Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-09

Did our beloved never need
Our patient ministrstions,
Earth would grow cold and miss indeed
Its sweetest consultations.
If sorrow never claimed the heart,
And every wish were granted,
Patience would die and hope depart,
Life would be disenchanted.
INSOMNIA.
If may judge of the appeals for helr
which come to my notice, this trouble il
rapidly increasing in this country. q
cannot Sleep" says one; 'the doctor gives
me opiates and these are becoming inef
fective. shall die ere long if 1 cannot
obtain relief" I suppose the causes are
widely varied, but the effect in every case
is the same. A merchant of irrerroaeha-
BILE character and perfect habits writes
our family physician: "What will cure
sleeplessness? use no stimulants, am a
very moderate eater and never eat any
thing after o'clock in the evening. !
have consulted our physicians, but they
all give opiates, which L do not wish to
get into the habit of using" The doc
tors table was covered with letters of this
sort, although some of them were more in
tense in their tone and showed marked
excitement Of the whole nervous system.
The difficulty does not always come, as
most of the writer's seemed to believe,
from bodily ailment or infrmity. In
fact, the trouble at the outset is far more
frequently in the mind Mental restless
ness keeps the eyes from closing, and de-
nies to the body that repose it would
otherwise enjoy. 1t may not have its
origin in any serious trouble or great anx-
iety, but undue mental excitement grown
by indulgence until it becomes a fixed
habit difficult to overcome.
The idea that sleep is not coming at
once to the pillow will keep a man of a
fine nervous temperament tossing on his
bed for hours, when if he only thought he
were TO find rest as he lay down he would drop
into dreamland without any delay. This
mental activity is the first and most diff
cult thing 10 cure. When the nerves no
longer brace themselves against the COM
ing drowsiness the recovery is not far to
seek. Whatever tends to quicken thought,
to excite the emotions, to stir up the quiv-
ering brain to fresh activity, should there
fore be avoided. Novel-reading at night,
games of skill requiring study, or games
like whist, taking the attention and mem
ory, ought not to be INDUCED in during
the evening by those who find it difficult
to sleep Above all, the conscience should
be at rest We are not preaching SER
mon, but prescribing an antidote, when we
- that no thoughtful man who has in
las heart a controversy with his Maker
can
LIE DOWN TO CALM REPosE.
l have a friend who some years ago wrote
an essay on Eating and Sleeping" which
went the rounds of very many papers.
Two, at least, of his readers had it printed
in pamphlet form, at their own expense,
and one who had been greatly pro6ted by
it sent out 10000 copies for gratuitous
distribution. In that article the writer
showed, and think conclusively, that 60
ing to bed with well-filled stomach is the
essential prerequisite OF refreshing slum-
Der. The cautions so often reiterated in
old medical journals against "late suppers"
were directed chiefly to the bibulous habits
of those tiInes. When at every late feast
the guests not unfrequently drank them
selves under the table, or needed strong
assistance to reach their couch, the canon
against such indulgence was not untimely.
Nature and common sense teach us that
a full stomach IS essential to quiet repose.
Every man who has found it difficult to
keep awake after hearty dinner has an
swered the problem himself There are
few animals that can be trained TO rest be-
fore they are fed. Man, as he came into
the world, presents q condition it would be
well for him 10 follow all the days of his
life. The sweetest minstrel ever sent out
of Paradise cannot sing newborn child
to sleep on an empty stomach. We
have known reckless nurses to give the
little one a dose of paregoric soothing
syrup in place of its cup OF milk, when 1t
was too much trouble to get the latter, but
this is the one alternative. The little
stomach of the sleeping child, as it be-
comes empty, folds on itself in plaits; but
two of these make it restless; three of
these will open its eyes, but they by care
f1l soothing may be closed again; four
plaits. and the charm is broken; there is
no more sleep in that household until the
child has been fed. 1t seems to US so
strange that with this example before
their eyes full-grown men are SO
SLOW TO LEARN THE LESSON.
The farmer does it for his pigs, who would
soueal the whole night through if not fed
the last moment, aud the groom knows the
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
sleer. the fullness Of the blood must leave
the head; to digest the eaten food, the
blood must come to the stomach. Thus
sleep and food are natural allies-one must
help the other. Man, by long practice,
will train himself to sleep on an empty
stomach, but it is more the sleep of ex-
haustion than the sleep of refreshment.
He wakens up after such troubled sleep,
feeling utterly miserable until he has
taken cup of coffee or some other stImu-
liant. and he has so injured the tone Of his
stomach that he has little appetite for
breakfast. Whereas one who allows him.
self TO sleep after comfortable meal
awakens strengthened, and his appetite
has been quickened by the preceding IN
duloenee. The difficulty from recovery
comes from the fact that we are such
creatures TO our habits that it is impossible
to break away from them without persist
ent effort. In this case the man who has
eaten nothing after 6 o'clock and retires al
10 or IL, takes to his bed an empty
stomach. upon which the action of the gas,
trio iuices makes him uncomfortable all
night. If he proposes to try my expert
ment he will sit down and eat tolerably
hearty meal. He is unaccustomed to tins
at that hour, and has sense OF discom'
fort with it. He may try 1t once or twice
or even longer, and then he gives 1t up
satisfied that for him it is failure.
The true course is to begin with just
few mouthfuls Just before going to bed
And this should be light food easily dI'
gested. No cake nor pastry should oe
tolerated. One mouthful of cold roas'
beef. cold lamb, cold chicken, and little
crust of bread will do to begin with; or
what is better yet, spoonful or two O
condensed milk mot the sweetened thai
comes in cans) in three times as much
warm water. Into this cut little baked
apple and two or three squares OF bread
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