Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-24

Dickens wrote in nearly score Of
 moods of sleep. In Little Dorrit he
 refers to "the witch region of sleep.
 Dick Swiveller, in light and airy in
 consequence, remarks, '1n the mean
 time, as it's rather late, I'll try to get wink or two of the balmy!' There is the repulsive picture of Uriah Heap, sleeping, Tying on his back, with his legs extending to I don't know where, gurg1ings taking place in his throat, stoppages in his nose, and his mouth open like post office"
 By contrast there is the slumber described in Oliver Twist, that deep tranquil sleep, which ease from re- calm and peaceful rest which it is
 pain to wake from" And there is the grim depletion of sleep among the poor, as Nicholas Nickleby sees it; when a few sleep with smiles upon their faces;'' but ever and again deep and heavy sigh, breaking the stiffness of the room, announced that some sleeper had awakened to the misery of
 new day; and, as morning took the
 place of night, the smiles gradually
 faded away. with the friendly dark
 ness which had given them birth.'' "
 Back in the twelfth century in Eng land, the AngIo-Normans had apsensi- ble little proverb in, rhyme which many might well copy in our day. It
 ran like this:
 Lever a cinq. diner a neuf, Souper a cinq, coucher a neuf, Fait vivre d'ans nonante ct neuf" which translated reads:
 To rise at five, to dine at nine, To sup at five, to bed at nine, Makes man live to ninety mine. This rule, it will be seen. provides for
 but two hearty meals a day-which ] may have been all right for the Anglo Normans; but it Is the question of | their sleeping schedule with which we are interested.
 To bed at g and up at 5, would scarcely fit into the demands of later
 civilization; but it shows that even as far back as that century, when knights
 wore mail and Henry won his title of Beaue1erc for his fine scholarship people were keeping pretty closely to the rule laid down by the physio1ogies, Flight hours for work, eight for recre- | ation and eight for sleep
 How often, during these modern times, when people unconsciously bor- l row their practice from the whimsical | rhyme of Moore,
 "The surest of ways to 1engthen your days is to steal few hours from | the night, my deari"
 We read of engineers and other night workers being held responsible for ter | rible accidents; and the plea is al- ways lack of sleep; overwork. The poor, tired, wretched body simply could stand it no longer. The eyes l closed and, presto! the signal was dis | regarded, the warning of the bell buoy | was unheard, lives were lost. Perhaps there Is no other complaint
 So often brought to the attention oi
 physicians as insomnia-large1y due | in our national life. to the senselesf 1 habit of chilling the stomach with ice water or other cold drinks just before | retiring. No wonder foreign visitors l poke fun at and caricature our hote 1 pitchers of ice water-which, happily are fast giving way to our Made-In- l Norwich Thermos bottles and carafes! l But in either case the physiologist | warns us that. if drink one must al | bedtime, it Is hot water which in. duces sleep; then deep breathing and | a resollte rule of forgetting the trou. | bles and cares which infest the day! l Remaining up at night to study work, experiment, write, is simply z | way of burning the candle at botl ends. Such work, done in the morn | ing, with a clear brain. and a rested body. would be pleasure and ten time. | more worth while!
 | THE DTCTAGRAPH.