SLEEP SLEEPLESSNESS. 503 



majority of cases are excited ly the events of the previous day. It is related of a 

 tyrant' of old that one of his courtiers him a dream that he had 



had, in which he had assassinated his master. " You could not," exclaimed the 

 tyrant, "have dreamed this without having previously thought of it," and then 

 ordered his immediate execution. Sometimes dreams are the result of the ex- 

 ternal conditions under which the sleeper is placed. Thus many people whilst 

 su tiering the pangs of hunger have dreamt of gorgeous banquets and of tables loaded 

 with the most appetising viands. We are told of an officer in the army whose com- 

 >us were in the habit of amusing themselves at his expense. They had discovered 

 accidentally that they could produce in him any kind of dream simply by 

 whispering in his ear. Once they conducted him through the whole process of a quarrel 

 which ended in a duel, and when the parties were supposed to have met a pistol was 

 put in his hand, which he fired, and was awakened by the report. On another 

 ion they made him, when asleep, believe that he was in an engagement, when 

 he exhibited great fear and showed a decided disposition to run away. Against this 

 they remonstrated, but at the same time increased his fears by imitating the groans 

 of the wounded and dying. When he asked, as he often did, who was hit, they 

 named his particular friends. At last they told him that the man next to him in his 

 company had fallen, when he instantly sprang from his bed, rushed out of the tent, 

 and was aroused from his dream, and rescued from his supposed danger, by falling 

 over the tent-cords. 



Sleeplessness is very frequently the accompaniment of some disease or disorder, 

 and is to be regarded as one of the symptoms characterising it, which will disappear 

 under treatment directed to the original malady. But not unfrequently want of 

 sleep occurs as a purely functional disorder. When night after night a person lies 

 awake for hours, either failing to sleep, or getting it only by fits and starts, serious 

 results are sure to follow. Inability to sleep is one of the most constant precursors 

 and accompaniments of brain exhaustion and general decay, and when long persistent 

 may result in insanity. It is probable that no one cause is so productive of mental 

 degeneration as constant wakef ulness, for not only is the brain prevented from obtain- 

 ing rest, but it is kept in a state of continual tension which, if not relieved, must 

 sooner or later lay the foundation of grave organic disease. 



A very common cause of wakefulness is over mental exertion. An author, for 

 example, strains every nerve to finish his book by a certain date, sitting up night 

 after night, disregarding the calls of nature and the dictates of common sense. At 

 last his task is completed, and then when he tries to rest he finds he cannot sleep. 

 It may be long before the health recovers from the excessive strain it has under- 

 gone. It is a matter of every-day experience that the body and mind may become 

 so weary that it is impossible to sleep over-tired as we call it. Sleeplessness some- 

 times arises from derangement of the liver. When this is the case the patient is 

 often heavy and drowsy after a full meal, and he may fall asleep at once on retiring 

 to rest, but after one, two, three, or four hours he awakes, and then he either lies 

 awake for hours or is constantly falling asleep, dreaming or having the nightmare 

 and awaking four or five times, or even oftener, in the course of an hour until 

 the morning comes, when he drops into a quiet sleep of an hour or more, and gets up 



