Note 41 — Chapter X · The Nervous System.

Remarkable instances are cited to illustrate the imperative demand for sleep. Gunner boys have been known to fall asleep during the height of a naval battle, owing to the fatigue occasioned by the arduous labor in carrying ammunition for the gunner. A case is reported of a captain of a British frigate who fell asleep and remained so for two hours beside one of the largest guns of his vessel, the gun being served vigorously all the time. Whole companies of men have been known to sleep while on the march during an arduous campaign. Cavalrymen and frontiersmen have slept soundly in the saddle during the exhausting campaigns against the Indians.