ABOUT SLEEPLESSNESS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XLIII, Issue 2287, 4 March 1912, Page 7

ABOUT SLEEPLESSNESS.

WHY YOU WAKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. A foreign specialist, Dr. Boris Sidis, has made some important and highly interesting contributions to '' the rather meagre information con- < ccrning the exact causes of sleep and the mysterious influences by which sleep may be forced upon persons a nd J lower animals even against their wish. Possibly from a feeling that it is a subject for psychologists to spin their webs about, doctors have J given comparatively little attention to this phase, of life. Dr. Sidis" gives us something more practical to consider than such flimsy explanations as "sleep is the resting state of consciousness" or ; "a torpor of the sensorium." He first found that when a frog was | held on its back and stroked gently it closed its eyes and remained very , quiet, apparently in a deep "sleep." . The same condition was produced in other frogs when a cloth was put over the eyes so as to exclude all light, or they were fastened shut j with liquid court plaster. When a | blind frog was turned on its back it j remained "as if frozen or turned to j stone." When put in such awkward or unnatural positions as a sitting posture or hanging over the edge of a jar it remained so until disturbed, j In slightly lesser degree young guinea pigs exhibited the same phenomena when subjected to the same conditions. When young kittens were wrapped j in a cloth so as to restrict all voluntary movements, and their eyes were held closed by the operator, they very quickly ceased to struggle, and in a few seconds w r ere fast asleep so that the eyalids resisted all efforts to open them. Slight; pinching or movement of the limbs did not disdisturb them in the least. Tickling the paws had no effect, and when sounds were made close to the ears or the nostrils were tickled they made only very slight movements and tho eyes remained firmly shut. When aroused from this condition the kittens "yawned and stretched their paws, looked sleepy and reacted sluggishly to external stimulations." By the same method and with the same ease young dogs were put to sleep at will. With babies and young children Dr. Sidis seems to have had as little difficulty, as sometimes simply by closing the eyes and restraining the movements of limbs a sound sleep was produced. At other times in addition to closing the eyes it was necessary to pat the back while some monotonous song was sung. Merely placing an older child in a darkened room, closing its eyes and causing it to lie quietly while some monotonous sound, such as that a metronome or electric battery produces, was sufficient to induce sleep. The reader will no doubt exclaim that these are the ordinary methods employed by every mother. Quite so ; but it is the explanation which is of interest, and some mothers and fathers may find considerable satisfaction in knowing that their methods of quieting the child have been according to scientific principle and the best available. Dr. Sidis finds in all his experiments that the conditions most disposing to sleep are monotony, limitation of voluntary movements and restriction of the field of consciousness. If single-cell animals of the amoeba class are repeatedly stimulated by a certain strength of electric current, says Dr. Sidis, they soon cease to respond to the strength of stimulus and can only be made to contract by a stronger or different one. The same is true of collections of cells, such as muscle, which when artificially stimulated by a current of constant strength soon shows signs of fatigue and responds with shorter and shorter contractions unless the stimulant is altered. In nerve centres we have the same j characteristics. Our sense of smell is soon exhausted for a continuous odour, and the miller falls asleep under the monotonous hum of his mill and only awakes when it ceases or changes. Thus we find that it is an inherent quality of all living matter that its activity makes it less sensitive to stimulation, and if we are dealing with brain centres we see why a monotonous lullaby and repeated stimulation of rubbing or patI ting raise the threshold of consciousness to the point that these stimuli can no longer enter, and we sleep. With regard to the limitation of voluntary movement, this also tends to produce monotony by removing a large mass of varying sensations which would otherwise be pouring intd consciousness from muscles, joints and skin: In lower animals and children there is no inner mental i life of thought, and their conscious- ! ness is due only to stimulation from i without, of which the muscles afford a large part. Limiting the field of consciousness by closing the eyes or withdrawing ' from varying sounds naturally produces monotony also and less stimulation of centres. But, according to Dr. Sidis, considering all these factors that aid in the production of sleep, it is not so important to do away with sensation as to do away with its invariability, for the centres* are soon insensitive to continuous , stimuli of the same strength. If during sleep an appreciable change in the total mass of the stimuli or a considerable change in some of them occurs, the individual awakes. It is possible that only a sufficient change may occur in some [ stimuli to make the person awake ito these while he is asleep to all else. It is in this condition that ! dreams occur, and we do not dream j when asleep, but when awake. It is thus that the mother, nurse, 0 r physician may be sound asleep even to loud noises but wide awake to the ! slightest change in their charges.-