WHY AND HOW WE NEED TO SLEEP 51 



Some people use a thin hair pillow, and others who are 

 quite as wise use none at all. Most people understand 

 the laws of oxygen and carbon dioxid so well that they 

 never cover their heads with the bedclothes when they 

 sleep. They wish pure air and plenty of oxygen instead 

 of impure air and little oxygen under the bedding. 



While we are sleeping we have a grand chance to help 

 decide whether our backs shall be straight or crooked. 

 If we always lie as we should we shall be helping our 

 backs to be straight, because children's bones are not 

 very hard, and the oftener we bend them in one particular 

 way the more likely they are to stay in that shape. But a 

 boy who is sure that he wants a straight body will help 

 himself even while he is asleep, and when he has grown 

 to be a man he is sure to be as straight as a soldier. 



QUESTIONS 



1. What happened to tired soldiers on the river Nile? 



2. What happens sometimes to tired-out children? 



3. Why do people sometimes go to sleep when they don't wish to? 



4. What sort of work does the brain do? 



5. When does the brain rest? 



6. Why do we need to spend more time in sleeping than in eating, 

 playing, or studying? 



7. What does the body of a child do while he sleeps? 



8. In what position can we sleep the best? 



9. Why should the pillow be low? 



IO. Why do we leave the head uncovered? 



