INDUCING SLEEP.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 41, 21 November 1913, Page 1

INDUCING SLEEP.

«_».« , .Many devices (says l)r Uuthrio Rankin in .the 'Hospital') have been suggested :is means oi pi-sx.-tirii»jr sleep for tlioso who, apparently liciilUiy and freo Irom .strain ul'any kind, arc yet unable to command it. As a rule, but one to wliie.li there are maiiv exceptions, those who wish in sleep soundly should cease work I'm- an hour or more before going to bed. Other conditions being favorable, it i.s said, that if you think of nothing you will sleep, but it difficult for most men to completely control thought by an ell'oit, of the will. The drowsy eti'eft of monotony is a Well-known sedative, the enumeration ol Inures, the falling of rain, the lap of the. sea on a .shingly b.'ach, the droning voice of an un interest in;;, and prosv reader are example- familiar to us all. On thw principle it has been suggested that ideep may lie induced by an arrangement in the hi dreom whereby drops of water are allowed to fall at regular intervals into a resonant vessel, but this and all other such ingenious contrivances are for the most part useful just for so long as they are novel and apnly to the individual cnly. Similarly' it lias been urged that the system of tiring tho eyes by directing them to a .small beam of light placed in front and slightly ah,.ve their level is an inducement to (deep. This, again, is an inducement for individual aiiiilieation and borders on the larger question of hypnotism. In mild c.'<;.■, of iiH'omnia change of scene, a sea voyage, moderate exercise in the open air, temporary withdrawal irom the ordinary activities of life are, each and all of them minor measures not to be negleel<Hl. It must he remembered that in those who bleep lightly trivia! discomforts may be enough to produce sleepless night-. Cold feet, an unwise evening meal, an absorbing game, a heated discussion, a postponed hour of retirement, and a hundred other small departures from the accustomed routine may be responsible for a bad night, it is quite remarkable how this is exemplified in the common experiences of a sleepless nigbt on Sunday, when the usual activities of tho week are interrupted by comparative freedom from care, more than the usual amount of roiwee, and frequently also more than the usual average allowance of food and drink. Massage, especially when practised thoroughly and rapidly over the abdomen, a hot bath, a mustard loot bath, a wet pack applied to the trunk of the body, a hot drink fortified by alcohol, are ail homely measures which, by piovoking a temporary anaemia oi the brain, are conducive to the acquisition of refreshing sleep. Many forms of electricity have also been requisitioned with varying of success.