252 Facts towards a History of 



with those who are troubled with that most horrid of horrors, 

 the nightmare. A ticket porter, who has been all day with a 

 heavy load on his shoulders, does not feel half so much fa- 

 tigued, as the person who has been carrying an imaginary 

 chest of drawers on his sternum all night. Thus — 

 "When man o'er-laboured with his being's strife, 

 Shrinks not to sweet forgetfulness of life, 

 but, dreams — he owns, with Hamlet, " there's the rub." 



A question has been raised, how much sleep is required, 

 and how long it is necessary to be in bed, for the purpose of 

 rest and refreshment. Eight hours have been allotted for the 

 labourer, and six for the scholar and gentleman. 



Very few gentlemen, however, are satisfied with this scale ; 

 and a capacity for sleeping makes the greater part of this class 

 of the community inclined to double the period. The capa- 

 city for sleeping, like the capacity for eating and drinking, is 

 to be increased by indulgence. Much depends upon habit. 

 Some people can sleep when they will, and wake when they 

 will; and are as much refreshed with a short nap as a long 

 one. Sea-faring people have this property from education. 

 I have known persons who have never indulged in a second 

 sleep. One gentleman, who entertained a notion that a second 

 nap was injurious, invariably got up as soon as he awoke, no 

 matter how early the hour — ^winter or summer. 



Others, again, will sleep for four-and-twenty hours. The 

 celebrated Quin had this faculty. " What sort of a morning 

 is it, John ?" ** Very wet, Sir." " Any mullet in the market ?" 

 " No, Sir." " Then John, you may call me this time to-mor- 

 row." So saying, he composed himself to sleep, and got rid 

 of the ennui of a dull day, in the arms of Morpheus. 



One gentleman, in the Spectator, used to sleep by weight. 

 " I allow myself, one night with another, a quarter of a pound 

 of sleep, within a few grains, more or less ; and if upon my 

 rising, I find I have not consumed my whole quantity, I take 

 out the rest in my chair." — No. 25. 



A lazy old woman used to apologize for lying in bed, by 

 saying that " she lay in bed to contrive." Si range as this old 

 woman's excuse was, it was an example followed by one of 

 the most extraordinary geniuses of this country, viz. Brindley, 



