Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-10-28
THE CAUSE OF Badness
A NEW THEORY THAT BAD BREATH.
ING Is RESPONSIBLE

on Dogs and Birds.
That badness Is merely a matter of
breathing is theory which has been
promulgated by Dr. Delos L. Parker,
of Detroit, Mich. DR.. Parker, who is
lecturer on materla medica in the De-
troit College of Medicine, has made a
series of interesting experiments in
support of his hypothesis, the results
of which he gives at length in the
Medical Record
DR.. Parker believes that air which
is drawn into the lungs and allowed
to remain in the air cells there is de-
composed by the moist warmth Of the
body, throwing off a poison, "tricho-
)oXicon," into the blood, which causes
the hair to fall out. The reason why
badness is so much more common
among men than among women, he
says, is that the habit Of wearing cor
sets forces women to use the upper
part Of the lungs in breathing. and it
is there that the hair poison is chiefly
generated.
In order to prove his theory, DR..
Parker had bald headed men exhale
their breath into a vessel free from
air, and 1t was transferred into bottle
partly filed with water. After per-
mitting it to remain in the bottle long
enough to impregnate the water with
the hair poison the water was injected
under the skin of dogs, hens and
pigeons. The result was that the hair
of the dogs and the feathers of the
hens and pigeons fell out while the in
JectionS were continued and grew
again when they ceased.
Millions of tiny hollow spaces known
ms "alr cells" occur in the lungs They
vary in size from one two-hhndredth
to one-seventieth of an inch in diane
ter. If they could all be opened and
spread out they would cover an area
from 100 to $50 times greater than the
area of the skin. These air cells are
gathered into groups less than an
inch in diameter, and each group is
connected with the bronchial tubes.
Owing to this arrangement air may be
taken into and expelled from some of
the groups of air cells while it remains
motionless or stagnant in others.
When the ribs which enclose the up
per portion of the chest are raised
and lowered in breathing air is taken
into and expelled from every part of
the lungs, because all the ribs are con-
nected, and the upper ones cannot be
raised without raising the lower ones,
thus expanding the entire cavity.
Women usually employ this method of
breathing, but when the lower ribs
are raised it does not follow that the
extreme upper ribs must move, too.
DR.. Parker also points out that In or
binary breathing only one-siXth of the
air in the lungs is driven out with
each breath. The air expelled from
the lungs contains very small quanti-
ties of organic matter as well as n.y.
drogen, and marsh gas has been estab-
lished by research. From birth to
death the lungs are never entirely
empty of stagnant air containing these
substances.
Persons who lead sedentary lives are
especially likely to become bald, be-
cause lack of exercise reduces the
amount of oxygen obtained by the
blood and tends to prevent full breath
ing. The habit of bending over desks,
which contracts the upper parts Of the
lungs and keeps them contracted, has
the same effect. In old age badness
becomes quite common because the
ribs grow more rigid and are less
easily moved.
When DR.. Parker began his expert
ments he obtained from n middle
aged man who had long been bald, a
large bag full of expired air. This
was transferred to bottle partly
filed with water, and placed In an in
cubator, where it was kept for ten
days at temperature of ninety-eight
degrees. Injections of the impreg-
mated water were made daily in fox
terrier and q hen. After fourteen in
jections the dog commenced to lose its
hair and the hen its feathers. After
ffty-two injections large bare patches
were visible on both subjects.
Neither subject showed any signs Of
disturbed health during the progress
Of the experiments. The dog played
as usual, and seemed to be in good
spirits, while the hen continued to lay
eggs. Their weight remained un-
changed. After the injections ceased
a new coat of hair covered the bare
patches in the dog and the hen got
her feathers back.
Convinced that his theory was cor
rect, DR.. Parker determined 20 make a
new set of experiments, in October of
:, last year. First he obtained the breath
Y of man who was not bald, then he
filled flask with the breath of a man
who was bald, and finally one con-
tanning ordinary atmospheric air All
these were placed in the incubator to
allow decomposf IN to take place. In
this experiment he used one fox ter
rier, five hens and five pigeons, all
fully grown.
Injections into the dog from the two
TASKS Of expired air, one from a bald
man and the other from a man not
bald, had the same effect as in the
first experiment. Similar treatment