The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-10
TAINTED BREATH.
RESULT OF DECOMPOSITION
 ALONG
Respiratory Tract-Rsmedy is Pure
 Living and Cleanliness.

Respiratory Tract-Rsmsdy is Pure
 Living and Cleanliness.
 Any one inflicted with bad breath, in- stead of using disinfectant washes or gargles, should try to discover the cause of the bad breath. It is almost ridiculous to keep using disinfectants while the cause of the fetor continues to operate. Suppose any one were to notice bad smell in the back yard. Instead of finding out exactly what the cause of the bad smell is, he would sim ply throw disinfectant around, or de- Odorized, in order to stop or disguise the smell. Such a procedure would be silly indeed. No one but sanitary of ficer would do such thing.
 A bad breath indicates some decom- position going on somewhere in the res piratory tract. It may be hollow tooth filled with decomposing material, or the teeth may be so damned together as to inclose portions of the food, which ferment and fill the mouth with a nox- ious gases.
 ,The trouble may be in the posterior mares. One or both nostrils may be stopped up. This leaves an unventila- ted space just back of the nostril in the upper portion of the throat. The want of ventilation allows the mucus to ac- cumulate and decompose, which forms a very fetid gas.
 Or, again, the trouble may be caused by enlarged tonsils. These sometimes assume a globuIar form, with deep ITIi tai 111lI- GUS. Again, mucus collects behind and above an enlarged tonsil, where it is sure to decompose and cause bad breath.
 Any portion of the respiratory tract from the throat to the lungs may be the seat of the difficulty. The mucous sur- face is liable to catarrh, and the ca tarrh abrades the mucous membranes here and there, forming superficial ul- cers, which furnish continuous efflu- via to the breath. Like little volcanoes, they pour out their eruption of noxious gases day and night to contaminate the breath.
 The stomach has often been accused of being the cause of bad breath, but the fact is the stomach rarely is the cause of a bad breath The breath does not enter the stomach. Respiraton has little or nothing to do with the stomach. Breath is simply an act of drawing the air into the lungs and expelling it again.
 The fetor of bad breath sometimes originates in the lungs and is no doubt the result of deranged condition of the whole system. The blood, being surcharged with foul gases and decom- posing material, gives off these gases at each respiration. This is why the breath of a person who drinks liquor will become tainted with the smell of the liquor. At first the breath un- doubtedly smells of the liquor simply because in passing through the mouth and throat some of it adheres to the mucous surfaces. If any one were to rinse out the mouth with liquor, the breath would smell for a short time, but only for short time. With the dram drinker the case is different. The liquor having passed into his stomach, it is absorbed into the blood. Through the blood it reaches the lungs, and with each respiration from the lungs a DOT ton of the fumes from the liquor are given off with the breath. This illus trates how a bad condition of the blood can taint the breath
 Undoubtedly onions and many other aromatic substances find their way out of the system through the breath. In this way bad stomach may .taint the breath. This is why bad stomach means bad breath. Bad digestion produces bad quality of blood. The blood circulating through the lungs, gives off bad odors, which find their way into the breath. In this round about way the stomach may cause bad breath, but as rule the cause of bad breath can be found closer at hand either in the teeth, posterior mares, ton- sils, throat or bronchial tubes. Instead of using mouth washes or perfumes of any sort to cure bad breath, person ought to have the cause of the bad greath discovered Unfortunately it would be of little or no use to such person to call on the average doctor, as he knows nothing or cases nothing about such things. He is simply engaged in prescribing drugs and spends very little time in ferreting out causes or removing obnoxious ailments by harmless and rational methods. In these matters every per- son must use his own common sense and try to be his own doctor.
 No one should be content to allow bad breath to continue. It is very un- healthy and is very obnoxious to other