BLUE SLEEP.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4527, 23 September 1875, Page 3

BLUE SLEEP.

(From the New York Times.) One of the pleasantest of the quaint fancies that Sir Arthur Helps scattered freely through " Kealmah," '. was that of buying sleep. In that strange country where " tired nature 8 sweet restorer" could be bought, there were three grades of it, of corresponding prices, of which the costliest was of a palo bluo color. This plunged, or rather sank, the happy buyer into profound and dreamless sleep ; whereas the cheaper kinds oidy procured the lighter form of rest and forgetfulness which we call slumber. .... Strange as it seems, sleep is the greatest need of man, next to air. He can live on a very little food and drink, but any continuous reduction of his hours of sleep, even in moderate proportion, results in insanity or in death. Wo havs said that this is strange ; and is it not so-i.tl»t the greatest boon and the greatest need in life .should be absolute oblivion ? that to enjoy, indeed to endure, two-thirds of life wo must pass one-third, or nearly that proportion of it in a state of absolute unconsciousness. Tor sleep to be perfectly refreshing should be dreamless. What a waste of existence this seems to bo ! It is the absolute striking out of one-third of a life not too long, except to those whose days are without joy" and whose hearts without hope. Looked at in a certain way, too, it seems unnecessary, and unsatisfactory. Wa all crave sleep, and if it does not come at outbidding, we toss and worry and fret ourselves into a condition entirely unfit for sleep. And yet all that we know, and, therefore, all that wo enjoy of what wa so much long for, is the consciousness of falling into it, and that of coming out of it, refreshed. The rest is blank, silent, unconscious darkness. So far as we ourselves know, we simply are not. What a saving of life it would be if we could summon sleep when we chose to do so, enjoy for a few moments that sweet, consoling consciousness of sinking away into perfect rest, and, after remaining a few moments in absolute and dreamless sleep, have the sensation of returning consciousness, refreshment, and restored vigor of mind and body ! Could even a babe wake up other than good-natured under such circumstances i It is toward such a Utopia of sleep that Helps' fancy points—perfect rest and restoration to be had at pleasure. And his bluo I sleep was not, in one respect, altogether a

fancy ; for the fashion of buying sleep has become -very common, or at least far too common, of late years. It is probable that Helps did not have this in mind, because the use of the sleeping-draught to which we refer was not very prevalent when he wrote "Realmah." He probably had in mind only the desire for perfect sleep at will. Unfortunately, many persons suppose that this blue sleep has actually been discovered in the drug known as chloral. There is no disputing that the discovery of the sleep-giving powers of chloral and bromide of potassium is a great benefit to mankind. These drugs bring sleep more effectually than opium does, and the sleep that they bring is far better, both in its soothing and restorative quality. And they do not produce, at least immediately, the bad reaction which follows the xise of opiates. To men who have been worked and worried into a state in which sleep has become almost impossible, the administration of bromide of potassium—under the direction, be it observed, of a competent physician—will. gradually bring back the priceless boon of self-forgetful-ness. To poor Macbeth, driven mad with remorse and responsibility, his cold, fell, unimaginative wife says, "You lack the season of all natures, sleep." And bromide of potassium might have saved him frum the condition into which he fell, but it would not have touched her case when, broken down by the weight against which his strength doggedly rose, she became a somnambulist. She would have taken to chloral, but only to hasten her wreck of body and soul. Chloral is priceless when it-brings sleep to persons whose bodily or mental suffering keeps them otherwise in wakeful.ever-depressingconsciousnessof all their pain. . It is almost as valuable an agent as its kindred substance, chloroform. But both may be easily abused, and both are abused by being taken on slight occasion, or on no occasion, by persons who wish, in the case of chloroform, a kind of excitement followed by oblivion, and in that of chloral, to wake when they choose, and sleep when they choose. The latter abuse is, as that of opium formerly was, chiefly, although not exclusively, on the part of women —the very half of the race whose nerves and whose organisations are least able to bear it. The bottle of chloral has taken the place of the laudanum bottle in the secret drawer of many dressing bureaus ; but it will hardly supplant it entirely, for it does not produce the exhilarating effects which' are sought by the opium-eater. But although, so far as we yet know, chloral is not quite sp destructive as opium in its effects upon those who do not kill themselves out and out with it, as some do, its common use. is .one of the most pernicioua of the prevalent habits of the day. True, it brings sleep ; but the sleep that it brings is not natural. The knowledge of this one fact should be enough to prevent any persen possessing average common sense from using it, except in case of severe illness, or mental distress, and then never without competent medical advice. It may be taken for granted that any physical action or inaction that does not come naturally, is, to a certain degree at least, bad, and permanently injurious, and that if it be continuous, disastrous—if not fatal—results will follow. It is all very fine to think that we can buy our blue sleep; but we cannot. Nature did not mean that we should, and she, if not a little wiser, is at least stronger than we are, and we disobey her at our peril. Sound, healthy sleep is a consequence—the consequence of an exhaustion of. nervous energy, by mental or physical exertion, or by both, in a healthy person. To such persons sweet, dreamless sleep will come of itself. Those to whom such sleep does not come need one of two things—health, or so much healthy exercise of mind or body, or of both, as will tire them moderately every day ; and to a healthy person to be moderately tired, with a sure prospect of rest, is a not unpleasant sensation. Ladies who would not go through life with shattered nerves as hopeless invalids, should seek sleep by living sensibly and working moderately, and throwing the chloral bottle out of the window.