The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-17

Sleep, best friend of human fraliity, Is
q debt to nature that must be paid on the
lnstallment plan, regularly and IN fud.
otherwise the laws of nature will execute
speedy judgment. Everyone. of course.
knows that we must sleep or die; but
Jew realize how much sleep is required TO
maintain health. Sleep is generous
thief: he gives to vigor what he takes
from time 1t is, therefore. unWlse co
steal time from the still watches Of the
night for the lamp of life burns as
brightly and wastes as quickly as the
midnight oil.
Eight hours for sleep, eight hours for
work, eight hours for play-so runs the
sands of life away said our forefathers;
but we. with the greed of our day, Iob
ahe body of its dues, and though we have
the same number of hours in a day, we
use more of them in business and pleas
ure of exhaustive character and, by turn
ing night into day. imagine we gam tme.
but in reality squander our vital capltal.
principal and interest. early to bed ana
early to rise may make man healths.
wealthy and wise" but late to bed ana
early to rise will sap our vigor and
shorten our lives. If you must sit UP late.
stay abed long enough in the morning to
make up seven or eight hours of sleep
ct least. Students and others who work
late and rise early, thinking to get ahead
of their fellow workers, too often ma
their error too late, and pay the penalty
while their more sensible and moderate
competitors distance then in the race, pc
cause while they may not absorb so
much learning and skill, they have
greater mental and bodily v1gor TO utliize
what they do acquire.
Unfortunately sleep is no servant OF the
will it has caprices of its own; when
courted most, it fingers still; when most
pLrsued tits swiftly gone. Fatigue is
fine best pillow. When tired with vain
rotation of the day, sleep winds us up for
the succeeding day. Sleeplessness, on the
other hand, snaps the spring, and stops
the clock.
How many insomniacs have repeated
King Henry's wall, 20 sleep, o gentle
sleep. Natures sweet, soft nurse. how
have I frightened thee. that thou no
more wilt weigh my eyeiids down, and
steen my senses in forgetfulness?" They
have Wooed sleep with all the arts of
lover and yet have not won single
smile. What shall they do to be COM
forted?
First remove the cause. Perhaps it is
the result of fntemperance in eating or
drinking-then be temperate Perhaps 1t
is due to the excessive use of strong tea
or coffee-then take less Of it. and that
weak or better none at all. Perhaps 1t
Is the result Of brain worry-then don't
worry Throw off care with your clothes
and go to bed with an empty mind and
g. quiet conscience, and when in bed stay
there. Don't imagine, if you can't sleep
at once, that you can gain time by get
ting up and reading or writing, because
that Is mistake. Except in rare cases
you only excite wakefuIness. Close the
eyelids and compose the body, and If
only partial sleep follows the rest is
beneficial. Dismiss active thought, and
think, or rather muse on rhythmlcal Sc
quences. Try to draw 100 long breaths,
and nine to ten you will be asleep be-
fore you take twenty-five; but if you do
succeed in gett,rg a hundred try count
ing to a thousand by single numbers
one at a time, OF repeat doggerel and
make it as nonseosical as you can, or
say the alphabet backwards. and after
awhile sleep will coma.
Prepare yourself for sleep. Eat some
thing light before you retire-a cracker,
or roll, sip of sugar and water. or a
glass of milk. This areuses slight ac-
ton of the stomach, and in accordance
with physiological law the blood flows
to those organs which are in action.
This causes a flow of blood from the
head ard depletes the bra.n--a necessary
factor in sleep if We accept the modern
theory that the brain is nearly, if not
quite, bloodless during sleep.
On the other hand, brain work will
cause a flow Of blood to the brain, and
therefore drive away sleep. Consequent
ly active brain work should not be CON
t1nued up to the time of going to bed,
but should cease early in the evening,
or better, should not be INDUCED in at
all at night
A half-reclnging position will some
times induce sleep, when completely
horizontal position would not gravtation
tending to relieve the brain of excessive
blood pressure Exercise, in moderation,
proportional to ones strength, is a good
promoter of sleep. A walk in the open
air Is the best but a few minutes at the
dumb bells or some similar light gymnas-
tics will often suffice. The secret of OBJ
tanning sleep in this way is to get a little
tired, but actual exhaustion will have
an opposite effect.
Drugs are a last resort, and should
never be INDUCED in until the case is
desperate. OF these bromide of sodium
is the least harmful, and is really without
marked danger in reasonable doses. 1t
may be taken in doses of from twenty
to thirty or more grains. in a little cold
water. a short time before going 60 bed.
1t is also an excellent remedy to allay
that unpleasant nervous tension to which
all are subject at some time or other from
overwork or worry It's quoting proper
ties are remarkable, and it leaves no aft
er effect, neither does it induce injurious
habits, so 1t may be continued indefinite
ly without bad results. IL is a drug that
should be- in every household. Stronger
drugs should be used cautiously, and
then only in extreme cases, where Sleep
1essness is a symptom of disease or
threatens health. Such drugs are hydrate
OF choral, dose fifteen grains, especially
dangerous where there is heart disease
or tendency thereto; laudanum, dose ten
drops, or solution of morphine in tea
spoonful doses; beliadonna, dose one drop
of the fluid extract; hyoscyamus, dose
five drops of the fluid extract; stramoni-
UNI, dose one drop of the fluid extract;
cannabis indica, dose one drop of the
fluid extract Chloroform, by inhalation
and similar anaesthetics are mentioned
only to call attention to their danger in
single doses and the possibility of estab-
fishing habit worse than the disease.
The same is true of alcoholic liquors
and even beer. a common expedient to
irduce Sleep is dangerous in the end.
All such remedies should be used only
by the advice of a physician.
Lacticariuna. the dose of which is a tea
spoonful of the syrup, is a drug derived
from common lettuce, milder and safer
than opium and often of good effect, es-
pecially in children. But eating lettuce
in the leaf is of no effect in producing
sleep, except that it may fill the stora-
ach and thus act as already described
But to get the soporific drug effect of
lettuce one would need a head as big as
a haymow. Where sleeplessness is due
to nervousness, as is often the case, asa
foetida in doses of one teaspoonful OF
the moisture, or half a teaspoenful OF
valerianate of ammonia may give relief