The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-09

We can only consider The phy4csl side Of
death. whereas Of sleep both sides call
for. attention. end from ths oatset two
orders Of s1plapstion Psychological and
| physiological, are required Here indeed
10 room for . good many theories OF one
kind and another. each partly true bu,
natural craving TOR monopoly bessz
theorists as much - atorekeepers; and
the pret1nce OF 1t. far moro. We must
discount this In DR.. Sidis - in bis prede-
oesors. because bs and those he sym.
psthizes with enaphasizs one elemeu.
Of the total cAse which Was formerly
overlooked he ~ Inclined 10 sot aside ali
sariiss e~xclen.tsc:=
Among the theories he appaxeutly ~
jeots ahoesthE h that explaining alsep
by changes IN ehs 0trvulstaon Of blood in
the brain, advanced long ago by HALEY
and Hartley. fscsptly BY Aoeso, inter
msdiatsly BY such great men as Claude
Bernard, KussmAul and De Flenry (who
ascrfbsd slesp to cerebral aneznia), Brown,
Cserny and Broadman (who ascrlbed IL
TO cerebral hypsrnmia); explanations Of
sleep by the chemistry Of the oell-for
instance, by tbs relatively smaller Absorb
ton Of Oxygen into the tissues during the
night; also tho theory Of Prsyer and
others that sleep b an Nnea, q sell
poisoning Of the System BY toxic matters
accommodating in the blood through the
activity Of the Tissues: also that Of Ramon
y Cajal, that an expanson and . contrso-
ton Of the nsurpGiiA oolb with their
spreading Hlamenta alternately open and
close 'oonnections' among ths neural
elements with tho o~onssqueut appear
ahce and disappearance Of the waking
state, Yet the first three Of these theories
ut least have facts behind them and i'm
pose themselves a. partially true.
Changes Of cerebral circulation and Of
chemical composition Of tissues doubtless
coincide with the period Of sleep, and
toxic alterations Of. tho blood with fatigue,
the usual preliminary Of sleep. None Of
these views excludes DR.. Sidis's, nor need
his exclude any Of them.
His contribution to the explanatory COM
plex though not entirely original rests
upon facts, and it IL argued ingeniously.
He studies sleep from the point Of view
Of the reaction Of tho system TO
stimulus. II Q stimulus continues play
ing upon US at the same strength tho sys-
TEN presently osasss reaodng upon II.
that IL, we to feel the sensation. To
keep UP the came level Of q sensation
therefore tho stimulus must continue TO
rise, and II II IL on tho contrary mono
tonous and ~unvarying. Il will drop out
Of consciousness: that Il. tho system will
be asleep 30 far a. It Is concerned. 'sim-
un which have exhausted themselves by
their monotony drop out and arc re-
placed by now mes until the whole round
Of stimuli Ii gone through and the organ
ism ceases to respond to its external en-
vironment. falls ss!esp.' That would
describe sleep sometimes, for instance.
when ono IL dog tired and becomes I'M
conscious against ones wish from sheer
exhaustion; but in ordinary cases
sleep ID partly an artificial and voluntary
product. Tho whole round Of stimuli
have not exhausted themselves; there 10
some fatigue ~ q rule, but not enough to
convert a local lethargy into q general
sleep. For the latter We must actively
supplement the effects Of tho partial eI-
haustion by excluding other possibilities
Of sensation as far u We oan. Hence the
chamber blind TO light and deaf to sound:
and also the lying down, In connection
with which II author makes an inEeu-
ious point.
The largest part OF consciousness d
made up Of motor sensations coming
from muscles, joints, &c. When lying
down We get fewer motor sensations
than whom standing up. because the
muscles, joints, DO. are relaxed. The
important thing about the posture IL
its effect not on circulation, tacoording to
this Wow. but on muscular tension snd
variations. Now DR.. Sidis INSERTS that
rs per cent Of right handed people oom-
pose themselves for sleep lying on thsir
right side and Of left handed people on
their left side. Why7 To limit their
more active side, that Ia the greater pos
sibility Of motor sensations. 90 that they
lie on this or that side for . reason strictly
analogous to that for which they closs
their eyes and pull the blinds down.
DR.. Sids should next undertake an az
detrimental study Of insomnia. The reo-
ords Of the Spanish Inquisition might
afford some data. II he shrinks from To-
auiring not how soon he can send . per-
son to sleep but how long he oan keep
him awake. by what varying means and
with what effects upon the organism short
Of death. Meanwhile. We do % BE-
how his theory explains such q osse a
this: During q conversation In q club
about sleeplessness and the various rom
edies for 1t = man Of exceptional intsli-
genoe and undoubted seriousness asserted
the. he could u~susAy-and always On .
cold night-send himself Oh by threat
ening himself: III you are not aalsep IN
five minutes you shall get up and walk
around the room % many times.
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