Chapter I: Introduction

At the request of the author, I have read this book in proof sheets, and, from the point of view of one interested in psychology, I have suggested many amendments which have all, I think, been adopted.

As will be seen by the intelligent reader, the best sleep involves more than a normal body; it involves healthy thought and the application to our daily lives of the moral principles laid down by our great spiritual teachers.

The cure of sleeplessness has hitherto been left largely to the physician, who is not always a specialist on that subject and who will welcome a treatise that will enable his patient to co-operate with his restorative measures. Mr. Hall has already shown in _Three Acres and Liberty_ and in _The Garden Yard_ his ability to put into clear, popular language and readable form scientific truths that non-scientific people need to know and wish to learn.

The proper management of our own bodies is even more essential to our happiness and well-being than the proper management of the land, and I hope that this book will be no less welcome to students and physicians than to the great mass who for lack of knowledge or of attention do not wholly avail themselves of the freely offered gift of sleep.

The book may be useful to many who find it difficult to harmonize their lives with their surroundings, and may bring to many a happier view of the ways of God to man.

EDWARD MOFFAT WEYER,
Washington and Jefferson College.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I SLEEP 1

II HOW MUCH SLEEP 5

III THE TIME OF SLEEP 11

IV WHAT SLEEP MAY MEAN 15

V HOW TO GO TO SLEEP 20

VI SLEEP IS NATURAL 26

VII THE DUPLEX MIND 30

VIII WAKEFULNESS 36

IX SIMPLE CAUSES OF WAKEFULNESS 40

X “LIGHT” SLEEPERS 47

XI THE GIFTS OF WAKEFULNESS 51

XII THE PURPOSE OF SLEEP 58

XIII THE SLEEP OF THE INVALID 62

XIV THE SLEEPLESSNESS OF PAIN 66

XV OPIATES 73

XVI DEVICES FOR GOING TO SLEEP 78

XVII MORE DEVICES FOR GOING TO
SLEEP 84

XVIII STILL FURTHER DEVICES 88

XIX HYPNOTIC SLEEP 94

XX “PERCHANCE TO DREAM” 101

XXI NATURAL LIVING 108

XXII FRESH AIR AND REFRESHING
SLEEP 113

XXIII THE BREATH OF LIFE 117

XXIV EATING AND SLEEPING 124

XXV SLEEPING AND EATING 128

XXVI SOME MODERN THEORIES OF
SLEEP 133

XXVII EARLY THEORIES OF SLEEP 138

XXVIII MORE THEORIES 142

XXIX STILL MORE THEORIES 147

XXX WE LEARN TO DO BY DOING 153

XXXI VAIN REGRETS 156

XXXII THE LOVE THAT IS PEACE 162

XXXIII THE SPECTER OF DEATH 167

XXXIV A NATURAL CHANGE 175

XXXV THE DISTRUST OF LIFE 180

XXXVI REST AND SLEEP 186

XXXVII THE NEED OF REST 192

XXXVIII SAVING OF EFFORT 196

XXXIX ANTAGONISM 201

XL STRUGGLE IN THE FAMILY 205

XLI UNNATURAL LAWS 210

XLII THE NATURAL LAW 215

XLIII “LETTING GO” 219

XLIV REST IN TRUTH 225

XLV THE SPAN OF LIFE 229

XLVI WASTE STEAM 233

XLVII UNDERSTANDING 238

XLVIII THE SUPERSTITION OF FEAR 246

XLIX IMAGINARY FEARS 251

L ILL SUCCESS 257

LI SOCIAL UNREST 263

LII ECONOMIC REST 269

LIII “IF HE SLEEP HE SHALL DO
WELL” 275

LIV CONCLUSION 280

APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 284

APPENDIX A 285

APPENDIX B 287

APPENDIX C 288

APPENDIX D 293

APPENDIX E 297