46 
POPULAR SCIEl^CE I^EWS. 
[March, 1S90. 
n^edicirje aijd Pliarnjacy. 
SLEEP. 
Tin; condition in which wc pass at least 
one-third of our lives is certainly one of the 
highest importance and interest, and it is, 
even witli om' present knowledge, not devoid 
of a certain amount of mystery. We know 
that in sleep the amount of hlood circulating 
in the brain is considerably diminished, and 
it is, un.doubtedly, the time when the waste 
of the nervous system is repaired, and a store 
of vital force — whatever that may be — laid 
up for the labors of the ensuing day. 
The profound influence which the state of 
slumber has upon the human system, is evi- 
dent to anyone who has ever passed one or 
more nights without the presence of "tired 
Nature's sweet restorer ; " and the feeling of 
strength, vigor, and well-being with which 
one awakens after a period of sound, dream- 
less sleep, shows that the restorative'influence 
extends to every part of the body. The 
need of sleep is an imperative one, and, in 
many cases, is almost irresistible. Instances 
arc on record of soldiers sleeping on horse- 
back, or even in the midst of a battle, and 
many a sentry has been sentenced to death 
for sleeping at his post, who was in no way 
to blame for his neglect of duty, but was 
simply overcome by a demand of Nature 
which he was unable to resist, even at the 
i)eril oi" his life. Similar instances are known 
of railroad engineers and steamboat pilots 
sleeping when on duly, with the knowledge 
-that the lives of many others, as well as their 
own, depended Upon their wakefulness. 
The proper amount of sleep required by 
anvone is an individual peculiarity, and no 
general rule can be given. The new-born 
infant sleeps nearly all the time, but the 
periods of wakefulness soon grow longer, 
through childhood and youth, until the full- 
o-rown adult devotes a minimum time to the 
recuperation of his bodily energies, while in 
old age the need of more time for sleep is 
again felt. The feelings are the best guide in 
this respect, and if one awakes completely 
refreshed after six hours of slumber, thai; 
amoimt is doubtless surficieut for his bodily 
needs, while another person may require nine 
or ten hours of each day to restore the balance 
of vital profit and loss. Nothing, however, 
can be worse than to regularly deprive one's 
self of needed sleep, in order to have more 
time for work or pleasure. This is like 
expending one's capital instead of the inter- 
est, and although the final result may be 
postponed, it can only end in physiological 
bankruptcy. 
The time of sleep is of no particular con- 
sequence, and is largely a matter of habit. 
The darkness and quiet of night naturally 
lead to repose, but large numbers of people 
must, necessarily, reverse the usual practice 
and devote the daylight hoius to slumber. 
Neither is there any particular hjgienic virtue 
in early rising. The familiar old couplet is 
only true in a very general sense, and there 
are a great many cases where a man would 
be healthier, wealthier, and wiser if he de- 
layed the time of his rising to an hour con- 
sistent with his own feelings and inclinations. 
Dreams, undoubtedly, occur during dis- 
turbed sleep, or during the interval between 
sleeping and waking, and — althouglj it is not 
easy to prove this — it is more than probable 
that a sound sleep is a dreamless one. 
Unusual mental anxiety or excitement, or 
a disturbed state of the bodily organs, such 
as an overloaded stomach, may cause a cer- 
tain activity of the mental processes, which 
will become manifest in dreams. The sudden 
awakening of a sleeper will often cause a 
dream in the brief interval before full con- 
sciousness is attained. Dreams more often 
relate to recent and important occurrences in 
our daily life ; but, on the contrary, the most 
trivial incident, forgotten for many years, may 
be, as it were, stored up somewhere in the 
brain, to be alterward revived in a dream, 
with all the accompanying circumstances. 
The literature and curiosities of sleep and 
dreams is, however, very extensive, and it 
woidd be impossible to refer to even a frac- 
tional part of tiie observed phenomena. A 
simple falling asleep, if it were not so com- 
mon, would be a most wonderful and even 
alarming occurrence. Although the vital 
processes of a sleeper go on as usual, yet the 
mental life, the self-conscioiisness is sus- 
pended, and the sleeper is practically dead ty 
this world, or else wandering in another 
and stranger world — that of dreamland. A 
dreamer may be said to be in two places at 
once, and if, from any cause, he should not 
awake, but continue to dream on indefinitely, 
it would be hard to say why he would not be 
living just as true and r^al a life' as the one 
which he knew in-his waking hours. Ham- 
let's chief argument against suicide was that 
"In that sleep of death who knows what 
dreams may come.'"' and Bryant, in his poem 
Thanatopsis, speaks of welcoming the 
approach of death, 
'* Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him/and lies down to pleasant dreams." 
