Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1884-11-22

ls small, anu When perfectly nileu, II
no sickness disturbs it, sleep follows
naturally and inevitably. AS digestion
goes on, the stomach begins to empty.
A single fold in it will make the little
sleeper restless; two will awaken it,,
and if it is hushed again to repose the
nap is short, and three folds put an end
to the slumber. Paregoric or other
narcotic may close its eyes again, but
without either food or some stupefying
drug it will not s'eep, no matter how
healthy it may be. Not even an angel
who learned the art of minstreIsy in a
celestial choir can sing q babe to sleep
on an empty stomach.
We use the oft-quoted illustration,
sleeping as sweetly as an infant" be-
cause the slumber of child follows
Immediately after its stomach is COM
p.etely filed with wholesome food.
Tnis sleep which comes to adults long
hours after partaking of food, aud
when the stomach is nearly or quite
empty, is not after the type of infantile
repose. There Is all the difference in
the world between the sleep of refresh
ment aud the sleep of exhaustion
TO s'eep well, the blood that swells
the veins in the head during our busy
hours must flow back, leaving great
ly diminished volume behind the brow
that lately throbbed with such yehe-
mence. To digest we'll, this blood is
needed at the stomach and near the
fountains Of life. 1t is fact establish
ed beyond the possibility of contradic-
ton that sleep aids digestion, and tina!
the process OF digestion is conducive
to refreshing sleep. 1t needs no argu-
ment 10 convince us of this mutual re-
lation. The drowsiness which always
follows q Well-ordered meal is itself a
testimony Of nature to this interdepen-
dence.
The waste of human life by the neg
lect of 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 systema-
tically violated. Sleep is wonderfully
recuperative, but it may be shorn of
half its benefits by untavorable condi-
tions. Foul air in the bedchamber
leaves the sleeper almost as exhausted
in the morning as when, weary with
the days labor, he sank upon the bed.
A gnawing stomach, empty Of food,
takes out of the nightly sleep that re-
freshing sense>of comfort which prop
erly belongs to it. 1t leaves the blood
to throb in the heated brow, and haunts
the sleep with an ever-present source
of disquiet. 1t is like the sleep which
the mother takes while her sick child ia
under the care of watchers in another
room. An uneasy stomach is just like
an aching heart in its effect upon the
nightly repose.
A healthy person who goes to bed on
q full stomach will always wake in the
morning with a better appetite for his
breakfast. If dinner is eaten In the
middle OF the day and light supper is
served at 6 in the afternoon hearty
luncheon should be provided at 10 in
the evening, or just before the hour of
retiring. The rule should be to eat at
the last moment before going to bed,
whatever that hour may be.
And this latest meal should not be of
'slight" viands, as this phrase is COM
monty understood. The less q person
eats al any time of cake or pie, or the
countless fummeries that go to make
up fancy tea-table, the better, but
none of these should be eaten at bed
time. Cold chicken. cold roast beef,
or wholesome meat of any kind, with
well-baked bread and butter (sauce and
pickle will do no harm) will serve the
substantial requisites for the collation..
Milk is perhaps the best of all where
the pure article can be obtained. "Bor-
Iam'a cOnGensedn W Ill supply it in the
best shape to suit our taste, and if this
is used it should be mixed with warm
or hot water, instead of cold, and eat
en- before it cooIs. With bread and
fruit (baked apples will serve when
berries and peaches faiD this makes a
very wholesome evening meal.
ALI persons should be very cautious
when they reform their habits in this
respect. A mouthful or two each night
at first is all that should be attempted,
gradually increasing the quantity until
luncheon becomes q pretty substantial
meal. If indigestion follows at any
time, chewing the meat of one or two
peach pits for the prussic acid in
them) after eating is better than send
ing for a doctor. With a clear con.
science and a full stomach, any man in
tolerable health may derive from his
nightly sleep that recuperation which
ought to come from this sweet restorer
of life's daily wear and waste.