Getting on a First-Name Basis with Mr. Sandman

Abstract

A quiz: What do soothing hot showers, a warm glass of milk, the droning hum of the fan or air conditioner, and the well-worn Teddy Bear have in common? Answer: All are sleeping comforts, if not sleeplessness remedies, for selected individuals who may consider themselves to be “insomniacs.” Another question: What distinguishes a mixture of white poppy seeds, lettuce seeds, balsam, saffron, and sugar, stewed in poppy juice, from modern-day recipes having fractured-dictionary names like Placidyl, Restoril, Compoz, or Halcion? The answer: about 500 years. The first is a formula proposed by Marsilio Ficino in his treatise The Book of Life written in 1489 (translated by Charles Baer) to remedy insomnia in intellectuals in whom “wasteful sleeplessness . . . leads to the drying out of their brains!” The latter are present-day pharmaceuticals which similarly promise relief and repose, and whose names inspire one to take Madison Avenue on with appelations for as-yet-to-be-developed pharmaceutical agents like: “Bon Appetit”... for the treatment of calcium-poor, postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; “Acro-Bat” . . . for combatting the fear and panic induced by high places; “Rectify” . . . for correcting constipation; or “Limber” . . . for use by the masseur as a cooling gel.