The Saline County journal., 1873-09-04
.. e.,-e, Of K.eslng Go,d nealth.

NJ George Catlin, tho iatcss "ccc.'so"
4 mcrican painter, has iefs q th:h oc.as,
or ,.ss than a hundred pages, cntiie"
a. IT, Rrca;h of Life" in which he de
,.Ion. a theory of health formed anu
.tI-oa ,v him durin. his long soJouril
.",orr our Western Indian tribes, OF
-h;.h the above motto is the key. FIND
inc almost no cases OF infant mof'"i,'y
or physical dcformity among or aoo-
r,sines, and satisfied from personal %
scrvatiou that this has not resulted IRON
.nv custom of killing off the puny anu
unnromising births, he set to work 70
..cs,t.;n the real causes of this happy
.rsmnt;on from those ills OF civilized
i;fs and thinks he has done it by discov-
.r;no that almost always by day and un-
;sn-9,~ bv night, the Indians keep
their mouths shut. They nave .ne UNI,
versal impression that this IS essentla,
20 health and good development; ana
thew form their babies to the naDit OF
BREATHING through their nostrils when
esleep, by pinching their mouths closely
tevcther. This and the pure air OF their
nnconfined lives, is Mr.. Catlin's explain
.t;en of the facts which 20 strongly I'M
rre..ad him in contrast with the condi-
ton of things which he had left behind
among the whites. He himself went
among these tribes confirmed invalid !;
but learning their method OF nourishng
tho lungs with the atmosphere, no forced
himself into tho same practices, and re-
: Gained a state of comfortable and long
Drotrscted vigor.
His treaties is packed with instances
and ,s profusely illustrated with the od-
dest facial. contortions and contrasts
of his pencil. His idea is that the
anartures of the nose are formed tor
the express purpose of cleansing the air
of its impurities, thus fitting it to be
taken into the respiratory organs. Ii
taken through the mouth, all these i'm,
purities 20 into the lungs, and breed all
kinds of disease. Nightmare and un-
refreshing sleep are caused by breathing
through the mouth. Snorers generally
have this habit. These people do not
know that their mouths are open, for
tbey shut the instantly on awaking
But the dryness of the mouth and threat
tells the story, as the saliva thus is ex-
hausted. Sleeping on the back is not
Injurious or unpleasant if the mouth is
closed. The Indians sleep thus with their
heads raised enough to incline the teeth to
meet. No pillows is bad usage, let
ting the head sink to horizontal line
with the body; but the fashionable
square pillows are also very hurtful.
which eievates the shoulder with the
head. Babies should never be kept
closely to their mothers by night, the
smothering warmth inducing the habit
Of opening the mouth to breathe. Nor
should their faces be covered in sleep,
for the same reason. They do not need
warmth so much as free, fresh air. The
Indians understand all about this and in
their native separation from the whis-
kew drinking of their white neighbors,
they would seem to have been about as
exempt from bodily ailments as the wild
animals of their prairies.
Mr.. Catlin very likely has carried
his pet notion full as far as il will bear,
whom he says curvature of tho spine,
idiocy, deafness, polypus in tho nose,
mslformation and premature decay Of
tho teeth, othache, neuralgia, and three
fourths of the mental and physical de-
formihes and premature deaths, from
conception to old age, are caused, or
greatly aggravated, by these wrong
modes Of sleeping but this little book
10 swell worth reading, by young mothers
especially and it suggest, among many
other things, that perhaps some inven-
tive Yankee will give US patent mouth
cap which may put an end at least to
that social nocturnal unisance,an incor-
rigible snorer.