The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-02-27
REMEDIES FOR INSOMNIA.
ADVICE FOR SUFFERERS FROM
SLEEPLESSNESS
Rlair PILLOWS TO DO Preferred 10
Feathers. - various Ncthoos VI
Cooling the brain.

When was q student, says writer IN
the New York Sun, | suffered much from
sleeplessness, and, after trying many .
remedies, l hit upon this one; / as
carded my feather pillow for one OF halr. /
The effect was wonderful. slept soundly /
the whole of the first night, and have |
never since, except when fcvcrlsh, been
so wakeful as l usually was before. Al
though feathers are excellent Tor prevent
ing the dispersion of the heat OF the
body, so much fault has been found with
feather beds that they have quite gcner-
ally gone out of use, and it is strange
that feather pillows have not been sent
after them. Feathers in pillows are open
to the same objections as feathers in beds,
and even their chief virtue, that oil keep
ING up high temperature, is defect
in pillow; certainly when
one half of the head is kept at
blood heat by being buried
in feathers and the other hall is exposed
to the air, both halves cannot be at the
most favorable temperature. n hair Pill
low does not get warmed up to an un-
comfortable degree. because 1t rapidly
conducts away the heat impaired to 1t by
the head. Since hair pillows are not yet
in common use, it might be supposed
that person accustomed to the use OF
one would either have to take 1t with
him every time he was to be away from
home for few nights, or suffer consul
cradle inconvenience. But fortunately
hair bosters are more common, and II the
pillow is thrown aside the bolster Will
raise the head probably as high as Is
good for the sleeper. II q halr bolster
is lacking, the end of the mattress may
|. o,,o,t,rl tp mako a
Portable head rest by putting the pillow
under it..
According to most, but not all, medi-
cal writer's, wakcfuness and mental ac-
tivity depend on the circulation of a
large quantity of blood through the
brain. and the flow of blood must be
lessened before sleep can come on. l
have obtained special benefit from
drawing the blood to the muscles by
means of a brisk walk or a quarter to
half an hours vigorous performance
of light gymnastics just before going to
bed. The majority of cases Of sleep
lessness occur among persons who use
their muscles but little, and for very
many taking more exercise is the best
remedy. Sleep can sometimes be
brought on by simply warming the body,
especially the feet; the drowslness
caused by sitting in warm room IS an
instance. The blood may be drawn to the
skin by cold shower or sponge bath,
followed by rubbing with coarse towel.
Getting out of bed for few minutes
when the air is cool will often bring re-
lief. | have lain awake half the night
and then, after being up long enough to
mix and drink a lemonade, have fallen
asleep at once on going back to bed.
Perhaps the lemonade should have part
of the credit. On hot summer nights a
cold bath will reduce the bodily temper
allure so as to admit Of sleep. If the
skin is not wiped quite dry, the eYapor-
ating moisture will incrsase the cooling
effect \ light lunch just before going
to bed relieves the brain by drawing the
blood to the stomach, and, the incliEa-
ton to dose after a meal is eXplainablC
in this way. Diminishing the cerebra
circulation by compression OF the carotlc
arteries is advised by some physicians.
Lying on the back with Il doubled pillow
placed against the back of the neck so a
to tip the head forward will effect this
and DR.. j. /. Corning has invented al
instrument in the form of collar for thu
same purpose.
In view of what has been said abOu
circulation of the blood, GOODNESS of thu
feet is a natural accompaniment o
secplessness, and one means OF cure may
be made to serve both ends. Bathing
the feet in hot water is such means
but after a few hours a reaction is liabl
to set in, which will send the blood fror
the feet to the head and cause tn
sleeper to awake. 1t is better to TAXI
advantage of the reaction which follow
a cold foot bath with vigorous rubbing
of the feet, both in the water and wit
the towel The stimulus thus given
the circulation in the feet will be NOR
permanent | have found walking ius
before bedtime beneficial, and when
do not wish to 90 outdoors | raise my
self sharply on my toes to the full stretc
fifty or more times. y paragraph ha
recently been in circulation to the ciieC
that continuous low noise fayors sleel
the sound of water dropping on a bras
pan has been prescribed by a physical
with good effect. The eXplanatic
seems to be that simple monotonol
impression quiets the brain |
occupying it to the exclusion of mo
varied and interesting, and thereto
stimulating, impressions. On the san
principle are the devices of countir
forward or backward imagining shet
Jumping one by one through gap, etc
but they are open to the objection
causing one portion of the brain to
eXerted in order to control the rest of
If the hygienic measures which ha
been described fail TO induce slice
probably some form of disease stands
the way, and physician should be el
ploved to discover and remove it. 5
porifc drugs should be regarded as
last resort, for, unless skilfully use
they produce a stupor rather than a
freshing sleep. DO not take a marco
or nostrum at random because somebo
says it is good to make you sleep; 0
narcotic is injurious where another
beneficial and the chances are that y
will choose one which will do you mC
harm than good.