THE HOME, VAKM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



tlu-se phenomena proceed, the respiration becomes slower and more deep, 

 the circulation diminishes in impetus, the blood proceeds in great quantity 

 to war* Is the head, and all the functions of the internal organs become 

 retarded. In this state, shut out as it were from the external world, 

 the mind still retains its wonted activity, deprived, however, of the guid- 

 ance of judgment and the power of distinct recollection ; in consequence 

 of which, it does not perceive the monstrous incongruities of the ima-ny 

 which sweeps before it, and takes but faint cognizance of the time which 

 elapses. 



It may be laid down as an axiom, that the more uninterrupted sleep is, 

 the more refreshing and salutary will be its effects ; for during this period 

 the body undoubtedly acquires an accession of nervous energy, which 

 restlessness, however induced, must disturb ; and therefore the state of 

 the body before going to sleep, the kind of bed, and the manner of cloth- 

 ing require especial attention. As the functions of the body are performed 

 more slowly during our sleeping than our waking hours, a full meal or 

 supper, taken immediately before going to bed, imposes a load on the 

 stomach which it is not in a condition to digest, and the unpleasant con- 

 ^ <[iience of oppressive and harassing dreams is almost certain to ensue. 

 When the sleeper lies on his back, the heart pressing, while pulsating, on 

 the lungs, gives rise to a sense of intolerable oppression on the chest, 

 which seems to bear down upon the whole body, so that in this painful 

 state not a muscle will obey the impulse of the will, and every effort to 

 move appears to be altogether unavailing. This constitutes incubus or 

 nightmare : and it may be observed, that, as acidity on the stomach, or 

 indigestion gives rise to such dreams, so all dreams of this disturbed char- 

 acter are converse indications of indigestion ; for which reason the great 

 physiologist Haller considered dreaming to be a symptom of disease. 



The kind of bed on which we repose requires attention. Some are 

 advocates for soft, others for hard beds ; hence some accustom themselves 

 to feather-beds, others to mattresses. The only difference between a soft 

 and hard bed is this that the weight of the body in a soft bed presses on a 

 larger surface than on a hard bed, and thereby a greater degree of comfort 

 is enjoyed. Parents err in fancying that a very hard bed contributes to 

 harden the constitution of their children ; for which reason they lay them 

 down on mattresses, or beds with boarded bottoms. A bed for young 

 children cannot be too soft, provided the child does not sink into it in 

 such a manner that the surrounding parts of the bed bend over and cover 

 the body. The too great hardness of beds, says Dr. Durwin, frequently 

 proves injurious to the shape of infants, by causing them to rest on too 



