The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-23
EAT A GOOD SUPPER.
That is the True Way of Obtaining a Re-
freshing Sleep.

freshing Sleep.
Going to bed with well-filled stom-
ach is the essential prereq uisite of re-
freshing slumber The cautions so Of
ten reiterated in old medical journals
against late supperS were directed chiefly
to the bibulous habits of those early
times. When at very late feast the
guests not unseldom drank themselves
under the table, or needed strong assist
ance to reach their couch, the canon
against such indulgences was not I'M
timely. Nature and common sense
teach us that full stomach is essential
to quiet repose. Every man who has
found it difficult TO keep awake after
hearty dinner has answered the problem
for himself There are few animals
that can be trained to rest until after
they are fed.
Man, as he comes into the world, pre-
sents a condition it would be we'll for
him to follow in all his after-life. The
sweetest minstrel ever sent out of para
disc can not sing a newborn child to
sleep on an empty stomach. We have
known reckless nurses to give the little
ones a dose of paragoric or soothing
syrup in place of its cup of milk, when
it was too much trouble to get the latter,
but this is the one alternative. The
little stomach of the sleeping child, as
it becomes gradually empty, folds on
itself i'll plaits; two of these make it
restless; three will open its eyes, but by
careful soothing these may be closed
or fcr To-; IL =.
en-: there is no more sleep in that house
hold until that child has been fed. 1t
seems to us so strange that with this ex-
ample before their eyes full-grown men
are so slow to learn the lesson.
The farmer does it for his pig, who
would squeal all night if it were not fed
at the last moment, and the groom
knows that his horse will paw in his
stall until he has had his meal. But
when he wishes to sleep himself he
never seems to think of it. To sleep,
the fl,llness of the blood must leave the
head: to digest the eaten food the blood
must come to the stomach. Thus sleep
and digestion are natural allies; one
helps the other.
Man, by long practice, will train him
self to sleep on an empty stomach, but
it is more the sleep of exhaustion than
the sleep of refreshment. He wakes up
after such troubled sleep feeling ut
terly miserable until he has had a cup
of coffee or some other stimulant, and
he has so injured the tone of his stom-
ach that he has little appetite for break
fast. Whereas, one who allows himself
to sleep after a comfortable meal
aWakes strengthened, and his appetite
has been quickened by that preceding
indulgence.
The difficulty in recovery comes from
the fact that we are such creatures of
our habits it is impossible to break away
from them without persistent effort. In
this case the man who has eaten nothing
after six o'clock and retires at ten or
eleven takes to bed an empty stomach,
upon which the action of the gastric
juices makes him uncomfortable all the
night. If he proposes to try our expert
ment he will sit down and eat toler-
able hearty meal. He is unaccustomed
to this at that hour and has a sense of
discomfort with it. He may try it once
VI GNICC, VI tFCI lCuS6T, dIu Gu0U 0o
gives it up, satisfied that for him it is a
failure.
The true course is to begin with just
one Or two mouthfuls the last thing be-
fore going to bed. And this should be
light food, easily digested. No cake or
pastry should be tolerated. One mouth
full of cold roast beef, cold lamb cold
chicken, and a little crust of bread will
do to begin with, or what is better yet,
a spoonful or two of condensed milk,
mot the sWeetened that comes in cans)
in three times as much warm water
Into this cut half pared peach and two
or three little squares of bread, the
whole to be one-fOurth or one-siXth of
what would be light lunch.
Increase this very gradually, until at
the end of month or six weeks the
patient may indulge in a bowl of milk,
two peaches, with a half hard roll Or
crust of home made bread. When peaches
are gone take baked apples with the
milk till strawberries come, and eat the
latter until peaches return again. This
is the secret of our health and vitality.
We often work until after midnight, but
eating the comfortable meal is the last
thing we do every night of the year
This is not an untried experi ment or
one depending on the testimony of
single witness.-American Analyst.