The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-25
AVOID THESE MANNERISMS.
Blinking Your Eyes or Blowing Your
Nose May Hasten Your Death.
From the London Express.

From the London Express.
If you blink rapidly, or breathe
through your mouth, or pick your teeth,
stop and reflect, for life is shortened
by such little mannerisms.
Nervous people are especially prone
to such trifiing habits, which, if once
contracted, have a serious effect. Weak
sight, lung diseases, and possibilities
of even worse dangers Turk behind such
simple acts. and an eminent physician
declares that many fatal cases of con-
sumption are directly traceable to some
mere mannerism.
Breathing through the mouth will not
in itself kill one, but it is most UNI
wise practice, for the lungs are not
properly inflated with air. The lower
half of those valuable organs falls al
most entirely into disuse. Persons who
breathe through the mouth during the
daytime invariably continue the prac-
tice when asleep.
AS result. the lung tissues are
weakened. and less able to withstand
| disease. The body gets about half the
amount of oxygen it requires. More
over any stray disease germs floating
about are sure to find Judgment. in the
sleeper's mouth. The body is not thor
oughly refreshed, and when one wakes
in the morning with that habit of
sleeping with the mouth open. If the
habit is strongly contracted, heroic
measures are necessary. One man who
was warned of the danger found that
he could not keep his mouth shut In
any other way so he tied his jaws FIRM
ly together before retiring each night
Frequently there is real inability 10
breathe through the nose comfortably
because of some local trouble, in which
case a specialist should be seen.
How many people moisten their lips
with their tongue 1t is a trifling ac-
ton from some standpoints, but it may
bring cancer. The lips become drier
and drier if the mannerism becomes a.
habit, and the nerves more and more
sensitive. Eventually the lips become
permanently cracked. which is pain
full and annoying in itself Should
cancer be hereditary, the subject has
an excellent chance of contracting it.
Blinking the eyes rapidly means par
tial loss of sight, if the habit is allowed
TO grow. Ordinarily, a person is en-
titled to about twenty blinks minute;
but nervous blinker will sometimes
pile up the record to over 200 blinks a
minute. Natural blinking moistens and
clears the eye. Such abnormal use of
the lids, however, results in unneces-
sary development of the eyelid muscles.
Besides, it involves counter irritation,
which acts on the optic nerve, and rem
derS the sight daily more weak and
| irritable.
The unlucky individual who finds his
! eyeslght becoming weaker and weaker
| through excessive blinking should keen
! his eyes closed for at least ten min
utes out of every hour. The lids should
also be bathed in warm water. Where
i the habit has been long contracted, it
! Is Impossible to read small type, and
strong light is positive pain.
Picking the teeth seems a simple and
harmless way of caring for them. Eight
! persons out of ten do it. But any dem
| list will warn you against the practice
Ior II means quick decay of the enamel.
Some nervous people pick their teeth
continually when they have nothing
| else to do.
AS result the life of a sound SET of
teeth is shortened by six or seven
| years, and there is more bodily pain
! in store for the owner thereof. Den
usts DIS viii pile up, and YOU will
/ wish that toothpicks had been left
alone. Carefully brushing the teeth is
far better way of preserving them
Then there is the man with a nerv-
Gus little cough. His throat and lungs
may be sound, without even catarrhal
/ symptoms but he has a hacking little
cough, sometimes almost fmpercep-
tible. 1t is pure nervousness. Unless
that cough is controlled it means
bronchial affections, or even more Sc
rious forms of chest diseases.
1t is one of the mysteries of life why
a man should blow his nose when be
does not want to. Pure nervousness
again, maybe. 1t is a bad habit for
the nasal nerves and membranes are
over-strained, and sooner or later she
practice will result in chronic nasal
| catarrh.
The man who has all these manner
| isms had better stop everything else
! and devote himself to personal REFORM
I alton, for otherwise there is much
| trouble ahead