are
debilitated and striving to build vitality.

Generally speaking, therefore, I maintain that most people at the
present day sleep too little rather than too much. I would not
stipulate any special number of hours for sleeping but I would advise
everyone to secure as much sleep as he requires. It has often been
said that if you sleep too much you will be stupid as a result. Such
results are usually brought about by sleeping in unsatisfactory
environment, particularly in stuffy rooms in which the air is vitiated
and really unfit to breathe. I cannot imagine one feeling stupid as a
result of oversleeping when sleeping out-of-doors, or when the supply
of air is absolutely fresh. Excessive heat would probably be conducive
to restlessness, but this is purely a detail which I shall take up
later. Under natural and healthful conditions one will rarely sleep too
much. If you sleep until you wake up naturally there is little danger
of your sleeping too much. Without doubt most people need from seven to
eight hours' sleep; some of them need more, particularly women and
children, who in many cases require from nine to ten hours' sleep or
even more. These are general statements. Individual exceptions will be
many, but, as I have said, it will be found that those who need less
sleep are men and women of extraordinary vitality.

The quality of sleep is really more important than the duration of
sleep. It is quality or depth of sleep that is really what counts,
and to secure this it is necessary that certain healthful conditions be
observed. The first of these is a normal condition of physical or
muscular fatigue. This is easily distinguished from nervous fatigue or
exhaustion in which the entire system is more or less upset. Abnormal
states of this sort arise from excitement, excessive mental work, or
other conditions involving severe nerve strain. This nervous fatigue is
not usually conducive to sleep, but a tired condition of the muscles of
the body generally, as a result of natural physical activity, is always
favorable to sleep. Many who complain of insomnia, therefore, would
often be able to remedy their trouble by the simple expedient of a long
walk, covering sufficient distance to bring about the physical fatigue
which makes sleep possible. Conditions of air, temperature and bed
covering are also important factors in connection with the quality of
sleep.

If you are a sound sleeper it m