PPf !, .WHM.. 



pKUi^ip)ii^iijvw,<-;'i>-W'l4V^I«i-Jf ^W1HVI«,«^ 





THE ILLmOIS FARMER. 



161 



HYGIENE. 



Sleep, Its Physiological Dse. 



Just when all the animals, except a few, 

 retire to rest, when all the useful laborers 

 of every class have finished the labors of 

 the day, the votaries of fashbn begin the 

 toils of the night, and like the flies and 

 moths, that are woke and roused up by the 

 splendor of chandeliers, they buzz around 

 the objects of their admiration and worship, 

 until they are exhausted. Even the pauper 

 patient at our hospitals, enjoys sleep — 

 whereas the lady, whose income counts by 

 thousands, can not have one night's good 

 sleep. Oh! ye poor rich! 



Almost all headaches arise from deficient 

 circulation in the brain; and nothing is so 

 beneficial, nay, so absolutely requisite, as 

 plenty of sound sleep. The remedy for Tic 

 Douloureux, or Neuralgia, is sleep. One 

 good night's sleep is of more use to a cough, 

 than any remedy of the entire materia med- 

 ica. If, on "taking cold," as it is called, 

 we can lie down, wrap up warm, and sleep, 

 our fortune is made — we are recovered. 

 The best medicine that we can give in fever, 

 is sleep. 



Sleep restores to the brain its circulation 

 and functions ; and the healthy and active 

 condition of the brain causes, a healing and 

 healthful circulation of blood in every other 

 part of the body. We have known of cases 

 of fever of the lowest and worst kind, 

 cured completely by the taking of some in- 

 terdicted substance, as cold water, ale or 

 wine, causing a sound and long sleep. The 

 patient has awoke to health. 



In most cases of simple insanity, if sleep 

 can be induced and repeated, the symptoms 

 will disappear. External and internal 

 warmth are requisite to induce sleep. 



In one of our tours in a foreign land, in 

 search of the picturesque, we had been out 

 all night, moon and star-gazing, and then 

 spent the morning in exploring the ruins of 

 an ancient castle. About noon we were ex- 

 hausted, and it being the middle of summer, 

 we lay down in a field of grass, and slept for 

 three hours. We awoke, refreshed in mind, 

 but shivering in body. The sun warmed 

 one side, but the dampness of the ground 

 cooled the other, and we felt therie was a 

 serious illness coming on. We had four 

 miles to walk to our resting-place, and never 

 did we walk four such miles! Each mile 

 seemed to be four. 



Arrived, we drank two tumblers of hot 

 brandy and water, and as much , hot tea, 

 and then lay down before a good fire, upon, 



and wrapped in, blankets. We slept from 

 eight to eleven there, and then went to bed 

 and slept till five, then we awoke as well as 

 ever, ready for a new tour. Sleep saved 

 our life. •-■ : h 



During one of the hot summers, a child 

 three years of age, crawled np one of the 

 houses in Eleventh street, and fell out of 

 the fourth story window, to the ground, 

 which was not paved. The child was tak- 

 en np, apparently dead, and laid upon a bed 

 — we being sent for, more for the purpose 

 of giving a certificate for interment • than 

 for medical aid. We found the child 

 asleep, and the breathing not stentorious, 

 that is, not hard, forced, load. We examin- 

 ed the limbs and head, and found no fracture. 

 We bade the mother leave the child to its 

 sleep, and said we would call again. In 

 two hours we called again, and the yoting 

 one was running about, as well as ever. 



One of the ablest scholars and finest 

 writers of the age, when a student, attempt- 

 ed a voluntary Latin task, and was ob- 

 structed in the middle of it by a passage in 

 Yirgil's -iEneid, which seemed to be incapa- 

 ble of translation; he bored his brain with 

 it to no purpose, until he fell asleep. He 

 slept four hours, and when he awoke, the 

 passage translated itself. Afterwards, 

 when he was puzzled, he tried a reasonable 

 time, and if not successful, he put the diffi- 

 culty and himself to sleep together, and the 

 solution invariably occured . ^^0; >. «? 



If every person who suffers a loss, sus- 

 tains an injury, receives an affront, is sul> 

 jected to an insult, or placed in a difficulty, 

 could have a good sleep before the trouble 

 is examined and disposed of, one half of all 

 the hardship would usually be gone, and 

 what was left would be more readily dealt 

 with. 



As a rule, those discourses, lectures and 

 sermons which induce sleep, ought to be 

 slept out. If the air be bad from closeness 

 or heat, or the position be unfavorable, or 

 the light be weary, the fault may not be in 

 the discourse; but as a rule, discourses 

 which make us sleepy are not worth hear 

 ing. 



We had a fellow student who had in him 

 some of the spice of life,* fun and wit. He 

 had fever, and his good aunts were very 

 anxious about him. One day they were 

 questioning the physician as to the best 

 means of obtaining sleep for him. He re- 

 commended a hop pillow and a composing 

 draught. "Oh!" said my fellow student, 

 "bring our minister here, and let him preach 

 to me; I shall be sure to go to sleep in a 

 quarter of an hour." • ^ ri',!< iiii-^» 



