The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1907-09-06
THE MYSTERY OF SLEEP.
Marvellous Recuperative Value OF .
Long Rest In Red.

Marvellous Recuperative Value OF .
Long Rest in Bed.
At the climax OF our powers from
one-thrd to one-half of our whole life
is spent In sleep, and In our infancy
nearly all our time is given to il,
Yet, strange to say, while every human
being from the time of Adam until this
hour has known sleep from actual ex-
perience, no man can accurately defns
or explain it,
1t cannot be wholly fatigue that in
duces sleep, else why should the feeble
octogenarian sleep least and the in.
fant who does nothing in particular
sleep many times as much as its grand
pareutsi Even modern science is most
vague on this battling subject and finds
no better use for it than ''the repair
of wasted tissues"
! Unquestionabiy research with the
microscope does prove that fatigue, in
some degree at any, exhausts and vi
tiates the nerve cells, while rest and
sleep appear to restore them to the nor
NAL. When Lord Brougham returned
home after his brilliant and exhaustive
defense Jof Queen Caroline he retired !
at once and gave orders that he was
not to be disturbed on any account, no
matter how long he should sleep. His
lordship's household obeyed; but their
amazement grew into positive terror
xK-hn bn ol,r f.,ts, oYNr hO
prolonged itself forty-eight hoursl
Brougham's physician afterward de-
elared this marvellous sleep was ma
lures own remedy for relieving a ter
rible mental strain and had certainly
warded off some serious brain disorder.
! But, then, every one of us at least
knows the marvellous recuperative
value of long sleep. And vet all this
time digestion, respiration andI many
other vital functions are in full power,
just as in the waking hours. Only the
senses and the higher cerebral mani
festations are less active.
/ 1t seems clear we need more than
three or four times as much nourish-.
/
yet we wake in the morning without
either hunger or faintness such as i'm
variably accompany long waking fast.
Moreover, the first morning meal Is
ordinarily the lightest of the day, with
people free to consult their own tastes
in these matters.
How shall we explain this strange
discrepancy in the action of the stom-
aeh by day and by night? 1t is no
answer that we work in the day, hence
waste and hunger; for the same crav-
ing for food during the day is experl-
enced by a person taking little or no
physical exercise as by the brlcklayer,
foundryman, or other worker engaged
in the hardest manual toll.
Obviously, then, condition Of things
has been supernduced in sleep which
involves not only discontinuance of
intercourse with she world, but a posi-.
tive suspension of some of the stern
est exactions of our nature.
There Is another result of deep sleep
which is seldom remarked Lie down
upon bed or couch, and however tired
you may be you will rarely remain In
one position long II you be awake AZ,
frequent intervals you feel an impulse
to turn over or move some Of your
limbs to relieve what has become an
uncomfortable position. On the other
hand, when you fall asleep, even
though you have the hard ground for
a couch and, like Jacob stone for Il
pillow you may lie quietly for many
hours without moving, except for In
voluntary respiration. Nor when yo,1
awake will you experience any dlscom-
fort even in that part of the body
which has borne the most pressure.
such as could not be contentedly en-
dured for five minutes when awake
Indeed, not only will there be no
sense of pain or discomfort, but rather
one of positive refreshment. 1t is said
among the myriad theories of sleep
THAT this condition is merely "the as.
sertion of the lower or vegetatlye con-
sclousness' and, further, that il the
higher intellectual consciousness could
hold permanent sway sleep would
cease altogether.
The length of time man can pre-
serve his mental faculties without sleep
varies with the individual constitution
but the inevitable result Is deIrium
before many days. The Chinese punish
certain fagrant criminals by a system
of dlabolical teasing so as to prevent
sleep altogether; and this is regarded
with the utmost horror even by tho
most hardened criminals. New York
Press.
ChiIIs and Hot baths.