Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-12-15
A TALK ABOUT SLEEP
A DOCTOR oveRTHRoWs AN OLD
THEORY AND ExPoUNDSANEWO ONE.
Intellectual Activity as 1t Affects tho
Need of sieep-Nsps After Meals Arc
Declared Not to BE the ThinE-Condi-
tlons When Nerve Cells Shut Up.

tions when Nerve Cells Shut Up.
"But Ican't sleep " insisted the patient.
"That's nothin>." repeated the doctor
"Nothingl Why, l stay awake all
night"
NO. you don't" rcjoincd the doctor.
"You stay awake part OF the time and
dream suinc more of the time that you ~
awake, and bctimcs YOU sleep spundly.
We'll, you can put it that way il you
want to What I'm afi,r l. something
thatll make me sleep instead Of lying
awake and will keep me from dramius
that I'm awake
"You'rc going too fast. ' said the doc
tor. In the first place. low d1 you know
that you need to sleep any more than YOU
do: Lots of people sleep too much for their
own coed
I've been accustomed to my seven
straight hours all my life. and | don't
know why | should cut down the allow
ancc now.
some people rctortcd the doctor,
"comc in here and say they We been accus-
toned to their three square meals n Gay
ali their lives, and they don't >cc why they
should have dyspepsia now There arr n
lot of possible dangers about too much
sleep in the way ot causing certain all
mcnts, to say nothing of the wear and tear
Of the nerves brought about 10y trying TO
force yourself to sleep more than your ma
ture says. Just because you VI heard that
the normal man spends a third of his life
in bed. Why, don't you know that the
higher the intellectual rank the less sleep
a man requires? Goethe and Humboldt
got along with two or three hours of sleep
n day. Napoleon needed only four or five
hours, and Kant scoldcd his pupils for ex-
cecding that limit Now, you re i~ntellcc-
tual."
And a victim of insomnia" added the
patient
when you're growing old. " continued
the doctor, you may know that your in
tellect is all right and your powers are
unimpaircd so long as you stay awake. Its
only when you feel a constant need Of
sleep that the decay of the mental facul-
tics has set in"
Then maybe I'm growing young,
said the patient. II used to take a nap
after dinner, and now l don't even do
that"
"A good thing for you" snid the doc
tor. You oughtnt to sleep after meals"
How about the famous siesta OF Latin
. Countries"
"It's all wrong. n doctors wait long
3 enough. n case is pretty sure To come along
that will tell them what they want TO
know. 1t would. of course. he easier 70
cut people up and find out the things We
want to snow rs the questions arise, hut
there arc objections 10 doing that, and 50
we have to wait until good fortune Injuries
, somebody in the right way 80 it hap
pened that once a man had his stomach
cut open 10y an accident, and his doctor
made use of him. The doctor learned
{ among other things that the procc>> OF
l digestion Became weaker while che man
: was asleep. The moral is that it isn't well
to sleep after meals Some people feel the
Q need of a nap after eating. That is be-
cause their digestive apparatus isn't in
good working order or because they arc
L gluttons In either case blood needed else
I where is drawn to the stomach and the
4 brain is impoverished That's why SER
penis and certain other animals 30 to
4 sleep after ~gorging themselves"
n THAT may be all right about the other
: man, persisted the patient, but in my
II case il Is different don't sleep now ha-
j. cause I've had n lot of care on my mind. "
| Maybe that the reason AMI maybe it
isn't" replied the doctor. Ca works
Is both ways Toward the end OF his carer
Napoleon sometimes could scarcely keep
awake at critical moments in the midst OF
u battle They said it was his liver, but il
wasn't The same phenomenon was oh
: served amoss the ancicntS \ passage
was called 10 my attention only the other
!, day from Nontaigne 5 essay on sleep lilo
describes the suicide of the Emperor Ohio
l After having made all arrangements for
r killing himself he was 50 overcome by
j drowsincss that he fell asleep and Soon
T. was snoring In The same way, Cation,
when about 10 make away with himself,
p was overcome by sleep, and once the Em-
-a- 80 - ,aMA1
/, battle, could hardly keep himself awake
b long enough to give orders
= Al that Is very interesting, said tho
j patient But what has all that to DO
u with my easel
= Everything in the world, answered
|, the doctor II we only knew what sleep
IL was, | might do something for You that
would remedy the evil i'll adircct manner.
y, but unfortunately We don't WeN nOt
4 even sure that VT n anywhere near know
4 ing, but We think we are Do you know
=. what the latest theory Of sleep Is. OF
course YOU don't Its only about two
years old. and il isn't yet in a condition
Tor popular consumption Ii is too COM
pllcatcd for me 10 explain 10 YOU There
ct are too many technicaliIies anu provisional
HYPOTHESIS and other involved things about
l. it But the genera idea of II Is simple
j., enough You know there are such things
~ nerve cells, don't you. We'll, We uSSi
To suppose that they were continuous aud
=. formed u permanent line OF cOmmUnica-
M ton for ideas To pass over. Now we lind.
# or at least we think We find. that they are
only contiguous; that they connect one
/, with another by means OF prulongations,
M Sometimes they contract ana draw in
.r their prolongations, and then they an as
much shut uf and isolated rs a medi4yal
~ baron used TO he in his castle when he
raised the drawbridSe or as two cities arr
n, nowadays when n blizzard comes along
IN and blows down the telegraph wins Tha;
Is sleep Sometimes IA few OF the nerve
~, cells rcmain connected anu exchange
y, ideas That is what dreams are When
II. you ne awake, they re all connected, and
as you 90 10 sleep they contract and shut
J. of the current Pretty theory, isn't III
n Well. in your case, say, something's wrong
+, that prevents the cells or some of them,
II, from contrasting and keeps them excited
So the thing to do is To try to sOothe them,
N, and that's what I've becn trying 10 do
m Don't worry about going 10 sleep and
:, maybe In time the balky cells will gct
-, Gained down and will contract and thcr
m youm get all the sleep you ne entitled TO
70 Try soothing them And l suppose yor
IN, expect me 10 give you a prescription be
y, hides all this good advice and wiSdomI"
ss Il believe it's customary" said the pa
mn ient-New York Sun