Sleep and Its Derangements

On a night march, soldiers fall asleep in the saddle—and keep moving. William A. Hammond asks what could make sleep stronger than danger, pain, or the will to stay awake.

In this late-nineteenth-century work of medical science, Hammond examines a body that repairs itself only when its ceaseless activity eases. The brain, he argues, spends its substance with every thought and sensation, and sleep gives the nervous system its chance to recover; yet imagination and memory may still stir when conscious will is quiet. From soldiers nodding off amid battle to people sleeping through severe pain, he gathers startling evidence of sleep’s power—and its necessity. What happens when the body’s demand for rest can no longer be denied?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.