Hibernation and sleep

Hibernation is called excessive and heavy sleep, but not every excessive and heavy sleep, but one that is heavy in both duration and quality. It lasts longer than usual and is stronger in quality, so that it is difficult to awaken from it, even if a person is awakened. Sleep can be natural in duration and quality, or heavy or turning into deep hibernation. Generally speaking, sleep is the return of mental pneuma from the organs-instruments of sensation and movement to its source, as a result of which the organs are actually deprived of pneuma, with the exception of those necessary for maintaining natural life, that is, for example, the respiratory organs.

Natural sleep, in a general sense, is that which occurs when the animal pneuma is withdrawn inward for the digestion of food. It is followed by mental pneuma, as always happens during the movement of rarefied bodies enticing one another, forced to do so by emptiness. It is also natural to sleep for rest and so that the pneuma can concentrate, perceive nutrition, grow and increase in matter, replacing what is consumed during wakefulness. The dream of a patient approaching recovery from an illness is close to this; such a person happens to fall asleep deeply, and this indicates that his illness has calmed down, but in healthy people such sleep is not a good sign. Something similar to this sometimes happens in people who have had repeated bowel movements with medications. Such a dream is useful and restores their strength.

Sometimes a dream occurs that is not completely natural. This happens when the pneuma returns to its source due to excessive dispersion and the substance of the pneuma cannot spread, because it loses the ability to increase beyond what is sufficient for the main organs, dissipating due to movement, and goes deep into the body. This happens with fatigue and intense physical work and occurs as a result of excessive excretion of mental pneuma, when the nature tries to hold on to all the pneuma remaining in its substance until help arrives in the form of food. The difference between such a dream and the one described earlier is similar to the difference between the need of a healthy body for food to replace what has been lost through natural assimilation, and the need for nourishment of a body exhausted by diarrhea or bleeding. In the first case, sleep is needed to replace what was absorbed during wakefulness, and this is a natural thing, but in the second case, it is necessary to replace what was absorbed due to fatigue, and this is already unnatural. And sometimes a completely unnatural dream occurs; this happens when the mental pneuma returns from the instrumental organs due to cooling effects that are opposite to the substance of the pneuma and come either from the outside or from cooling drugs. In this case, the instruments acquire a coldness that prevents the vital pneuma from passing through them properly or causes the part of the pneuma that is in these organs to harden; at the same time, the nature of the pneuma is spoiled, allowing it to perceive spiritual force from its source. And the rest of the pneuma goes deep under the influence of the opposite principle, becomes motionless and cannot spread due to the coldness of nature; This is where the numbness lies.

Sometimes such a dream also occurs due to reasons that moisturize the instrument organs, cause clouding of the substance of the pneuma, blocking its paths and relaxing the substance of the nerves and muscles. Relaxation causes blockage and closure of the passages and also prevents the passage of pneuma, because the very substance of pneuma thickens and becomes cloudy, and the instrumental organs deteriorate both from moisture and from relaxation. This is, for example, a dream from intoxication. Sleep is close to this due to indigestion and prolonged residence of food in the stomach. Hibernation in such people ends with vomiting. It is these two reasons, if they become stronger, that most often cause hibernation.

Sometimes the cause of sleep is both cold and moisture, but the preceding cause is then cold, and moisture contributes to it. Also, with insomnia, heat and dryness are combined, but the real cause is heat, and dryness contributes to it. Hibernation is also caused by other reasons, for example, intensification of attacks of fever, the turning of the entire nature, to its very depths, against illness, the compression of nature under the pressure of matter. As has already been said, the mental pneuma follows nature in this case, especially if the matter of the fever is slimy and cold and heats up only due to putrefaction. Sometimes hibernation occurs from the poor quality of juices and vapors rising into the front part of the brain from the stomach, lungs and other organs during their diseases, or due to the abundance of intestinal worms and pumpkin seeds, and sometimes it appears due to pressure of the skull bones on the brain itself or due to a blow to the head or a superficial wound due to a brain contusion. The deepest hibernation occurs when those ventricles of the brain are injured, which cause equally deep hibernation when pressure is applied to them. Hibernation sometimes begins as a result of severe pain from a blow to the muscles of the temple or as a result of the complicity of the brain in the suffering of the mouth of the stomach or uterus, from which the brain contracts, the passages of the sensory pneuma are closed and the outward movement of the pneuma is hampered. It also happens from excessive weakness and dispersion of the pneuma, which makes it difficult to spread throughout the body.

