The Sauk Centre herald., 1904-07-07
THE MYSTERY Of SLEEP.
Imperative as the Demand for Food
and There Is No Substi-
tute for It.

Sleep, with it's strange phenomena,
remains, after the passage of thou
sands Of years, as much a mystery as
it was in the beginning of the race,
says the Boston Post.
Whence it comes? How produced
We as little know the answer to these
questions as Adam when the deep
slumber fell upon him in the garden.
The craving of the body for sleep is
as imperative as its cry for food. This
blessed loss of consciousness is the
best general medicine known. There
is neither substitute nor rival for it.
Sleep is the off-duty period of con-
sciousness. 1t is during this time,
when the entire system is in a quies-
cent state, that the final processes of
assimilation take place and that the
body is really nourished.
This assimilation is said to go on
much better and more rapidly before
midnight than afterward, because of
the more thorough circulation of the
blood, which carries the new material
and removes the waste.
Oxygen, too, is consumed in greater
quantities before midnight than after
it, according to the scientists, and oxy-
gen is necessary to this nutritive pro-
cess
The heart decreases in force from
midnight until after sunrise the fol-
lowing day, and nightmare, dreams,
convulsions, relapse-even death-oc-
cur more frequently after this hour
Those who burn the midnight oil
should make a note of the fact that
there are good physiological arguments
in favor of the "early to bed" advice.
One excellent reason why early sleep
is preferable to late is that the cells
OF the brain and other nerve centers
can recuperate more quickly before
reaching point of strain or exhaus-
tion than they can afterwards do
1t should be remembered that the
nutrition of the body goes on very
slowly unless plenty of oxygen is con-
sumed at the same time
AS the consumption of oxygen Is less
during sleep than in working hours
there is the greatest necessity for plen-
ty of pure air in every sleeping room
The intimate connection of sleep and
bodily nourishment is strangely illus
trated in the hideous "six-day races
and similar feats.
The men engaged in these eat tre-
mendous quantities of food-five times
what the ordinary workman can posi-.
bly, consume in like number of hours
Yet the end of the test finds them
frightfully emaciated, with vitality
spent.
Physicians explain this as result OF
the lack of sleep, which has made II
impossible for the digestive system tc
transform the food into tissue
Sleep Is life-giver as well as q life
saver.
The coming of natural slumber II
gradual. The general repose wotiiG
seem to be made up of many little
sleeps, which are premonitions of ma
ture's approaching control of the body
These little sleeps take each sense
separately and obscure it,
They take the physical organs on,
by one ond shroud them slowly till al
are quiescent.
Of the five guardian senses that pro
eyes are the most important.
But normal sleep comes with dark
ness; sight is useless in the dark
therefore, in sleeping the eyes close
| first of all.
Next after sight, taste is lost; ther
the sense of smell. When half asleep
| ones sight, taste and smell are gone
Hearing is the next to succumb, the
sense of touch deserting us last of all
The same slow approach of sleep i!
noticed in the muscles and sinews
Drowsiness begins at the feet, ant
spreads slowly upwards until the brair
is reached.
In waking the process is the same
but it is reversed.
The quickest way to arouse a sleeper
Is to touch him. The next best is tt
shouting. Taste remains last of all.
Specialists say that never before wa.
there a time when such long ant
| profound sleep was needed as now BY
the average man and woman.
Our tense and noisy living require:
It in generous quantities to repair the
daily ravages.
They add with truth that there ha.
never been a time when civilized mar
was so little able to sleep as he now is
thanks to the very conditions which
make repose so necessary.
A man can go 40 days without solit
food and survive.
He can exist seven days, sometime!
longer, without food and water.
He can drag through seven days, q