Dr. Corning drops a few simple hints which may be of value. In the first place, he insists that people should have a regular time for going to sleep, and it should be as soon as can well be after sunset. People who sleep at any time, according to convenience, get less benefit from their sleep than others; getting sleep becomes more difficult; there is a tendency to nervous excitability and derangement; the repair of the system does not equal the waste. The more finely organised people are, the greater the difficulty and the danger from this cause. The first thing in order to sleep well is to go to bed at a regular hour, and make it as early as possible. The next thing is to exclude all worry and exciting subjects of thought from the mind some time before retiring. The body and mind must be let down from the high-pressure strain before going to bed, so that nature can assert her rightful supremacy afterwards. Another point is, never to thwart the drowsy impulse when it comes at the regular time by special efforts to keep awake, for this drowsiness is the advance guard of healthy, restorative sleep. Sleep is a boon which must not be tampered with and put off, for if compelled to wait, it is never so perfect and restful as if taken in its own natural time and way. The right side is the best to sleep on, except in special cases of disease, and the position should be nearly horizontal. Finally, the evening meal should be composed of food most easily digested and assimilated, so that the stomach will have little hard work to do. A heavy, rich dinner taken in the evening is one of the things that murder sleep, says Dr. Corning; yet many people will say just the opposite, and find they sleep most readily on a full stomach; obviously this rule varies with surrounding conditions. Late suppers with exciting foods and stimulating drinks make really restorative sleep next to impossible. Narcotics are to be avoided, save as used in cases of disease by competent physicians. The proper time, according to Dr. Corning, to treat sleeplessness is in the day-time, and it must be treated by a wise and temperate method of living rather than by medicines.
Dr. Rogers asserts that invalid children with little disposition to sleep may be induced to do so by placing their cots due north and south, with the child’s head to the north. There may be some truth in this popular superstition that the magnetic current induces sleep; but “due north” is not “magnetic north” by a long way.
Frank Buckland’s remedy for insomnia is “onions—simply common onions raw, but Spanish onions stewed will do.” The oil contained in onions, he thinks, has highly soporific powers, and in his own case they never fail.
Great benefit is sometimes derived from the use of a hop pillow on special occasions.
Snoring.—This is caused by sleeping with an open mouth. It is just possible that by a resolute and determined effort of will the habit may be overcome; breathing by day through the nostrils only and pursing up the mouth firmly will help much towards it. It is well to urge upon all parents and nurses the absolute necessity of their training all young children to sleep with mouth shut. Never allow an infant to get the contrary habit. Watch it in early life, and close its lips when it is falling off to sleep, which can easily be done with thumb and finger, holding them together for a few seconds. The habit thus acquired wards off consumption in after-life. Coughs and colds contribute to the tendency to snore by stopping the nostrils wholly or partially, thus rendering breathing through the mouth imperative. In this case, clear your nose well at night, using snuff if necessary, and keep your mouth closed.
Supplementary Literature.
Lady Barker: ‘The Bedroom and Boudoir.’ London, 1878. 2s. 6d.