Since the first sensations that cease during sleep and hibernation are vision and hearing, the damage during hibernation must take place in the front part of the brain with a simultaneous disturbance of the imagination. After all, if the front part of the brain remained intact and damage occurred only in the back part, then vision and hearing would not have to disappear, and this would not be sleep, but only a cessation of movements or loss of touch, while other sensations would be preserved, as happens during rigor and freezing. In this case, hibernation would harm sensation no more than movement, but in fact it completely eliminates the ability to sense and does not completely stop movement, because breathing movements remain unharmed. Further, the blockage that occurs during hibernation should not be complete and not very dense, otherwise it would damage breathing. Any hibernation associated with a disorder of nature occurs first of all from coldness, and secondly, from humidity. Sometimes patients go into hibernation after pleurisy, pneumonia and the like.

In some people, while they are sitting, the juices are dispersed throughout the body and do not cause suffering. When drowsiness falls on them and they lie down, the innate warmth goes deep, and vapors rise and rush to the brain, and sleep does not pass, especially in people with a dry nature. If sleep attacks them often, then this portends illness. They say that pomegranate juice remains in the stomach for a long time and retains vapors there and relieves insomnia. We have already said in what position you should lie after eating, but now we will say that if you often lie on your back after eating, it relaxes and weakens your back. To cure this you need to sit up straight a lot.

Sleeping in the sun is dangerous for the head; Sleeping under the moon gives rise to hemoptysis, since the moon sets the juices in motion. The cause of snoring is the closure of the mouth of the pulmonary tube, which is why the release of breath is invariably accompanied by the noise of fluid.

Signs of different types of hibernation. If hibernation occurs from pure external cold, then the signs of this are its appearance after severe cooling that affects the head from the outside, or due to cold inside the body and brain. No swelling is observed either on the patient’s face or eyelids. The complexion of such a patient is greenish, and the pulse is tense, somewhat hard and very rare. If hibernation is caused by the coldness of drinking medicines that cause numbness, that is, opium, henbane, mandrake root, luffah seeds, datura fruits, mushrooms, milk curdled in the stomach, fresh coriander and a large amount of flea plantain, then this is indicated by the signs that we will list separately for each of these medicines, speaking of poisons. Hibernation is accompanied by other signs: suffocation, blueness and coldness of the extremities, swelling of the tongue, and a change in the smell of the mouth. In this case, the pulse is falling, ant-like, weak, but not rare, but on the contrary, frequent, similar in frequency to the worm-like and ant-like. If the pulse is rare, disordered and unstable, moving from rare to frequent and from frequent to rare, it means that the patient was given something to drink or he himself drank one of the mentioned drugs. Each such poisoning is treated with the remedies we have mentioned among the poisons.

Some people claim that hibernation from pure cold is easier than hibernation from wet matter. However, this statement is by no means true: sometimes such hibernation can also be very strong. After all types of hibernation, which arises from the coldness of the brain substance or the medicine taken, a disorder of memory and thinking occurs. If hibernation occurs from pure moisture, then this is indicated by the absence of signs of overflowing with blood and heaviness from mucus. As for hibernation due to mucus, it is recognized by previous fullness, indigestion, frequent drinking, softness and wave-like pulse with its width. It can also be recognized because such hibernation can be deep and severe, the color of the face, eyes and tongue becomes pale, the head becomes heavy, the eyelids swell, and the head is cold to the touch; the previous regimen, the patient’s age, his place of residence and other circumstances are also a sign.

Hibernation from congestion is recognized by swelling of the neck veins, redness of the eyes, cheeks and tongue, a feeling of heat in the head and other similar signs that you already know. If blood or mucus accumulates, as happens with tumors, then you see signs of faranitus or lithargus or hibernation with insomnia.

If the cause of hibernation is the vapors that rise from the whole body during fevers, and especially during pain and swelling in the lungs, called pneumonia, or vapors from the stomach, then you will recognize each type by its symptoms. If the vapors come from the stomach, then hibernation is preceded by darkening of the eyes, dizziness, noise and ringing in the ears and ghosts; it becomes easier when hungry and intensifies when the stomach is full. If the vapors rise from the lungs and chest, then hibernation is preceded by severe pain or pain in the chest, shortness of breath, cough, as well as various manifestations of pleurisy and pneumonia. If the vapors come from the liver, then hibernation is also preceded by signs of liver disease. If the vapors come from the uterus, then hibernation is preceded by diseases of the uterus and its overcrowding. Hibernation caused by a blow to the crown or temple is recognized by the corresponding signs.

