The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-04-23
In MOman'S World.

A mine of information concerning vari-
GUS prescribed for victims OF
insomnia is contained In a new scientinc
work by Marie de Menaceine, a Russian
woman. who has consulted hundreds OF
the highest authorities on the subject, and
who has made many original experiments,
says the st. Louis "Globe-Democrat
Her work has just been translated lnto
English. The first copy to reach Washing
ton was received at the library of the
surgeon-Gen eral of the army two days
ago.
Cold water bags applied to h forehead
and hot ones to the back of the neck are
recommended to produce sleep. since by
their means the blood is driven from the
brain. Hot baths Increase the size OF the
blood vessels of the skin and produce the
same effect. Another method OF freeing
the brain and causing sleep-one winch
will be found acceptable to every one-is
the eating of a light supper just before re-
firing. The blood in this case is sent from
the brain to the stomach, where 1t IS
needed in digestion.
Experiments prove hat monotony is an
effective source of fatigue to- the brain.
AbtCl 6 oPPSct
drag off its blood when fatigued to a NOR
NAL degree. Almost every one has tried
the experiment of counting himself to
sleep. Men have been readily put to sleep
bv being made to heal water drop con-
stantly. A watch ticking under the pillow
will produce the same result until one
becomes so accustomed to its monotony
that it is no longer heard. According to
the Russian authority, old-time e mobiles OF
her country were put to sleep by their
servants, commanded to scratch their heels
until lapse of. consciousness occurred. me
lullaby of the American mother produces
sleep because of its monotony. A Papago
Indian recently told the writer that the
native doctors among his people sit at the
| bedside of the sick and sing monotonous
chants. repeated over and over through
out the whole night. No additional treat
ment, beyond %conjuring. is applied. Many
| patients are doubtless cured, the My vir-
| tue of the treatment being the relief OF
pain and the nourishment of the system
by sleep produced by monotony. Repeated
rocking produces sleep, as does repeated
rushing of the hair. Corean mothers put
their infants to sleep by scratching them
monotonously upon their abdomens. Span
ish mothers accomplish the same result
by continuously stroking the spines OF
| their infants. In the last two cases sleep
is produced not only by the monotony,
but by the attraction of the blood to the
body by the stimulus Of touch.
The m~anipulations of the hypnotist tend
to fatigue the mine through monotony.
The writer has seen subjects hypnotlzed
| while counting their breaths, Hypnotlc
/ sleep, however, like sleep produced py
narcotics and anaesthetics, Injuries rather
than refreshes the mind as a rule Surfer
| ers from insomnia hould never court
sleep in a lighted room. Experiments
| show that light falling on the eyelids
| causes a rush Of blood to the brain. The
head should not be kept to low lest gray
| ity produce the same result.
Insomnia is found to be characteristic
of persons who blush, laugh, or weep read
lily, and whose pulse is apt to quicken upon
the slightest p~rovocation. Loss of sleep
most frequently results from overwork
of either mind or body. Overstrain of
either kind dilates the blood vessels of the
brain and eventually ~paralyzes them. Elk
treme cold produces the same result. Elk
| DeIlIneIIS diSO SIOn tlio
emotions causes rush of blood to the
brain and sleeplessness, If occurring near
bedtime.
There is an interesting theory that we
require sleep in proportion to the scarcity
of red ~corpuscles in our blood. Ali people
therefore. do not correspond in their need
of sleep. Many authorities agree that the
/ degree to which sleep is needed depends
upon the strength of consciousness Chill
dren, savages and idiots readily fall
| asleep because their consciousness is ILL
developed, and therefore readily f~atigued.
Prisons of strong will power and marked
individuality require relatively little sleep.
It is difficult to over fatigue their con-
sciousness.
Young infants are found to demand sleep
the majority of the hours of the day,
those up to six weeks Of age requiring
twenty hours, the time being gradually
decreased to from ten to eight hour until
the age of puberty. During the age of
puberty more sleep is required. After
puberty from nine to seven hours are nee
essary. After complete gowth from eight
to six, even less, until feebleness begins,
when the sleeping hours should gradually
increase. With increased intellectual
growth, however. insomnia naturally in
creases, even during old age.
Too much sleep is thought to be harm
full by some authorities. Since conscious
ness requires waking hours for develop
ment, too much sleep will rob it of its
education During sleep a man grows like
a vegetable. but his mind gets no exer-
else, which its development demands,
| Were a child to sleep twenty hours a day
until ten years old he would doubtless
have a feeble mind. Children who sleep
| too much are found upon Investigation
to be fatter thaS those who sleep at a
normal rate, but their intellects are duller
and their muscles weaker. Insomnia, on
the other hand, is always a dangerous
| symptom in children.
Oversleeping, as well as insomnia, is
treated of at length by the Russian au-
tnority. According to her, oversleeping
people should live In well-lighted rooms.
take cold baths and massage, indulge in
amusements and mingle in agreeable So
ciety.s Erasmus Darwin is said to have
I'D difficulty in keeping awake while
riding horseback. Whenever he felt him
self growing sleepy he thought of some
thing which irrftated him.. He then be-
came awakened, because the emotion
! caused a rush OF blood to his brain, ac-
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