The Dickinson press., 1899-06-10
MYSTERIES OF SLEEP
SOME QUEER WORKINGS. Of INA
TuRE's SOFT NURSE,

Instances Of slUmber Under Extraor-
binary Conditions - Why We Can
Awaken at . Set Time-How sleep
IL Ruled By Habit.
One Of the most remarkable facts to
be found in the history of sleep consists
in the utter inability to resist its onset
in cases Of extreme fatigue. Several re.
markable instances are given in which
persons have continued to walk onward
while sleep has overcome them. the au-
tomato centers of the brain evidently
controlling and stimulating the muscles
when consciousness itself had been
completely abrogated. 1t is recorded
that at the battle Of the Nile, amid the
roar of cannon and the fall of wreckage.
some of the overfatiyued boys serving
the guns with powder fell asleep on the
deck. DR.. Carpenter gives another in.
stance of allied kind. In the course of
the Burmese war the captain of a frig.
ate actively engaged in combat fell
asleep from sheer exhaustion and slept
souudly for two hours within a yard Of
one of the biggest guns. which was be.
ing actively worked during his slum.
bers.
It is a matter of common medical
knowledge that extreme exhaustion in
face Of the severest pain will induce
sleep. Here the imperative demand Of
the body-a demand implanted. as we
have seen. in the constitution of cur
frames-asserts its influence, and even
pain. the ordinary conqueror of rerose.
has in its turn to succumb. One of the
most extraordinary cases in which the
o%ver1uling power Of sleep was ever ex-
empliied was that of Dalniens. con
demned for treason in Paris in 1857
he was barbarously tortured. but re-
marked that the deprivation of sleep
had been the greatest torture Of all. 1t
was reported that he slept soundly even
in the short intervals which elapsed be-
tween his periods of torture.
Among the Chinese Il form Of punish
ment for crimes consists in keeping the
prisoner continually awake Of in arous-
ing him necessarily after short inter-
walls of repose. After the eighth day of
such sleeplessness n criminal besought
his captors to put him to death by any
means they could choose OF invent. so
great was his pain and torment due to
the absence Of natures soft nurse.
Persons engaged in mechanical labor.
such as attending a machine in a fac
tory, have often fallen asleep despite
the plain record of pains and penalties
attending such dereliction of duty. to
say nothing Of the sense of personal
danger which was plainly kept before
their eyes.
One Of the most interesting phases
connected with sleep is that in which a
determination. formed overnight. that
we should wake at a certain hour acts
true to the appointed time. In certain
instances with which l all acquainted
the idea acts perfectly. in others it acts
occasionally. and in other cases, again,
it fails completely. The explanation of
this habit depends on what one may
term a dominant idea" or an idee
fxe. as the French term it. There is
something akin in this waking notion
to the dominant idea" with which a
hypnotist may impress his facile sub
ject If we substitute for the hypnotist
the individual himself. or mayhap the
idea of the friend who has been i'm.
pressing upon him the necessity for
sounding the reveille at n given hour
in the morning. we can discern the ra-
tionale of the action with a fair degree
of clearness.
The dominant idea in the shape of
the necessity for awaking at a certain
time is impressed on the brain and is
probably transmitted to those automatic
or lower centers which rule our me.
chanical acts which are responsible for
the visions of the night and which are
capable of carrying out. either in the
entire absence of const .ousness or in the
exercise of a subconsciors condition.
many complex actions. Through the
hours of sleep the dominant idea re-
mains impressed on these lower centers
The head of the business sleeps on while
| the night Waterman is awake. and 30.
prompt to the time or shortly before o,
after it. the desired result is attained
and the slumbering brain is awakened
to the full measure of it's activity.
That sleep is ruled by the habits Of
the individual is extremely evident. An
instance is given in which a person who
had taken passage on board a varsity
was rudely awakened by the morning
gun. which startled him exceedingly
On succeeding mornings the gun woke
him at first sharply and then much
more quietly. until at length he slepi
on without being disturbed at all in hi
slumbers by the report. It is also nota
BILE that when a special habit of life ha'
become part and parcel of the dali.
routine sleep is liable to be disturbed
by even the slightest appeal which or
dinarily wakes the individual in tn
exercise Of his profession, while noise
of much more %grievous character fai
10 effect that result. The doctor wake
on the slightest agitation of his nigh
bell. while the click Of the needle awake
the tired telegraphist when a loud nois
might fail
Sir Edward Codrington was servin,
in the early days Of his naval expert
ences as signal lieutenant to Lord Hoo
at the battle Of Toulon. His duty wa
that of watching for and interpreting
the signals made by the lookout frig
ates, and in this capacity he RENAME
on deck for 10 or 10 hours out Of til
"a. Exhausted with the strain Of watch
ing, he went below to obtain sleep, an
reposed soundly. undisturbed by an
ordinary noise. Yet whenever a CON
rade lightly whispered in his a til
word ''signal" he at once awoke, read
for duty. The aus Of sleep is as yet
matter of scientific debate. In the pre-
ent state Of our knowledge there can /
no absolute certainty in the matter
1.-THE Ape Of Death. by Dr.. Andre
Wilson. F. R. 8. E., in Harper's Mag,
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