NIGHT AND MORNING WORK.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2433, 23 January 1882, Page 4

NIGHT AND MORNING WORK.

£" Queen."} Tho custom of consuming " the midnight oil," which was formerly common amongst great numbers of literary men and students, has unfortunately extended itself to women, many of whom work at intellectual labours into the small hours of tho morning. The injurious effect of night work, not only on the physical, but also on the intellectual powers, is much more marked in the cise of women than in men, and wo are exceedingly pleased to see that our medical contemporary, the " Lancet," has devoted a portion of its columns to pointing out the nature of the evil effected by the custom on the human constitution. The following, which we quote from its article on the subject, is indisputably correot: —

The habit of writing and reading late in the day and far into tho night, " for the sake of quiet," is one of the most mischievous to whioh a man of mind can addict himself. When the body is jailed tho spirit may seem to be at rest, and not eo easily distracted by the surroundings which we think less obtrusive than in tho day; but this seeming is a snare. When the body is weary, the brain, whioh is an integral part of the body, is weary too.

Setting aside the fact that the work done at night is never so good as that accomplished after the body is refreshed by sleep, we come to the effects of tho practice. Bsmotely, or later on, comes the penalty to bo paid for unnatural exertion—that is, energy wrung from exhausted or weary nervecentroß under pressure. This penalty takes the form of " nervousness," perhaps sleeplessness, almost certainly some loss or depreciation of funotion in one or more of the great organs concerned in nutrition. To relieve theso maladies—springing from this unsuspected oauso—the brain-worker very likely ha; recourse to the use of stimulants, possibly alcoholic, or it may be simply tea or coffee. The sequel need not be followed. Nightwork during student life and in after years is the fruitful cause of much unexplained, though by no means inexplicable suffering, for which it is difficult if not impossible to find a remedy. There are now so many womon students working not only for the sake of intellectual acquirements, but also for honors and future success in the groat battle of life, that we cannot refrain from directing their attention to the warnings of our medical contemporary on the subject.