SLEEP-DREAMING.

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LEEP is a condition of repose in the nervous system, along with the loss of sensation and every form of consciousness, and is as necessary as a restorative as daily food. Night, of course, is the proper season for sleep; but how long the sleep should continue, is not so certain. Some persons will remain in good health with but six hours' sleep in the twenty-four hours, while others need seven, eight, or nine. is considered a fair allowance, and, circumstances, you should not exceed that amount.

Seven to eight hours unless in particular

Although sleep is a natural and involuntary state, it may be greatly promoted by maintaining a good state of health; by daily open-air exercise, or by riding or sailing with the face exposed to the air; by having the stomach free from a heavy meal, or any indigestible substance; and by the mind being undisturbed with cares. Over-fatigue, indulgence in food or drink beyond what nature requires, want of proper exercise, and mental disquietude, are all causes of sleeplessness. Breathing in a confined or overheated apartment is also a not unusual cause of broken slumber. The temperature most suitable for sleep is about 60°, which gives the sensation of neither heat nor cold, and admits of few bed-clothes being used.

The best posture for sleep is to lie on the right or left side, with the arms crossed over the breast in front, and the head well up on the pillow. The mouth should be shut, so that the breathing may be carried on exclusively through the nose. Some persons acquire a habit of sleeping with the mouth open,

which causes the grotesque and offensive action of snoring. Going to sleep while lying on the back should be avoided, as, besides inducing the sleeper to snore, it is apt to cause disturbing dreams.

It is very injurious to sleep with the head under the bedclothes; for in that case the sleeper continually inhales impure air. It is, for a similar reason, improper to draw curtains close round the bed. When the air of the room is agreeable, the better plan is to sleep in a bed without curtains. Should the apartment be ill ventilated, you may let the door stand partly open; but opening the window is not commendable, for it may let in a draught of cold air.

It is likewise improper to sleep in the shirt which is used during the day. Every one ought to have a suitable night-shirt of cotton, to be put on when going to bed, and taken off in the morning. On rising, the bed-clothes should be thrown down, and the room cooled and ventilated.

When lying down to sleep, the mind should be as composed as possible. Thinking ought to be guarded against, as productive of wakefulness. Those who, from nervous irritability, are habitually bad sleepers, resort to various expedients to secure the blessing of repose. One of the most successful plans consists in mentally repeating a familiar poem or psalm, so as to alter the train of thought, and lull the consciousness. We know a person who can generally insure sleep by repeating Goldsmith's Edwin and Angelina. A recent writer has suggested a strange method by which the wakeful may fall into a slumber. After lying down, shutting our eyes, and composing ourselves, we are told to think that we see the breath issuing from our nostrils, and to keep this idea firmly fixed in the mind till we are overtaken by an oblivion of the senses. This odd expedient

can be tried.

Some years ago, a medical man in London, of good character, advertised that he had discovered a process by which any person

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might procure sound and refreshing sleep at will. His plan was simply to place the body and limbs in the easiest possible posture, and then fix the eyes intently upon some small object on the wall or roof, till they closed of their own accord.

Sleeplessness, however, may be best averted by that kind of moderate and happy exercise of the mental and physical nature to which we have already called attention. If you would wish to sleep soundly, do nothing either to harass the mind or disorder the body. 'Sleep,' says Johnson, 'as the chief of all earthly blessings, is justly appropriated to industry and temperance; the refreshing rest, and the peaceful night, are the portion only of him who lies down weary with honest labour, and free from the fumes of indigested luxury; it is the just doom of laziness and gluttony, to be inactive without ease, and drowsy without tranquillity. Sleep,' adds this pious writer, 'has been often mentioned as the image of death; 66 'so like it," says Sir Thomas Browne, "that I dare not trust it without my prayers:" their resemblance is, indeed, apparent and striking; they both, when they seize the body, leave the soul at liberty: and wise is he that remembers of both, that they can be safe and happy only by virtue.' *

It is a well-ascertained fact that sleep begins at the extremities; the feet sleep first, and then the rest of the person. On this account, in order to fall asleep, we require not only to compose the thinking faculties, but to keep the feet still. The feet must also have an agreeable warmth. With a consciousness of this fact, the North American Indians, when on distant expeditions, sleep with their feet towards a fire which they kindle for the purpose.

Certain drugs act as an opiate and produce sleep, when ordinary means fail; but these should never be taken unless by

* Adventurer, No. 39.

medical sanction. The practice of using opiates is most detrimental to health; and if persevered in, is ruinous to the constitution. Coffee and other beverages act variously on different individuals. They exhilarate some, and others they send to sleep. Tea usually acts as an exhilarant, by stimulating the nervous system, and should not be taken less than four hours before going to bed.

Dreaming is an exceedingly curious mental phenomenon, and was at one time so little understood as to be viewed with superstitious respect; even in the present day, among the uninstructed classes, dreams are supposed to be a supernatural foreshadowing of events. Let every one disabuse his mind of these fancies. Dreams are an invariable indication of imperfect sleep; they never occur when the sleeper is in a state of thorough repose. The explanation of dreams is this: The memory, imagination, and some other mental manifestations are awake; while the judgment and senses are asleep. The regulating principle being thus dormant or absent from its post, the wildest vagaries pass through the mind unchecked, and without a consciousness of their absurdity.

Whatever disturbs us during sleep tends to arouse the imaginative faculties and to cause a dream-that is, properly speaking, an imperfect train of thought. When the mind in its waking state has been overstrained by the deep consideration of a particular subject, or strongly affected by some passing scene or circumstance, a certain train of imperfect recollections intrudes on the sleeper as a dream.

The extravagant nature of dreams is aggravated by conditions which occur during sleep. If we are greatly heated, or suffer from indigestion, the dreams assume a somewhat corresponding character. Indigestion arising from a heavy supper produces a horrible kind of dreaming called nightmare. The sleeper perhaps imagines that demons sit oppressingly on his breast, mocking at his tortures; or he probably dreams that he is tossed about on

a troubled sea, and is every instant exposed to shipwreck; there is, indeed, no limit to the variety of his sufferings.

Sounds imperfectly heard during sleep usually produce dreams in which corresponding noises have a part. A loud sharp sound will perhaps cause us to dream that some one is knocking at the door, or that the house is falling with a crash. 'On the other hand,' as is observed by Macnish, a writer on the subject of sleep, the mind may be filled with imagery of a more pleasing character. The sound of a flute in the neighbourhood may invoke a thousand beautiful and delightful associations. The air is perhaps filled with the tones of harps, and all other varieties of music-nay, the performers themselves are visible; and while the cause of this strange scene is one trivial instrument, he may be regaled with a rich and melodious concert.'

The length of time which dreams seem to occupy deserves particular attention; for, according to the above writer, the longest dreams are probably transacted in a single instant. He proceeds to observe: 'When we are suddenly awaked from a profound slumber by a loud knock at, or by the rapid opening of, the door, a train of actions which it would take hours, or days, or even weeks to accomplish, sometimes passes through the mind. Time, in fact, seems to be in a great measure annihilated. An extensive period is reduced, as it were, to a single point, or rather a single point is made to embrace an extensive period. In one instant, we pass through many adventures, see many strange sights, and hear many strange sounds. If we are awaked by a loud knock, we have perhaps the idea of a tumult passing before us, and know all the characters engaged in it their aspects, and even their very names. If the door open violently, the flood-gates of a canal may appear to be expanding, and we may see the individuals employed in the process, and hear their conversation, which may seem an hour in length; if a light be brought into the room, the notion of