=Its Necessity.=--Rest is as necessary as exercise. We cannot be active
continually. Repose must succeed labor. Alfred the Great is credited
with the recommendation that each day be divided into three parts,
eight hours for labor, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for
sleep.
=Change of Employment.=--A change of occupation affords rest. The wood
chopper finds relief from his ax by using his saw. A different set of
muscles is brought into play. Persons might often save themselves from
excessive fatigue by the adoption of this principle. When physical
labor is made to alternate with mental activity, the sense of rest is
more apparent.
=Sleep.=--The best form of rest is found in sleep. All voluntary
activity then ceases. Even the involuntary processes of circulation
and respiration seem to share in the general restfulness, for during
sleep their action is more tardy, and, as a result, the temperature of
the body is somewhat lower. More covering is needed during sleep than
during the waking hours.
While the body is in action, the process of pulling down predominates,
but during sleep nutrition goes on, the wasted tissues are built up,
and we rise refreshed and prepared for the new day’s duties.
=Amount of Sleep.=--All persons do not require the same amount of
sleep. It is said that Frederick the Great slept only five hours each
night. Napoleon Bonaparte could pass days with only a few hours’ rest.
Persons whose labors are mental require more sleep than those who work
with their hands.
The average person in good health requires eight hours’ sleep.
Children, invalids, and the aged need more. Those who take less
should make a careful study of themselves to ascertain whether they
get all the refreshment of mind and body that they need. If sleep is
insufficient, it will show itself sooner or later in general lassitude
and weakness. The imperative demands of Nature are shown in the
recorded instances of sailors on war vessels falling asleep on the
gun-deck while their ships were in action, of soldiers falling asleep
on the march, and even persons falling asleep on the rack in the
intervals of their torture.
=Position While Sleeping.=--An active, healthy child will sleep well
in almost any position, but a nervous, wakeful person, who is obliged
night after night to woo sleep, must study what conditions are most
conducive to its attainment.
Most persons sleep best on the right side. In this position the
stomach is easily emptied, and the liver does not press upon the heart
and stomach. Those affected with heart trouble will experience less
oppression and distress in this position than by sleeping on either the
back or on the left side.
=The Pillow.=--A high pillow, especially if firm and unyielding, cramps
the neck and interferes with respiration and circulation. Some writers
upon health advocate the use of no pillow, but most persons, either
from habit or for more substantial reasons, find a pillow of moderate
size to be of advantage.
=The Mattress.=--The old-time bed-ticking filled with clean oats straw,
thoroughly shaken up each day, and renewed once or twice a year, made a
thoroughly comfortable and wholesome bed. In these modern days, hair,
cotton, felt, and corn husk are the substances most commonly employed.
A good mattress is neither too soft nor too hard, but yields to the
exterior bony processes of the body without engulfing the sleeper.
Feathers, once very widely used, are now generally condemned by
physicians and sanitarians.
=Rest During the Day.=--Almost everyone has experienced the
invigorating influence of an after-dinner nap during the long days of
summer. Many persons would accomplish more work by taking a rest of ten
or fifteen minutes once or twice a day at all seasons of the year. To
women in poor health, and to those who are overworked, this suggestion
has special application. It not only rests the tired muscles but it
soothes the nerves, and serves as a most refreshing tonic. Instead
of being a loss of time, it will prove to be time saved. More actual
work, both of hands and brain, will be accomplished, and with less
expenditure of vital force. Dr. William Pepper accomplished an immense
amount of work with but very little sleep. It was not unusual for him,
when sorely in need of rest, to break off in the midst of his work, lie
down and immediately go to sleep, and after five or ten minutes wake up
refreshed.