the
/ heated brow, aud haunts the slumber
with an ever-present source of disquiet
1t is like the sleep which the mother
takes while her sick child is under the
care of watchers in another room. An
easy stomach is just like an aching heart
a healthy person who goes to bed on
full stomach will always awake in the
morning with better appetite for his
breakfast. If dinner is eaten in the
middle of the day and light supper is
served at six in the afternoon, hearty
lunch should be provided at ten in the
evening, or just before the hour of retir-
ing. The rule should be to eat at the
last moment before going to bed, what
ever the hour may be.
And this last meal should not be of
slight viands, as this phrase is common
ly understood The less person eats
at any time of cake or pie, or the count
less flummeries that go to make up a
fancy tea-tabe the better but none of
these should be eaten at bedtime. Cold
chicken, cold roast beef corned beef, or
wholesome meat of any kind, with well
baked bread and butter (sauce and pickle
will do no harm), will serve the substan-
tial requisites for this collation.. Milk is
perhaps best of all where the pure article
can be obtained 'Bordets Condensed"
will supply it in the best shape to our
taste, and if this is used, should be mixed
with warm or hot water, instead of cold,
eaten before it cools. With bread and
fruit (baked apples will serve when ber-
ries and peaches faiD this makes whole
some evening meal.
All persons should be cautious when
they reform their habits in this respect.
"A mouthful OF two each night at first is
all that should be attempted, gradually
increasing the quantity until the lunch
con becomes pretty substantial meal
If indigestion follows at any time, chew
ing the meat Of one or two peach pits
(for the prussic acid in them) after eating,
is better than sending for doctor.
With clear conscience and full stom
ach, any man in tolerable health may
derive from his nightly sleep that recup-
| Grafton which ought to come from this
sweet restorcr of lifes daily wear and
waste.