ABOLISHING SLEEP.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 August 1924, Page 3

ABOLISHING SLEEP.

BY MEANS OF AN ELECTRIC CURRENT. Two medical men have let it be known that they are collaborating in an attempt to abolish sleep. The idea is not new, the Daily Telegraph observes. Macbeth some time ago heard a voice cry, ‘‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.” The modern methods are, however, less violent than his. The two doctors have found reason to hope that the application of “a direct electric current” to the brain cells of a man who is feeling sleepy will make him wake up. The human brain, they say, is to be considered as a storage battery; while it can supply electric energy to normal horse power without feeling sleepy. When its electricity is exhausted we feel tired. Therefore, all that is needed to abolish the necessity for sleep is to recharge the battery of the brain. This process, it is believed, can be completed in a quarter of an hour. So- the happy men ol to-morrow' will not go to bed of nights, they will merely si( down, apply “a divert electric current” to- their brain cells, and start another day’s work. In the interests of public order we have concealed (lie names of the doctors who propose (his future for humanity. But there seems to be no doubt That, they sincerely believe I bom selves to be working for our good, and expect, our gratitude. Such an elect rified existence as they offer us would, we are assured, add “17 waking years” to the duration of life of the average man. it is hardly worth while to {mint out that no one can tell how long a nightly electrified brain would he of any use to the owner. The average man would rather lire the life of Air. Wardle’s fat Boy than such a one as his.