The Philosophy of Sleep

while the wan, unhealthy countenances and enfeebled frames of those who keep late hours, lie long in bed, and pass the night in dissipation, study, or pleasure, are equally conclusive proofs of the pernicious consequences resulting from an opposite practice.

Early rising, therefore, is highly beneficial; but care should be taken not to carry it to excess. It can never be healthful to rise till the sun has been for some time above the horizon; for, until this is the case, there is a dampness in the air which must prove injurious to the constitution, especially when it is not naturally very strong. Owing to this, early rising is injurious to most delicate people; and, in all cases, the heat of the sun should be allowed to have acquired some strength before we think of getting out of doors. No healthy man in the summer, should lie longer in bed than six o'clock. If he does so, he loses the most valuable part of the day, and injures his own constitution. Persons subject to gout, should always go to sleep early, and rise early. The former mitigates the violence of the evening paroxysm, which is always increased by wakefulness; and the latter lessens the tendency to plethora, which is favoured by long protracted sleep.

It is common in some of the foreign universities to go to bed at eight, and rise at three or four in the morning; and this plan is recommended by Willich in his "Lectures on Diet and Regimen." Sir John Sinclair, in allusion to it, judiciously observes, "I have no doubt of the superior healthiness, in the winter time, of rising by day-light, and using candle-light at the close of the day, than rising by candle-light, and using it some hours before day-light approaches. It remains to be ascertained by which system the eyes are least likely to be affected."

Dr. Franklin, in one of his ingenious Essays, has some fine observations on early rising; and makes an amusing calculation of the saving that might be made in the city of Paris alone, by using the sunshine instead of candles. This saving he estimates at 96,000,000 of livres, or £4,000,000 sterling. This is mentioned in a satirical vein, but probably there is a great deal of truth in the statement. deed, if people were to go sooner to bed, and get up earlier, it is inconceivable what sums might be saved; but, according to the absurd custom of polished society, day is, in a great measure, converted into night, and the order of things reversed in a manner at once capricious and hurtful.

To conclude. The same law which regulates our desire for food, also governs sleep. As we indulge in sleep to moderation or excess, it becomes a blessing or a curse- -in the one case recruiting the energies of nature, and diffusing vigour alike over the mind and frame: in the other, debasing the character of man, stupifying his intellect, enfeebling his body, and rendering him useless alike to others and to himself. The glutton, the drunkard, and the sloven bear the strictest affinity to each other, both in the violation of nature's laws, and in the consequences thence entailed upon themselves. What in moderation is harmless or beneficial, in excess is a curse; and sleep, carried to the latter extreme, may be pronounced an act of intemperance almost as much as excessive eating or drinking.

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