The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-01-09

ganic activity, though not a time of
absolute quiescence, the rapid building
of tissue and general repairing pro-
oeeds. This repair work Is most Of
fectually accomplished in sleep when
the temperature of the body is re
duced, as is always the case in sleep.
Thus sleep Is and does what Macbeth
said;
''Sleep that lnits up the raveled sleeve
of care,
The death of each days life, sore labor's
bath.
Balm OF hurt minds, great natures sec
ond course,
Chief nour1sher IN life's feast"
I think that we may thus account, at
least in part, for the longevity OF the
Oriental people of ancient times. They
were mostly shepherds who spent many
hours lounging In the fields with their
fiocks. Even In their homes at meals
they reclined. But our modern methods
of living have displaced the ancient GUS
toms. Men maintain an upright attitude
of body Is or 20 hours out of the "a II
business requires 1t and SO old age comes
to them when they are young and many
die of an ailment that was not known a
half century ago-''heart failure" An
other fact Is observable. namely, the ex-
traordnary number Of young men who
are bald. The brain never has cool
ing time" of sufficient length and burns
up the sabaceous glands and follicles and
the hair falls Off Sleep, therefore. is
preservative OF the hair.
In accord with the principles that 1
have set forth, physicians are now rec
ommending the rest cure" for various
ailments. No physic is given. All that
is needed Is the recumbent position and
sleep In order that nature might have at
least half chance to get In its work
of repairing the damage done by long
standing and insufficient sleep.
This repair process during sleep Is not
uniform as to the time required to &C
complish the results desired. With some
people 1t is slow, with others it Is rapid
These latter people awake sooner than
others, because nature has completed her
work The slow sleeper awakened at
the same time having slept the same
number of hours will feel that he Is de-
MED his full amount Of sleep and will
tell you: 81 feel as tired as when I went
to bed" A lady reprimanded a servant
for oversleeping herself. The servant
was more philosophical than she knew
when she replied "But. nam. 1 sleep SO
slow that 1t takes me longer to get
through than some other people She
may have been absolutely truthful. On
the other hand, there are people who
actually get eight hours sleep in i've
hours, They are rapid sleepers. Napoleon
was of this class and so was John Wes-
ley. However, the average young man
who does not get eight hours' sleep Is
running a risk of weakened nerves and
the young woman who does not get eight
or nine hours sleep out of the "a Is
preparing to be haggard before age frosts
her hair.
The ancient Greeks often combined phil
osophy with their mythology. Endymion
was condemned to perpetual sleep. but at
the same time he was endowed with per-
ennial youth and beauty. Sleep, Youth
and Beauty formed the sequent triology
of life in the Greek mind. To rob the
body of sleep Is to destroy the fresh
ness and charm OF physical beauty. 1t
is, also. to give obtuseness to the mind
To make up for the loss of mental alert
ness some persons resort to drugs to ex-
cite exhilaration and to impart readiness
of wit and q,iokness of repartee. Thus
do they seek to accomplish artincially
what q due amount Of sleep would effect
in a normal way.
He who attempts to battle nature by
the use Of drugs or drink will discover.
perhaps too late, that she has her re-
venges In mental disorders, in supersen
sitive nerves. in the trembling hand. in
the shamb1ing gait and in the loss of
lustre from the eye Nature may be de-
feated for awhile. but not alwaysl
Lord Lytton, in Tho Cations" doubt
less looking back upon his own life said,
20, let youth cherish the happiest of
earthly boons while yet It Is at COM
mand; for there cometh the day to all.
when neither tho voice of the lutte nor
the birds shall bring back the sweet
slumber that fell on their young eyes as
unbidden az the dewA. 1t IL dark hour
in q mans life when sleep forsakes him."
The best way to cherish sleep, the
happiest of earthly boons." is to meet
those conditions Of healthy WEAKNESS for
which life is given, and such conditions
of mind and heart as will permit no
disturbing thought to hover about the
soul like black bird Of rsmorse and