The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1902-09-18
PECULIkRH.bIBIq,
OUGHT TO BE AVOIDED.
Marnsrisnes Shorten Life.

Selected
Ones health may be seriously i'm,
paired, ons's life rnay even be shorten
ed by permitting mannerisms to grow
into fixed habits. There are score o
such mapne1isms which are likely tt
do one serious injury.
Such apparently harmless practices
rs blinking the eyes rapidly, moisten.
ing the lips With the tongue, picking
the teeth, scratching ones head Oh
breathing through the mouth when
carried to excess become very bad
habits.
Take, Tor instance, the common
"trick" of moistening the lips with the
tongue. If you make habit OF this
you will make your lips drler and driez
and render the nerves cf them extreme
iy sensitive. Eventually you will con-
tract permanently cracked lips, which
besides being painful and annoying are
likely to produce career. II this dis.
ease be hereditary you run a good
chance of getting it.
Why any man should blow his nose
when he does not want to is mystery
but hundreds OF people, especially ell
derlv ones, have the habit. It is ex-
treme:y bad for the nasal nerves and
melntranss. II done constantly when
in health it will, sooner Or later, pro-
duce chronic nasal catarrh.
II you find yourself blinking your
eyes rapidly witkort eny cause, stop
it at once or it will grow Into an incur
able habit, that will make your eye.
sight fail comparatively early ir life.
Natural blinking is necessary to
clear and moisten the eye. The aver
age number OF natural b.lnks is about
twenty par minute. But a nervous
bllnker viii get III something like a
couple Of hundred in minute III bad
cases. The result OF this is a i,.g de-
velopmeEt OF the eyelld muscles. II
besides involSes ccunterirrItaticn
which acts on the optic nerve, and
renders the sight daily more
weak and irritable.
Once contract this habit, and you
will find you cannot bear a strong,
light Or read small type, and the eyes
will get Wurse and worse. The cure
consists IN keeping the eyes shut tor
at least ten minutes every hour, and
bathing the lids in warm water.
It is unwise to breathe through your
mouth. If you do you will let the
lower half of your lungs fall almost en-
tirely into disuse. They are not filled
if you breathe through your mouth,
and the lungs will be weakened and
lett an easy prey to maladies of the
chest. The system will besides be fed
by only about one half the oxygen it
requires. Thousands of people con-
tract this dangerous habit, which is
really life shortener.
If you sleep with your mouth open
you will ge. about bali the benefit of a
nights rest. This frequently is the
cause of "that tired feeling" on waking
in the morning. If there be any cpl
demic floating you double your chance
Of catching it, and halye your chances
OF recovering, as you weaken the lungs.
Never pick the teeth. 1t will make
a difference of yeas in the life of your
teeth, and send you to the dentist be-
fore your time. The habit, eyen after
meals, will, sooner or later, start the
enamel of the teeth and cause decay.
Some people contract the habit of pick
ing the teeth when they have nothing
else to do. This will put good, sound
set OF teeth on the road to decay at
least six or seven years before they
ought to go. You will lose your sleep,
pay a dozen dentists bills and then
wish you had left tootnplcks alone.
Brush your theeh, instead, with good
powder after every meal, if possible.