St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-13

IneHleu. IL WIS Ill the drawing TOOTH,
reception room, banquet hall, bed room,
and he stumbled over one in church
pew. At first he could not understand
what the thing was for, but after he had
been here a short time he discovered
that there was national habit of chew
ing; the mtn chewed tobacco and the
women cheWed gum. What aStOnished
him greatly was the expert manner in
which everybody could drop pint of
saliva into a cuSpidor at distance OF
five yards.
O'Rell made his story forcible by
slight eXaggefation, but it can not be
denied that there large amount of
truth in the statement in reference to
The Chewing Habit.
The chewing-gum craze is of recent
origin. Gum of some sort has probably
always been chewed, but, until re-
Gently, it was done in secret, like the
boys first experiment with a cigar.
Some fellow in Maine, with his eye on
the almighty dollar, started chewing
gum factory. and sent his circulars con-
tanning a list of the ailments that could
be cured by the spruce gum prepared
by him. Dyspepsia had no show at all
with the gum, and could last only
few days at the longest. Other spec
ulatOrs saw that there was more money
in chewing gum. and it was soon made
everywhere, but hardly fast enough to
serve the demand. Chewing gum was
sort of vice just suited to the modest
natures of children and women, and the
extent of the habit can be seen by the
wagging jaws in every public place. 1t
is claimed that the gum contains me-
dicinal properties; and this is one of the
teeth of a gullible public 1t is made
out of cheap material, to sell. and not TO
cure. The good it can do exists only i'm
the imagination, while the harm it can
do is known to every physician in gen
eral practice. 1t WeakenS the Salivary
glands and makes them incapable
of properly performing their work
when food is placed in the
mouth. The effect on digestion
is about the same as eating between
meals. If One-tenth the time were
taken to chew food that is spent in
chewing gum. dyspepsia would be ban
iShed from the land. While there are
several local troubles that follow in the
wake of excessive gum chewing, they
nearly all disappear when the habit is
broken off. There is one difficulty,
however. that is of such a serious ma
ture that it has been found worthy of a
name, and in the nomenclature of medi
cal science is known as gum cheWerS'
paralysis. The possibility of this dis
ease to work great injury upon the
human anatomy is shown in the inter-
esting case of Lena Dore, a singer of
some note, who was formerly a member
of the Casino company and is now all
inmate of Mount Sinai hospital.
Miss Dore began chewing gum three
years ago. having been advised to do so
TO get rid of the oppressive feeling that
follows late dinners and heavy wines.
She was
Vivacious Girl,
full of spirit and life. who threw her
soul into everything that she under
took, and in little while she was chew
ing gum at racehOrse speed. Day and
night. on and off the stage, her Jaws
were in motion. She chewed ali kinds
of gum, and even when she went to bed
TO sleep she took her favorite gum with
her to chew Letween the dreams. She
formed habit, and she could not
break 1T off, any more than the
opium fiend his love for the
drug. Chewing gum certainly is
thought to be harmless amusement,
though it is certainly a disgusting one,
and Miss DOre kept at it for two years
without any serious inconvenience. u
GERS formed on her tongue, and she had
a terrible attack of dyspepsia from its
use, but these were cured, and she
went on chewing gum again.
She awoke one morning and found
her jaw hanging down on her chest.
She was unable to shut her mouth. She
had lost all cOutrol of the muscles which
operate the jaw. as well as the sense of
feeling in that locality. DR.. Douglas
was called to attend her, and advised
her to take rest ami tonicS. This treat
ment was continued for several months,
and also the local application of cleo
tricity, without noticeable improve
ment.
An unexpected condition followed.
The patient had several severe spasms.
which seemed to include the entire
body. and could not be attributed to
any known cause. These lasted for
several days, and then the power was
suddenly restored to the jaw. 1t was
as quickly taken away. and the condi
ticn known as tetanus. or lock-jaw, was
established. The patient had
Terrible Commissions,
during one of which she got her finger
in her mouth and bit it off at the second
Joint. Her mind was clear most of the
time, which kept her cognizant of the
bodily torture. Opiates had not effect
whatever. and 240 grains of morphine
were given hypodermically without
diminishing the force of the paroyysm.
There are about as many recOveries
from tetanus as there are from stab
wounds in the breast. and as the con-
vulsions were becoming stronger and
apparently at shorter intervals, it was
only question of a few hours when her
vitality would be so low that she could
not rally from the convulsive shock and
she would die from exhaustion. DI.
Douglas, having watched the disease
from its inception and knowing the
original cause, read a carefully pre-
pared paper on the case before the
county medical society, and wound up
by stating that he was going to operate
on the Uranium as a dernier resort, a
proposition which threw this staid and
dignified body into Mysteries. 1t was
an unheard-of proceeding in tetanus,
and it was pronounced not bold but
rash.
DR.. Douglas kept his word. and on
the following day at Mount Sinai hos
pital the patient was removed to the OPP
Grating room. Nearly an hour was CON
sumed in giving the an@sthetic and
making the patient insenslble to pain.
The hair upon the right side of the pa
TENTS head was shaved, map of the
assures in the brain was made on the
skin, and the point was located exactly
where it was expected there would be
found the case Of the
PARALYSIS and Lock-Jaw.