Some more phenomena of sleep and dream : paper read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain / by the President, Mr. Serjeant Cox.

  • Cox, Edward W. (Edward William), 1809-1879.
Date:
[1877]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some more phenomena of sleep and dream : paper read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain / by the President, Mr. Serjeant Cox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    2/12 (page 2)
    Canst thou, 0 partial Sleep, give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude And, in the calmest and most stilly night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king p What is this coveted sleep that least comes when it is most courted ? Viewed physiologically, it is a collapse of the fibres of the brain, either caused by or causing (as yet we know not which) the expulsion of a portion of the blood from the capillaries with which the brain is everywhere interlaced. Wakefulness is the direct result of the brain refusing to collapse and therefore continuing in tho same turgid condition as when it is performing the work of waking life. Natural causes of this refusal to collapse are over excite- ment of the whole or a part of the brain (as the leg re- fuses to rest after excessive walking); or an inflammatory or congested condition of the brain, as in some fevers and notably in that which is called brain fever. And wakefulness may be artificially produced by stimu- lants that do the work of disease, keeping the brain fibres in forced action by blood purposely sent to them. This sketch of the physiology of sleep teaches some useful lessons. It explains the difficulty of forcing oneself to sleep and the futility of the prescriptions for sleep proffered to the sufferer from sleeplessness, all being based upon the notion of fixing the mind upon one subject, as counting imaginary sleep, making believe that you watch your breath, and such like. It is because the brain is in a state of excitement and will wander that the patient is unable to sleep. He cannot concentrate his mind on one thought. If he could, he would fall asleep without troubling himself to count a flock of sheep. [166]