The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-02-03

To che Editor Of The Pioneer:
l noticed, some time since, fugitive
paragraph going the rounds OF the papers
with the above caption. ! have now for
gotten what it said, but the subject is Of
more importance than most people are
aware Of 1t is fraught with consequences
of serious importance to health and life.
There are but few people who seem to
know what their noses are made for. They
seem to regard them as ugly pretnber-
anoes, designed to point the facial angle
and adorn the malar expansions. But ths
nose is designed for more important
ofice-namely, to breathe through. whiis
most people have vague idea that the
nostrils are intended for this purpose-in
certain contingencies, while the mouth is
plugged up with food, for instances few
realize the importance of this provision to
health, comfort, and even life. ,Ittisa
very erroneous impression to suppose that
the ns0uthwill answer for breathing - well
as the nose The mouth never waeIin-
tended to be- used for this purpose, except
a. an occasional substitute Its almost
universal employment in this way, there's
fore, Is q perversion Of nature, acquired by
habit. The Creator designed the nose las
the ventilating pipe of tue system. The
advantages and disadvantages of q neglect
Of its proper use may be briefly stated as
fOllOws:!g1 l'IB 4 .Ea'-.H .-5a 81 4
/. The nose is q longer, narrower, and
more tortuous route to the lungs than the
mouth. It il intended to convey the air
in an equable stream so as to gradually
initiate the lungs. Two objects are accom-
plished by this. First, in slowly passing
through the winding nasal passage, the air
becomes warmed 90 as to be agreeable to
the lungs and in the second place, It is
gradually admitted to them, so that there
is ample time to allow the blood to absorb
all the oxygen it contains. o. o 80
2. The external meatus (or oriice) Of
the nasal passage is provided with: q
growth of hair, which most people take
great pains to keep pulled out This is
wrong, for this fringe is intended for an
important purpose. It is designed as
seiue or strdiner Of the air, to arrest
the coarser particles of foreign mat.
ter, such as lint, dust, &c, which
are sometimes mixed with the cir, ard
which if allowed to enter the lungs, clog
up the smaller tubes and create tickling
and irritation of the lungs, and produce
cough. Never pull hair out of the nos
trils, but they may be clipped off a little
if they project out. The moustache of
gentlemen answers q somewhat similar
purpose, and should always be allowed to
grow. ,..,. !..'a p
8. BY breathing through the nose you
avoid any danger of its ever freezing in
cold weather. The warm air passing ont
through it from the lungs will prevent
this. Besides you will never have "oold
in the head"
4. By breathing through the mouth, all
these advantages are not only lost, but
many disadvantages ere incurred. The air
is drawn in all in a bulk the lungs do not
dilate to half their capacity before they
contract and expel it, before the blood has
absorbed all its oxygen, or parted with all
us own CafDOnlc aclQ gas. Inc cOlQ III
playing on the fauces, tonsils, and larger
bronchial tubes produces inflammation, ca
tarrh, and bronchitis. The air Is thus
admitted to the lungs without preparation,
often too cold, or too hot,-for in summer
the nostrils cool the air if heated too
much,-which induces irritation and in
fsmmation, and lays the foundation for
half the consumptions, pneumonias, and
bad colds. Not only this, but all the sand,
dust, lint, &c. that is in the air is sucked
right down into the small tubes where
much of it remains till it produces suf-
fcient irritation to induce coughing to ex-
pei it. l remarked that the exterior OF
the nasal passage was fringed with hair as
a seive. While this arrests the coarser
particles, the mucus membranes of the
passage are covered with a tenacious moist
mucus which absorbs the finer particles.
Therefore, there is philosophy and good
sense in the injunction to ''breathe through
your nose"
GORDON REVERE.
The Debt Of the United States