1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



341 



levers and gimbals with another minute pencil and 

 table at the top, by means of which the_ ordinary 

 writing of the pencil and the microscopic writing 

 both move in unison, though the motion of the 

 latter is so graduated that a stroke of a quarter of 

 an inch at the bottom is only a stroke of a mil- 

 lionth of an inch at the top, the shape and charac- 

 ter of both marks being nevertheless precisely 

 alike in outline. As a matter of course, the mi- 

 croscopic writing at the top is only visible under 

 powerful magnifiers, and the object of the machine 

 is to mark bank notes with certain minute signa- 

 tures for the prevention of forgery. 



INFLUENCE OF SLEEP OVER DISEASE. 

 Some of our older practitioners, especially in 

 the country, have been in the habit of having pa- 

 tients wakened every ten or fifteen minutes. This 

 we regard as entirely wrong, and calculated but 

 to increase the nervous irritability, intensify dis- 

 ease, and prolong the recovery. In Dr. Ware's 

 tenth lecture on General Therapeutics, published 

 in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for 

 January IGth, a few remarks are made that have 

 a bearing upon the point under consideration. He 

 says : 



"In all forms and conditions of disease, both 

 acute and chronic, the state of the patient as to 

 sleep, is an important consideration, both as re- 

 gards his comfort, and also as regards the satis- 

 factory progress of his case. The nature of this 

 condition of animal life we do not fully under- 

 stand ; we only know that it is a necessary one, 

 and having a vast influence on the state of the sys- 

 tem. Its purpose seems to be to aflbrd an oppor- 

 tunity, by the suspension of certain activities of 

 the s'ystem which require the exhaustion of those 

 powers that emanate from the nervous system, for 

 the reinforcement of those powers. It is also dur- 

 ing sleep that the repair of the tissues by nutrition 

 is provided for. Not that all nutrition is suspend- 

 ed during our waking hours, or that all waste is 

 suspended during sleep ; but that in the two states 

 of sleeping and waking there is respectively a large 

 predominance of the repair and the waste. Sleep 

 is not merely rest, as it has been sometimes con- 

 sidered, an entire rest of all the organs at once ; it 

 is something specifically different. It is a condi- 

 tion of an entirely different nature, and a condi- 

 tion for wliich rest is not, in any sense, a substi- 

 tute. The mere fact of existence, without exer- 

 cise, without fatigue — the simple going on of life 

 — implies a certain expenditure of force, which 

 renders necessary, at certain intervals, a suspen- 

 sion of those functions of the brain and nervous 

 system wliich are subservient to the phenomena 

 of mind. It is possible that ordinary rest might 

 afford an opportunity for the nutrition of all these 

 tissues, except those which are the agents of the 

 mind. But it seems to be necessary, for the re- 

 pair of these, that the functions of tlie mind should 

 also be suspended. Of the physical condition of 

 the brain in sleep, and also concerning the pecu- 

 liar state of the mind in sleep, notwithstanding the 

 many theories which have been formed concerning 

 them, we know nothing with certainty ; and this 

 is not necessary to the practical management of 

 the sick. What should guide us, is the knowledge 

 that a certain amount of sleep, at proper inter- 

 vals, is an absolute necessity ; and that its absence 



or its deficiency is always a great evil, and to be 

 prevented by every possible means. In acute dis- 

 eases, a sufHcient amount of quiet sleep is at once 

 a favorable indication of the nature and issue of a 

 case, and also is an important agent in the promo- 

 tion of a favorable issue. Its absence, on the 

 contrary, is, pro tanto, an unfavorable indication 

 as to the result, and also promotes an unfavorable 

 issue. AVant of sleep adds to the sufferings of the 

 patient, and also to his exhaustion, and conse- 

 quently interferes with the success of the sanitary 

 process, and impairs the power of recovery. In 

 every point of view, then, the state of the patient 

 in this respect becomes the object of special atten- 

 tion. Salutary changes in tlie condition of a joa- 

 tient will be often found to take place during sleep, 

 and to manifest themselves most obviously on 

 awaking from that which has been sound and re- 

 freshing." 



Dr. Ware makes another practical remark that 

 we know it would oftentimes be prudent to put in 

 practice, and yet we have reason to believe it is 

 seldom thought of by the physician, or urged upon 

 the attention of the patient. 



"It sometimes happens that, after a short nap 

 on first going to bed, a person wakens without 

 any known cause, and then remains obstinately 

 watchful for many hours. In this case, if he rises, 

 washes his face, hands and feet, and walks about 

 briskly for awhile, and returns to bed, the cliarm 

 may be broken, and a continued sleep will ensue. 

 Or he may rise, and write or read with the same 

 result. — Medical Reporter of Boston. 



POULTRY HOUSES. 



Properly constructed poultry houses should 

 have a south-east aspect, sheltered by plantations 

 or walls from the north and west, and the yards 

 furnished with sheds and shrubs to shelter them 

 from the mid-day sun or harsh Avinds ; it sliould 

 be constructed so as to give as much warmth as 

 possible, but ventilation perfectly maintained. The 

 floor should be elevated and perfectly dry ; if 

 boarded, so much the better. Walls and roofs 

 air-tight ; the windows should be placed so as to 

 command a thorough draft in the day time in hot 

 weather, but one should be closed at night, as a 

 thorougir draft when asleep is very injurious to 

 them ; those windows should be covered with wire 

 lattice, to prevent the fowl getting in and out at 

 pleasure. A lean-to roof is generally best, and the 

 perches should rise from the floor, the first, eigh- 

 teen inches from the ground and one foot apart, 

 each perch rising a foot above the other ; nests 

 are made at each end, built of lime and brick. — 

 Irish Fariner's Gazette. 



Far the New England Fanner, 

 EEEATA. 

 Mr. Editor : — Please allow me the privilege 

 of correcting in the columns of the N. E. Earmer 

 a mistake that occurred in the printing of my Es- 

 say "On the Utility of Birds," in the Essex Coun- 

 ty Transactions, which was copied into the "Agri- 

 culture of Massachusetts," 1SG2, for 1861. On 

 page 62 of the Essay printed in this Report, is the 

 following passage : "The far-sightedness of the 

 robin is equally remarkable in the hlacJcbird, who, 

 though he takes a large portion of his food from 



