The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1872-12-26
THE CAUSES OF BAD BREATH.
BY DR.. do LEWIS.


comes from the stomach being out of
order, sends up an impure something
which escapes in the breath. This is
impossible. A bad breath never comes
from the stomach. Nothing ever comes
upward except in vomiting and eructa
tions of wind.
There is no open passage through
which an odor can rise to the mouth
The passage into the stomach from above
is always perfectly closed, except at the
moment when there is no chauce for an
odor to escape from the stomach upward.
The esophagus, or meat pipe, closes up
on the thing going down, and grasps it
all the way from the upper to the lower
end, For example, a whole chestnut
passes down the esophagus. The nom
eut it enters the upper end of the pas
sage, the walls of the passage grasp the
nut, and sque ezes it from above SO tight
as to force it down. The part of the ca
nal Immediately above the chestnut all
the way down is 80 tightly closed upon
the nut, that the squeezing presses it on
until is forced into the stomach. When
ever there is nothing in the passage, it
remains shut: the sides are pressed to-
gether; nothing whatever can escape
from the stomach up through it. And
even in vomiting it is very difficult to
force even solid matter upward. 10
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 ia breath.
There are three sources of bad
lungs. OF twenty eases of bad breath l
estimated that fifteen came from the
mouth, one from the nose, and four from
the lungs.
AS generally, when the mouth is in
fault, the lungs contribute something to
the odor, the above definite classification
is probably too precise; but think it a
close approximation to the truth.
THE MoUTH-I need hardly argne
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, Iu every case of
bad breath the mouth is to be suspected
and examined. In a majoity of cases
you smell nothing while the patient
keeps his mouth shut and brcathes
through his nose but as soon as he be-
gins to speak, then it comes.
That man must 60 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 ca
tarrh 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 malady is somewhat
difficult, but the odor arising from it can
be mitigated by thorough cleansing OF
the nose with water, or soap and water,
several times day. But a cure should
be sought, and let it not be sought at
the hands Of one Of the advertising catarrh
quacks.
THE LUNGs.-A man eats and drinks
say FIVE pounds in a 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 bad-
er, We shall find it weighs, say, one pound
and half. Three pounds and half
have left the body in some other way or
other ways. These other ways are the
skin and lungs. BY far the larger part
should escape through the skin. Some
times the millions of holes in the skin
through which this worn out, effete mat
ter should escape, become 10 part closed
from lack of bathing aud perspiraton
and this effete matter cannot escape free
ly in that way. But the poisonous stuff
must be got rid of in some way. Now,
the lungs come in to supplement- the
skin. To certain extent, the lungs and
the skin are ever ready to substitute for
each other. IF the lungs for any reason,
leave small part of their duty uudone,
the skin at once steps in to assist. If the
skin fails to accomplish its whole task Of