The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1872-09-05
NO. 18.
The Causes of Bad Breath.

ing to Home and Health:
Most persons think that bad breath
comes from the stomach that the stomach,
being out of order, sends up an impure
something which escapes in the breath.
This is impossible. 4 bad breath never
comes from the stomach. Nothing ever
comes upward except in vomiting aud
eructations OF wind
There is an open passage through which
an odor can rise to the mouth. The pas
sage into the stomach from above is al
ways perfectly closed, except at the mo-
ment when there is no chance for an odor
to escape from the stomach upward. The
1sophagus, or meat pipe, closes upon the
thing going down and grasps it all the
way, from the upper to the lower end
For example, whole chestnut passes
down the oesophagus. The moment IT
enters the upper end oil the passage, the
walls of the passage grasp the nut, and
squeeze it from above 50 tight as to force
it down. The part Of the canal immedi-
ately above the chestnut all the way down
is so tightly closed upon the nut that the
squeezing presses it on until it is forced
into the stomach. Whenever theye Is
nothing in the passage it remains shut;
the sides are pressed together; nothing,
whatever, can escape from the stomach
up through it. And even in vomiting,
it is very difficult to force even solid mat
ter upward. ln most persons it requires
tremendous effort to get anything up.
And yet, strange to say, most persons
imagine the passage to be an open pipe
through which bad odors may constantly
pass up, and escape in the breath.
There are three sources Of bad breath,
the mouth, the nose, and the lungs of
twenty cases Of breath, estimated that
fifteen came from the mouth, one from
the nose, and four from the lungs
As generally, when the mouth, is at
fault the lungs contribute something to
the odor, the above definite classification
is probably too precise but think it
close approximation to the truth.
The MoUTu-T need hardly argue
that rotten teeth and diseased gums may
produce bad breath. have but rarely
met case in which the teeth were white
and the gums healthy. In every case of
bad breath the mouth is to be suspected
and examined. In majority of cases,
you smell nothing while the patient keeps
his mouth shut, and breathes through
his nose but as soon as he begins to
speak, then it comes.
That man must go at once to the den-
tist. He is the doctor for the mouth
He will remove every cause of offense
from that cavity.
THE NosE.-The various forms Of
catarrh are more or less productive of bad
odors. Ozena, which is the worst form
of catarrh, produces peculiar and sick
ening odor.
The cure of this malaay is somewhat
difficult, but the odor arising from it can
be mitigated by thorough cleansing of
the nose with water, or soap aud water,
several times a day. But a cure should
be sought, and let it not be sought at the
hands of one of the advertising catarrh
qGacks.
THE LUNGS man cats and drinks,
say five pounds in day Now, unless
he is gaining weight, he must part with
five pounds If we place on the scales
all that comes from his bowels and blad-
der, we shall ind it weighs, say, one
pound and half. Three pounds and a
half have left the body iu some other way
or other. These other ways are the skin
and lungs BY far the largest part should
escape through the skin. Some times
the millions of holes in the skin, through
which this wornout, effete matter should
escape, become in part closed, from lack
of bathing and perspiration and this ef-
tcte matter eau not escape freely in that
way. But the poisonous stuff must be
gotten rid Of in someway. Now the lungs
come in to supplement- the skin. To
certain extent, the lungs and skin are
ever ready to substitute for each other
If the lungs, for any reason, leave small
part of their duty undue, the skin at once
steps in to assist. If The skin fails to ac-
cOmplsh its whole task of the work of
@xcretion, the lungs are ever ready to as
sist in working off the impurities. But,
whenever the lungs are obliged TO per-
form this extra service. they cannot do it
as well as the skin, They are obliged to
work OF impurities which do not belong
to their department, and SO they take on
morbid condition, and the exeretious
are so changed in character as to become
offensive.
Three persons out of every four whose
bad breath comes from the longs, can
cure themselves, or greately mitigate the
nuisance, by washing themselves all over
with strong soap and water, and follow
ing this by the vigorous use of rough
towels every day, for month, and exer-,
cisng at least once day, till there is free
perspiration. BY this time. the impuri-
ties which should escape through tbs skin
have free escape in their natural course.