The difference between hibernation and sakta is that the hibernator can be made to understand what is said to him and awakened, and his movements are more obvious than his sensations. And the person suffering from sakta has no sensations or movements. The essence of the difference between someone suffering from hibernation and someone who is fainting due to a weak heart is that during hibernation the pulse is stronger and more similar to the pulse of healthy people, and when fainting the pulse is weaker and harder. Fainting occurs gradually, and the complexion turns yellow and becomes similar to the complexion of the dead, and the limbs become cold, and during hibernation the complexion does not change or even becomes more beautiful, the bulges of the face and nose become sharper, and the whole appearance differs only barely from the appearance of those sleeping noticeable swelling and puffiness.

The difference between a hibernator and a woman suffering from uterine strangulation is that a hibernator can understand and speak with difficulty, while a woman with uterine strangulation understands with difficulty but cannot speak at all. During hibernation, it is easier to make movements, in particular to move the neck, head and legs, and when the uterus is suffocated, it is easier to perceive sensations and open the eyelids.

Suffocation of the uterus is a phenomenon that occurs suddenly, shows its strength and passes or kills, and hibernation sometimes lasts a long time, immersion in it occurs gradually and it begins with heavy sleep, unless the cause is a sudden cold or a drug taken.

Treatment of hibernation and heavy sleep that occurs during fevers. As for hibernation, which is a sign of a disease in a particular organ, the method of treating it is to apply appropriate measures to this organ in order to cleanse it and eliminate the disease, as well as to strengthen the brain so that it does not accept matter. This is achieved using, for example, rose oil with a large amount of vinegar, which is added so that rose oil taken by itself does not put the patient to sleep, as well as the juices of strengthening fruits. After this, cooling irrigations are used, and then they move on to absorbent agents if any matter is retained in the brain. You already learned all this from the Canon.

When hibernating during fevers and at the beginning of attacks, one should hastily bandage the limbs, constantly induce sneezing, let vinegar and its vapors be sniffed, and generously lubricate the head with rose oil with a large amount of vinegar, or with the juice of unripe grapes, with pomegranate juice and other astringents. Hibernation from drinking medicines that cause numbness is treated in accordance with each given medicine and given to drink its teriyak, as we will talk about this in Book Four.

As for hibernation from the cold coming from outside, to treat it, give teryak, mithridate and musk medicine to drink, pour water on the head in which rue, beaver stream and saliva extract were boiled, lubricate the head with bana oil and spikenard oil with beaver stream, oil with musk and bush oil with beaver stream, and also use a medicinal dressing prepared with beaver stream, sea onion and musk; take two parts of beaver stream, one part of sea onion, and a small amount of musk. The patient is constantly allowed to smell musk and the means used to warm the nature of the brain, which have already been mentioned, but they do this harshly and not gently.

When hibernating from the predominance of blood, it is necessary to hurry with bloodletting from the mullet, place the jar on the shin, and let the blood flow from the jugular vein. Balanced enemas are also used, light food is prescribed and a decoction of Chickpeas is given. If hibernation is caused by a predominance of pure moisture without matter, then it should be treated with medicinal dressings prepared with beaver stream, aromatic rush flowers, bush, cypress cones, juniper berries, furbillion and saliva. Food should be given light and oils and watering should be avoided; they can only be used with caution, because the hydration that comes from oils often overcomes the power of the medicine, if it is not very strong. It is necessary to rub it on the head and wrap it up, and also let it smell the musk. If moisture is combined with mucous matter, then first you need to empty it with strong enemas, and then try to make the patient vomit.

Often hibernation also occurs from mucus in the stomach. Then you need to remove it with the help of mucus-tearing agents, which we will mention in its place; In this case, they also use strong waterings that promote the maturation of mucus, medications administered into the nose, rinses, and other things that you learned from the general rules of treatment and have already been told to you. Among the methods of treating hibernation is this: the patient is forced to hear and see something that plunges him into sadness, because in such diseases, when thought weakens and freezes, grief is one of the ways to bring the soul into excitement and return it to a healthy state. Known remedies against hibernation include smearing the nostrils with Kalkand, wiping the face with vinegar, bandaging the lower limbs and using sneezing agents.