The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1914-02-05
Human Family Assume About the
Same Pastures.
Odd Positions Of Other Animate
Elephants and Horses Slumber
While Standing, and Some
Hrutes Appear SIeepless.

"Oh, sleep! 1t is a gentle thing be-
loved from pole to pole"
| Removed from their context, these
lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge pre-.
sent but bald statement of fact.
Thus isolated, however, they best
serve my present purpose, which is
to bring together a number of other
isolated facts about sleep which are
not perhaps commonly known, says
writer in the Illustrated London
News.
Sleep is indeed gentle thing" 1t
is the supremest form of rest. Our
notions of rest during sleep, however,
are likely to be a little upset when
we come to survey the various pos
lures assumed by different animals
during sleep.
To begin with the human race. The
majority of mankind, probably, sleep
lying upon the right or left side of the
body, and with the knees drawn up to-
ward the chin. But certain African
tribes, for example, lie upon the back,
with the head, or rather, the back of
the neck, resting on a bar of wood
supported on two short pillars. The
elephant apparently invariably and
the horse commonly sleep standing.
This is really astonishing. Apart from
the apparent difficulty of maintaining
the balance of the body during these
long periods of unconsciousness, one
would have supposed that recum-
bent posture in the case of both these
animals was imperative. Cattle and
| their kin commonly sleep lying down,
and during many hours of the day
they lie down, as when chewing the
cud.
More curious still, there are crea-
lures which invariably sleep hanging
head downward, suspended by their
hind feet. The bats afford a case in
point. Among the birds, we meet
with the same strange habit in the lit
tie hanging parrots of India and the
Malayan region. In this they differ
from all other birds, which invariably
sleep~with the head turned tailward
over the back and the beak thrust i'll
among the feathers between the wing
and the body, not under the wing, as
is commonly believed. No explanation
has ever been offered to account for
this strange habit. 1t is followed even
by the penguins, wherein the feathers
are so short as to fail to completely
cover even the beak. Owls are per-
haps the only exception to the rule.
And, by the way, the only other ami
mails which thus turn the head back
ward after this fashion during sleep
are certain peculiar tortoises known
as side necked tortoises." Certain
birds sleep while resting only on one
leg. This curious pose is well seen in
long legged birds like storks and gulls.
Ducks generally sleep on open water.
And to avoid drifting shoreward and,
therefore, into the danger zone, they
keep constantly padding with one
foot, so that the body is always cir
cling round the chosen sleeping area
The sloths sleep suspended by their
feet, and the head tucked in between
the fore legs. The no less remarka
BILE African pottos, or slow lemurs
assume a similar pose, but they attach
themselves to a verdict instead of a
horizontal bough, so that the body
rests with the head upward. No ami.
NAL, save man, sleeps upon its back
Some animals are said never to
sleep. and this because the eyes are
never closed The hares, snakes and
fishes are commonly supposed to en-
10y this unenviable distinction. The
notion is, however, quite erroneous.
Whales and their kin are often quoted
as sleepless creatures. 1t is supposed
that If they made this mistake they
would promptly drown! AS a rule,
darkness induces sleep. With many
animals, however, the reverse Is the
case, as with the bats and owls, for ex-
ample. This reversal of the usual or
der has been brought about by the ma
ture of the feeding habits.
Finally one comes to the question:
Where does sleep begin? This is by
no means easily answered. One is IN
clined to draw the line at the insects.
But since all living things, plants as
we'll as. animals, display periodical
states of quiescence, perhaps we shall
be near the truth in regarding sleep
as universal among living things. In
the case of plants it is enforced by
darkness, save in the case of many
bacteria and fungi, which, like evil
deeds, ~-ow under the cover Of dark
ness.