Algernon Blackwood

“ He is 48 years old; he has been a great traveler and explorer; much of his time is taken up by teaching and correspondence; he has achieved the most remarkable feats in many lines of life; yet what he has written for publication alone averages over ten words an hour since the minute he drew breath! Yet no one ever sees him work; he seems to lead the lazy, drawling life of a man of fashion. The secret is that he has learnt to bring his average hours of sleep down to three. ”

“ Bullock’s theories.
From the scientific point of view, sleep is principally a question of elimination; one might almost dare to say that rest is not necessary to the human body in health; it is the accumulation of poison within it that puts it out of order. The heart needs no rest, because of several elaborate systems which ensure that all poisons are thrown out of the blood immediately. If you deliberately poison the blood, sleep or coma result; or in certain cases, convulsions. All of these may be regarded as more or less desperate efforts to eliminate. Sleep is a symptom of intoxication. ”

“ Another way is to prepare the patient by a very thorough Turkish bath. It must also be made sure that none of the other methods of elimination are working badly, and laxatives and diuretics given, if needs be.
The result of all this is that the patient, who has been very fully asleep, wakes up into equally full and clear consciousness. He wakes, in short, as a healthy boy does. He does not turn over and yawn and try to go to sleep again, but jumps out of bed and makes a beeline for the bath. With this treatment about one and a half to three hours is a full night’s rest for anybody. ”