When Sentries Doze.

Otago Witness, Issue 2391, 28 December 1899, Page 66

When Sentries Doze.

The hour of 4 a.m. has something mysterious about it. Cocks crow, people on thp brink of death give up the ghost, everyone who is asleep sleeps sounder, and even the watchful sentry can't always keep his eyes open.

At this hour people are in their weakest state, and, if life is just on the flicker, it is not surprising that it goes out. Many a. man's life, has been fared bj' si ppoon£ul-.of brandy or ammonia administored just when the clock strikes 4.

The period of deepest sleep varies from 3 o'clock to 5. An hour or two after going to bed you f-lecp very soundly ; then your slumber grow, gradually lighter, and it is easy enough to waken you at lor 2 o'clock. But when 4- o'clock comes you are in such a rtate of Fomnolenco that you would take no notice of tho end of the world.

Military men arc well aware of this curious fact, and they often make fuclden assaults on camps or citie3 between 3 and 5, for they know that at that time the most wideawake sentry is liable to doze.

Strangely, at the corresponding time in the afternoon, mo3t people feel a bit done up. Whether it is due to- the electrical condition of the atmosphere, or to the position of the sun, no one knows. But it .is a fact that the nervous system, brain, and lungs are most vigorous from about 10 or 11 o'clock (night and morning) to 12 or 1, and at their •lowest ebb between 3 and 5.