in keeping one awake. This means that brain activity has been
started and needs suppression. Various devices have been suggested. One
is to eat something very light, just enough to draw the surplus blood,
which excites the brain, away from the brain to the digestive tract.
This advice should be taken with caution, however, for eating just
before retiring may use up in digestion much of the energy needed in
repairing the body, and may leave one greatly fatigued in the morning.

One way to relieve the mind of mental distractions is to fill it with
non-worrisome, restful thoughts. Read something light, a restful essay
or a non-exciting story, or poetry. Another device is to bathe the head
in cold water so as to relieve congestion of blood in the brain. A
tepid or warm bath is said to have a similar effect.

Dreams constitute one source of annoyance to many, and while they are
not necessarily to be avoided, still they may disturb the night's rest.
We may avoid them in some measure by creating conditions free from
sensory distractions, for many of our dreams are direct reflections of
sensations we are experiencing at the moment. A dream with an arctic
setting may be the result of becoming uncovered on a cold night. To use
an illustration from Ellis: "A man dreams that he enlists in the army,
goes to the front, and is shot. He is awakened by the slamming of a
door. It seems probable that the enlistment and the march to the field
are theories to account for the report which really caused the whole
train of thought, though it seemed to be its latest item." Such dreams
may be partially eliminated by care in arranging conditions so that
there will be few distractions. Especially should they be guarded
against in the later hours of the sleep, for we do not sleep so soundly
after the first two hours as we do before, and stimuli can more easily
impress themselves and affect the brain.

Before leaving the subject of sleep, we should note the benefit to be
derived from regularity in sleep. All Nature seems to move rhythmically
and sleep is no exception. Insomnia may be treated by means of
habituating one's self to get sleepy at a certain time, and there is no
question that the rising process may be made easier if one forms the
habit of arising at the same time every morning. To rhythmize this
important function is a long step towards the efficient life.

EXERCISE.--Brain workers do not ordinarily get all the exercise they
should.