THE MYSTERY OF SLEEP.
[TO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sm,—Science and common experience agree in teaching that sleeplessness is • the result of over-activity of brain. We are told, and we know, that we cannot -go to sleep unless we are in a quiescent state. But I think that we do_ not sufficiently recognise how much .1:tower resides in us for. chasing away the ideas which, as soon as we lie down in the hbpe'of rest, crowd into the brain and keep it awake. Those suffering from insomnia are apt indignantly to deny that they possess this power. Of course, as for everything: else, practice is required in its exercise, but some persons have a wonderful facility. in sleeping at will, The stock remedies for sleepless-. ness, such as counting sheep or repeating verses, demand too much effort, and sometimes prove more exciting than soothing.
I can suggest a simpler plan, which has been found efficacious. It is this : to fix the attention for some minutes on the return of circulation to the hands or the feet. I say on the return, for when the head is once relieved from thinking, the blood resumes its normal flow. Perhaps for some time only quietude, not sleep, will be secured, but the one usually leads to the other. And this method has excellent results when rest is sought in day-time for the tired brain. After it has been carried out as completely as possible for ten minutes, one is pleased to find that the faculties are surprisingly revivified, whereas a much longer rest, without control of mental activity, does little good. The repose thus obtained is even preferable to sleep, because an excited brain is sure to fatigue itself by dreaming. My suggestion is in accordance with the well-known fact that undivided attention to one object produces somnolence.—I am, Sir, &c., E. A. M.
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