It is a noble, and perha])s the most logical 
conception we can form of the great and in- 
evitable change that must come to us all, to 
consider it as but the awakening irom the 
dream of our present life into a higher state 
of existence, with a comprehension of the 
laws governing the imiverse and our inilivid- 
ual being, which shall lead us to look back 
upon the experiences of our present life as we 
now vaguely remember the visions of a dis- 
turbed shuTiber, and with as little regret that 
they have forever passed away. 
I Specially Compiled for Popular Science J*>ews.\ 
MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 
PROGRESS. 
BY C. K. WASHBURN, M. U. 
Dr. Joseph D. IJrvant has come to the Ibllowinfr 
conclusions (Medical Record) in regard to the me- 
chanical treatment of hci-nia : i. No tbnii of truss 
yet constructed can be relied upon to cure anv 
variety of simply reducible hernia. 2. The manner 
of the production of hernia, and that of its so-called 
cure by mechanical appliances, are such that cure 
by mechanical appliances alone need not be ex- 
pected, now or hereafter. 3. Practical relief from 
the annoyance of hernial protrusion may be had by 
the use of hernial appliances, which, however, 
ought always to be worn during all unusual physi- 
cal efforts. 4. The so-called cures from hernial 
appliances are dependent on the restoration of dis- 
placed tissues to the normal position, and to oblit- 
eration due to natural resiliency of tissues; not, as 
is often claimed, to the inflammatory adhesions of 
serous surfaces, caused by special mechanical 
effects. 5. The hard, slightly convex pad, with the 
elastic steel spring attached, constitutes the princi- 
ple part of the most philosophical, comfortable, 
cleanly, and durable of hernial appliances. 6. Sus- 
pension, elevation, and protection of irreducible 
hernial protrusions, are the main indications for 
this mechanical treatment. 
Respecting the use of taxis, Dr. Bryant holds; 
1. That the abuse (not the use) of taxis constitutes 
an evil against which all surgeons should protest. 
2. That a quarter of an hour of well-directed and 
continuously applied taxis is a rational procedure ; 
longer than this is unnecessary, and therefore 
unwise and harmful. 3. That repeated attempts at 
reduction on the part of different persons are per- 
nicious. 4. That the present status of operative 
surgery has reduced the successful employment of 
taxis to the position of rendering but little practical 
benefit to the patient, except in special cases. 
The propriety of operative interference to effect a 
radical cure in all cases of herniotomy is insisted 
upon. 
His conclusions as to the prop»r procedure in 
cases of intestinal mortifieation are thus formulated : 
I. When gangrene of the intestine has taken place, 
and the condition of the patient will permit, intes- 
tinal repair should be practiced at once, and the gut 
returned to the abdominal cavity. 2. When gan- 
grene has occurred, presumptively involving a 
portion of the upper two-thirds of the intestine, 
intestinal repair should be practised at once, and 
the gut returned to the abdominal cavity, even if 
the immediate result of the operation be somewhat 
doubtful. 3. When gangrene has occurred, and .the 
condition of the patient will not permit immediate 
operation, a temporary artificial anus should be 
formed. 4. It is better to form an artificial anus, 
under all circumstances, when the medical attend- 
ants are not familiar with the details of intestinal 
surgery. 5. Division of the constriction is not 
always necessary, and is often imwise when the 
formation of an artificial anus is contemplated. 
The compaiative value of the new antithermic 
analgesics was recently disctissed ( Therapeutic Ga- 
zette) by Professor Dujardin-Beaumetz at a lecture 
at the Cocliin Hospital, Paris. He rates antipvrin 
first, because of its small toxic power and its readv^ 
solubilily. He could not agree with those who look 
upon it with disfavor, because of the danger some- 
tiines'attending^its use. The materia medica con- 
tains numerous substances vastly more dangerous, 
and very lew that do not — or might not — occasion 
danger at times. Some of the most poisonous 
