TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13719, 28 April 1910, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Who has not pondered "Nature's upon the mysteries of Soft sleep? It cannot be Nurse." bought with rubies, and

yet its beneficence falls upon the just and unjust alike. The prince may oppress the peasant, yet he cannot rob him of the God-given gift of sleep. And who can measure.the torture of those for whom Nature's soft nurse has no message ? How do we go to sleep? First of all the muscular system begins to hod, a,nd afterwards the various powers of mind succumb in regular order. Attention and judgment are the earliest faculties to withdraw their aid. Then memory goes wool-gathering, and the imagination plays weird pranks in unrestrained inconsequence. Ideas of time and space fade away in delicious languor; the special senses lose grip, the eyelids close, tbe eyeballs turn upwards and inwards, and the pupils contract. The ears next go off : duty. The heart beats more and more.Blowly, and its work is reI duced by five thousand beat- or so during the night. The temperature falls ; by two degrees, and the body loses three j times less heat than during the waking hours'. And then the proceed. is complete—sleep, gentle sleep, is securely enthroned. According to Dr. Alexander Bryce, the first few hours of slumber are the most valuable. He believes that Nature has no rule as to the length of sleep, save that men need less than women, since the latter are more sensitive and their hearts beat five-times more in a, minute than men's. It will be comforting to many (and especially in the prevailing cold weather) to learn that Dr. Bryce believes the habit of early rising has gone far to wreck,the constitution of many a growing youth. How important is sound sleep may be judged from the authoritative statement that five absolutely sleepless nights are enough to cause death, and > that two may cause hallucinations. To cure insomnia, Dr. Bryce declare- that Nature's system of destroying consciousness must be followed. He recommends that the most comfortable position should be sought; and then, with the lips closed but not compressed, the lower jaw should be dropped, the tongue relaxed, the eyes gently closed, and the exposed ear covered with the bed-clothes. The muscles of tho feet, legs, thighs, and arms should bo next relaxed, and lastly, it should be imagined that the eyes are looking away to the distant horizon. Sleep may then bo expected to follow. , A little practice gives expertness in this method— this simple imitation of the physiological stages of natural sleep—and once it is mastered, Dr. Bryce claims that many hundreds of doses of dangerous hypnotics may be avoided. To-day's cable news reports Killed that an :apothecary crested by a sensation in an American Fright. Court by swallowing a por- . tion of a strychnine mixture while giving evidence in a murder trial, and that when the defence protested against this startling exhibition, he replied that he took the mixture as a* remedy against palpitation or tho heart. This dramatic incident recalls a remarkable murder trial that took place recently at Birmingham, in which a young man was charged with jtoisoning his aged mother with cyanide of potassium. It appears that in November accused announced that his mother ■was ill, and had made a will in ibis favour, and on the strength of that he

borrowed money. He bought cyanide of potassium, which he said he wanted for hardening tools, and took it to his mother's house. After being found in her house very unwell on Christmas Eve, and subsequently recovering, the woman was found dead on the following Sunday evening. On a table in front of her was a lemonade bottle and a. glass three-parts full of a liquid containing cyanide of potassium. The peculiar feature of the case was that the post mortem revealed no cause of death, and analysis showed that tho cyanide in the liquid was not sufficient to be fatal. Under these circumstances the prosecution abandoned the charge of having committed murder by poisoning, and substituted a charge of attempted murder, the opinion of medical men being that death was due to fright or some external circumstance. Ihe prosecution suggested that on putting the liquid to her lips the woman leceived such a shock on realising that it was poisoned, that it led to syncope. The woman had been previously upset by the knowledge that her son had given her laudanum. A sensational turn was given to tlie case when tlie Judge suggested mixing a solution similar to that found in the glass on the table. Turning to the jury, he said: "I want you to be able to judge of the smell of the stuff just as it was when the woman picked it up." His lordship then handed the glass to the jury, and invited them to take a sip of the mixture, assuring them that it contained far less than the five grains of cyanide that would 1>- necessary to kill. The jury were sufficiently trustful to sample the poison, and counsel followed. suit. The Judge, in summing up, stated that the jury must agree with him that the mixture was most offensive, and that anyone about to take it would receive a severe shock. The jury returned a verdict of attempted murder, and the Judge, in -Ci'tencing accused to per.al servitude for life, remarked that lie was satisfied that accused's design was to kill .his mother by slowly poisoning her.

Elevation to tho House Peerage of Lords is an expensive Expenses, honour. A writer in

"T.P."s Weekly" pointout that Mr Herbert Gladstone will be charged £467 4s 6d for tho privilegof calling himself Viscount Gladstone, zand Mr Ivor Guest, who was created a peer about tho same time, will havo tc pay £360 17s. Tho reason for tho difference is that Mr Guest has been made a mere baron, a rank lower than that of viscount. The charges are made Up of* stamp duties, Crown Office fees, and Home Office fees. In these days of peer-baiting, the .authorities might waive the odd sixpences, and even tho odd shillings, but tho fees are exacted to tho- last penny," and terms are strictly cash. However, poor inon aro not made Peers, and the authorities no doubt consider that the honour is choap at the price/ As one goes up in the scalo of the peerage, the fees inorease, a'duke being called upon to pay over £BQD from an income sadly depleted by Radical incursions. Then there are tho robe 3of tho new dignity to be purchasod. These are elaborate and expensive, but rarely worn. Radical cartoonists love to depict poens in their coronets, as if these were daily worn, and probably some people really think that the peers wear these insignia during debates. But the only occasions on which they are used are coronations, cr when a peer sits in state for a photograph or portrait. It is whispered that some peers do not go to the expense of buying robes and coronets, but borrow or hire them for the occasion. Perhaps among the dark secrets of tho peerage there are cases of coronets being entrusted to the safe keeping of gentlemen willing to advance money upon them. On what is rumoured to be in some cases the heaviest item in the bill of ooste of admission to tho Lords the article is diaoreetly silent. It is charged against both parties that in some cases a substantial contribution to party funds is a necessary preliminary to elevation, and tho amounts mentioned in one or two cases have been almost staggering. This, however, is a point on which the world will probably never be fully enlightened. If there axe such transactions, they are secrets that ane. well kept.-