ABOLISHING SLEEP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19032, 9 June 1924, Page 8

ABOLISHING SLEEP

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 wake him up. The human brain, they say, is to be considered as a storage battery; while it can supply electric energy to the rest of the organism we develop our 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 re-charge the battery of the brain. This process, it is believed, can be completed in a quarter of an hour So the happy men of to-morrow will not go to bed of nights, they will merely sit down, apply “a direct electric current” to their brain-cells, and "start another day’s work.” In the interests of public order we have concealed the names of the doctors who propose this future for humanity. But there seems to be no doubt that they sincerely believe themselves to be working for our good, and expect our gratitude. Such an electrical existence as they offer us would, w’e are assured, add "17 waking years” to the duration of life of the average man. It is hardly worth while to point out that no one can tell how long a nightly electrified brain would be of any use to the owner. The average man would rather live the life of Mr Wardle’s Fat Boy than such a one as this.