Both moderate exercise and properly digested food promote healthy
sleep at night. Never eat heavy suppers just before going to bed,
and avoid the other extreme of going to bed with an empty stomach
after many hours' fasting. A liglit and simple supper about an hour
before retiring will help you to sleep well. Stimulants, like strong
tea, should be avoided at night. A glass of pure, fresh milk before
going to bed will quiet the nerves and assist repose. A little pure
Holland gin may be added to it in case of age and debility. Nar-
cotics should not be taken except under positive medical advice, as
when once commenced they are very difficult to dispense with. It
is better in many cases to get half a night's rest naturally than sleep
soundly the whole night under opiates. Where stimulants are taken,
you should measure the dose just as you would medicine, and limit
yourself rigorously to the quantity that does you good. In the vigor
of life and health it is as foolish to accustom one's self to alcoholic
stimulants as it would be to live on borrowed money while one has
plenty of one's own lying idle at the bank. So far as stimulants are
useful it is not as beverages but as tonics, to arrest physical waste,
not to create it.
THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. iS'
J
The breathing of pure air is essential to health. Some people have
such a dread of fresh air that they let it in during the daytime as if
they were admitting an objectionable visitor on the sly, and at night-
time they say to it: " Now, Fresh Air, it is our bed-time, and it is
time for you to go." Down goes every window and every door is
shut close. The fold is made air-tight for the night, and the family
wonders why they rise feverish in the morning and have sallow com-
plexions and suffer with coughs and chest troubles. Always let fresh
air into your bedroom while you sleep. This does not mean that
you are to sleep in a draught ; but let there be sufficient ventilation
to keep impure air out of your lungs.
As for changes of clothing, common sense should teach you how
to dress in season. But in a changeable climate you should be con-
stantly on your guard to adapt the thickness of your coverings to
the temperature of the day. The weather is a deceitful prophet, and
you may have deep reason to regret the sudden leaving off of wraps.
But your own sense must guide you in this matter, for every one is
his own guardian in matters of health.
Indeed, the strange thing is that to rational human beings any advice
or rules should be necessary. It is a humiliating fact that there are
people who have to be reminded that they need washing and exer-
cise, care in eating and drinking, proper changes of raiment and the
like. It is painful to be a cross-questioning missionary of cleanliness
and have to ask people whether they clean their teeth, pare thetr
nails, or brush their hair.
Page 115
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Both moderate exercise and properly digested food promote healthy sleep at night. Never eat heavy suppers just before going to bed, and avoid the other extreme of going to bed with an empty stomach after many hours' fasting. A light and simple supper about an hour before retiring will help you to sleep well. Stimulants, like strong tea, should be avoided at night. A glass of pure, fresh milk before going to bed will quiet the nerves and assist repose. A little pure Holland gin may be added to it in case of age and debility. Narcotics should not be taken except under positive medical advice, as when once commenced they are very difficult to dispense with. It is better in many cases to get half a night's rest naturally than sleep soundly the whole night under opiates. Where stimulants are taken, you should measure the dose just as you would medicine, and limit yourself rigorously to the quantity that does you good. In the vigor of life and health it is as foolish to accustom one's self to alcoholic stimulants as it would be to live on borrowed money while one has plenty of one's own lying idle at the bank. So far as stimulants are useful it is not as beverages but as tonics, to arrest physical waste, not to create it.
J
The breathing of pure air is essential to health. Some people have such a dread of fresh air that they let it in during the daytime as if they were admitting an objectionable visitor on the sly, and at nighttime they say to it: " Now, Fresh Air, it is our bed-time, and it is time for you to go." Down goes every window and every door is shut close. The fold is made air-tight for the night, and the family wonders why they rise feverish in the morning and have sallow complexions and suffer with coughs and chest troubles. Always let fresh air into your bedroom while you sleep. This does not mean that you are to sleep in a draught ; but let there be sufficient ventilation to keep impure air out of your lungs.
As for changes of clothing, common sense should teach you how to dress in season. But in a changeable climate you should be constantly on your guard to adapt the thickness of your coverings to the temperature of the day. The weather is a deceitful prophet, and you may have deep reason to regret the sudden leaving off of wraps. But your own sense must guide you in this matter, for every one is his own guardian in matters of health.
Indeed, the strange thing is that to rational human beings any advice or rules should be necessary. It is a humiliating fact that there are people who have to be reminded that they need washing and exercise, care in eating and drinking, proper changes of raiment and the like. It is painful to be a cross-questioning missionary of cleanliness and have to ask people whether they clean their teeth, pare their nails, or brush their hair.