Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-10-17
miscellaneous.
yagaries OF Insomnia.
How PHYSICIANS ARE PUZZLED By
THE VAGARIEs OF SLEEPLEssNEss -
STRANGE VACCINATIONS.

How PHYSICIANS ARE PUZZLED BY
THE VAGARIEs OF SLEEPLEssNEss -
STRANGE VACCINATIONS.
ssOf all the puzzles which the medical
profession have to deal with, none are
more difficulty of solution than insomnia, :"
remarked physician. 1T is perpetual
puzzle to me, and in conversation with
others of my calling, find that they. too.
are unable to account for the vagaries OF
sleeplessness.
'What is there so puzZling about it p
.sWhy, Nature furnishes all the condl-
tons to induce sleep. not only in health.
but in sickness, in ninety-nine oue-hun-
dredths of the cases. and in the other case
we find that it does not do so. Sleep is
not only a natural condition, but neces-
sity, and vet the one case of sleeplessness
occurs in the one hundred. just think
how men adapt themselves to sleep in the
most unnatural and artificial conditions
sleeping by daytime instead of night !;
sleeping within two Yards of the clink Of
the hammer on the anvil; sleeping near
a steam forge, or even in the boiler max
ers' shops; by the clash and din of ma
chinery the shrill whistle of steam, and
sleeping with apparent restfulness until
the sounds stop, when they are awakened.
or serhaps awakened by an unusual sound,
much lower than the din which lulled
them to sleep. 1t is complete reversion
of nature in fact, when you think of it.
it seems as though no man could ever
suffer from insomnia.
1t is a prevailing idea that excessive
fatigue will induce sleep under these try
I III, h1ti ia tho
I'm too tired to Sleep" is the common
remark. and it is not untruthful. The
system is worked up to such condition
that the nerves must have a rest before
sleep will come, or before the tired man
will sleep quietly. had case OF night
Waterman who had been accustomed to
sleep in mill amidst the noisiest kind of
work. and after he changed his vocation
found it impossible to sleep. | treated
him with medicine that slightly affected
his hearing, and he complained that he
was too deaf to Sleep
another thing, when you realize that
the strongest may. in spite of his will, be
reduced to the blind helplessness of
slumber by the droning of bore, the
temperature. or many other minor things,
| it is still more mysterious to me how
slight thing will kill sleep, and work
measureless mischief to mind and body"
perhaps it is due to over excitement,
sorrow, or some trouble" suggested tie
reporter.
Nonsense exclaimed the doctor
That is the veriest nonsense. | have,
and no doubt you have, known a man to
sleep TRANQUILITY up to within an hour of
the time that he was hanged for murder.
A man who confessed that he murdered
his sister, slept quietly up to few hours
before he walked to the gallows. There
was trouble. excitement, and probably
remorse. all combined, and yet sleep was
not interrupted Men may sleep even
while waiting for their mother-in-law.
The eccentricities and whimsical fan
cies of those who suffer from wakefulness
defy all rule, and there is no such thing
as treating two cases alike. They would
be amusing if they were so dangerous to
the patient and so discouraging to the ply
sicians. Now Just think. There are many
who cannot sleep at all on the left side.
others can sleep only on that side; others
who must have their heads pointing to
certain points of the compass; cannot
sleep except on straw, or others who can
sleep on anything except straw; patients
who demand some kind of regular noise,
like the ticking of clock and who will
awaken as soon as the clock is stopped :;
some must have perfect silence to enable
them TO fall asleep. had patient who
could not sleep in room that was carpet
ed with anything except straw mating.
She thought she couldn't, but she does
now. That is a case of the imagination,
Lt,1,t hut hn Of hnn ,ot
There is another woman in Newark who
cannot sleep more than seven consecutive
nights in any room, and she appears to
have tried to overcome the matter but al
ways failed, and has given it up. The
eighth night would be passed rest
lessly, the ninth in stage verging on ny
steria, and so on, until, when have been
called, found her in condition too crit
teal to be amusing"
"Are women more subject to insomnia
than menP"
NO, nor is it confined to those physi-
cally or mentally weak among men. An
athlete assured me some time ago. that
after training for some important event,
he was frequently thrown into a state of
sleeplessness for several nights preceding
the trial of strength. He finally discov-
cred that he could sleep better II the closet
door was open wide. He asked me how
| could account for it. There is no way
to account tor it that | can see. One of
the judges of the New Jersey supreme
bench told me some time ago that he
could sleep better with piece of thread
tied tightly around the thumb of his right
hand, and thought that the trouble was due
in some way to physical trouble, 'proba-
bly, by writing so much have injured the
thumb he said. He believed that it was
! a certain cure for what he called might
fits, ut the same time he wanted me to
examine his thumb. There was nothing
the matter with it, of course.
81 cannot explain insomnia. but | am
convinced that it is form OF insanity
Maudsley declares that insomnia is a fire.
quent cause of insanity, and am inclined
to regard it as one of the most obscure of
mental diseases. There is no cure except
the absurd iancies of the people who are
affected, and who imagine that they have
found a cure. as some OF those | have
quoted Ne,cark On. J.) News.
! A Story Of Libby Prison.