Richmond daily palladium., 1900-11-24
THE AFTER DINNER NAP.
Custom. Ras~d on sound Hygienic
Princi pies

Principles.
One Of the institutions institutions
is a good, al purpose word that should
be revived. u2a atained and. where
necessary. established in the world is
the after dinner nap. In a savage or
nonciviIizcl state OF society man sleeps
when he i sleepy aud eats when he is
hungry. As he becomes enlightened
and artificial he limits and defines him
self in such matters He divides the
days into mealtilne and defers sleep
until work Is done and all the places
are closed up. His health is supposed
TO he preserved by his eating ut this
hour and that and his sleeping at the
other II Is worthy Of remark that.
with all this regulation, insomnia and
indigestion are diseases of civilization
Since the era Of regulation began the
most natural ard sensible rule, and at
one time almost universal in this coun
try, is that dividing the hours OF day
bv three meals called respectively
breakfast dinner and supper. the first
soon after rising in the morning. the
second AZ noon and the third in the
evening. Breakfast naturally follows
sleep, dinner is the heaviest meal and
comes after Il half days toll 10 repair
DANA ges and fortify for another half
day. aud supper comes when. in the
evening in more ways than one. the
swallows homeward ny and is the so
cial meal of the day. This is the old
and proper order. which has been deSi-
ated from of late years by placing
luncheon al midday aud postpOning
IL i. Il I.sr n
for which no such philosophical rea
sons can be given as for the old plan.
When the world was older than 1t Is
now and more lciSurely and less bent
on driving itself into paralysis. loco
motor ataXia. paresis. hypochondria.
dyspepsia. softening OF the brain and
insanity in the original plan OF life the
dinner the midday meal. was followed
by a sleep. commonly called nap.
Natures gentle hint TO sleep was fol-
lowed and from this the sleeper arose
strengthened and refreshed to complete
the labors of the day. The custom was
found among the larger and important
1uadruredS and there are traces OF it
in the Oldest historical records.
In warm countries and among Latin
people the midday sleep has never be- II
broken in upon. All the Spanish peo-
pie and their derivations call il the
siesta 1t Is observed in all their coun-
tries with more faithfulness than any
of the articles of religion. After the
family dinner. at which all eat. all
sleep The merchant shuts up his
store the lawyer his office the gambler
lays down his hand. whatever il is. and
all lay them down 10 sleep. This is
generally regarded. even 10y the north
ern people. as a good thing in hot
country and for the dark people. 1t
may be added further that the siesta
In any country where the sun shines
and for any people Is a good thing.
The sleep allowance which the most
highly enlight. ned people crowd in-o
the night alone is frequently few
hours, and that is not enough. 1t is not
the allowance suggested by nature and
must be increased. II is full of devils
of blue and other tints and nightmares.
and tires rather than refreshes. The
sleep proposed by old fashioned na
ture after a good dinner was the real
thing and should never have been
abandoned. 1t helped tired nature in a
good time and pieced out, as ii were,
the night.
AS men and women grow old and are
excused from active toll and are e
manded to the summer perch or win
ter fireside, it is noticed that they
slumber in their chairs even in broad
day. 1t is the voice of Mother Ma
ture saying to them. sleep, old
friends, sleep on. and take the rest
you should have taken long aSo-"
When tho world has wiser grown,
less furiously energetic, less morbidly
avaricious, less painfully and fantas-
tically Industrious. less intent on sue
cess or the madhouse. 1t may be that
it will return TO the older and simpler
ways and the MONDAY sleep. Ameri-
cans may learn its value and necessity
in their wide tropical possessions, and
sunstroke. now great America n
speciality. will be known no more
Kansas City Star.