Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-07-31
STUDY YOUR NOSE
It Is a Most Wonderful Organ anu
a Really Fine Furnace.

Ordinarily we regard our own or an
other persons nose from the stand
point of personal beauty. If the organ
is a becoming one it wins our admira-
ton. and unless occasion arises we
give it no further thought A delicious
or a repugnant odor reminds US at
times that we possess a sense of smell,
and cold in the head is apt to make
US wish that there was no such thing
as a nose.
Beyond these points. however. we
really penetrate. and as a rule we fail
to fully realize what an important part
of the human anatomy is this most
prominent feature of the face.
No stove or furnace that ever was
made by man can equal in efficiency
the human nose, for the nose, in the
space of three inches and in two sec
ondS of time, can raise the tempera-
ture of the air it draws in nearly fifty
degrees and at the same time saturatc
it with moisture and thoroughly puri-
fy it
The nose is really one Of the most
extraordinary organs of the body. Its
nerves are more sensitive than those
| Of fingers or ears or eyes, for they can
perceive distinctly an almost incredi-
bly, minute amount of a gas so subtle
| that its presence can be detected in no
other way. 1t is also a perfect filter
| and thus the most important guardian
of the body against disease.
All air that is breathed into the
! lungs should be at a temperature Of
nearly 80 degrees F. 1t should also be
moist. even wet. Cold, dry\a is fine
for the outside of the body, but has no
! place in its interior. In heating the air
the nose works on the principle of q
steam coil. 1t is not merely two tubes
leading up into the head and SO down
to the throat, but from the bones on
either side three twisted bones curl
out into the passage, one above the
other, each coated with elastic cush-
ions OF blood vessels and tiny glands.
These form coils with a great, hot
damp surface, over which the air
spreads as it is drawn up. Thus is
the air warmed for its entrance to the
lungs.
A furnace maker told the present
writer that any man who could invent
an efficient apparatus for mixing
moisture with air in its passage
through a hot air furnace could make
fortune. as every device now in use
is only a makeshift and of very lit
tie real value. The Almighty Maker
of the Humankind the animal-nosG
solved the problem. The entire sur
face of the inside of the nose is com
posed of a membrane that pours fortt
q fluid called mucus This is composed
largely of salt water, which is takeI
? up by the passing air until this is sat
urated before it reaches the throat
| This mucus is also u microbe catche
and a dust catcher. Almost all thu
dirt and germs of disease that ente
' with the air through the nostrils ar
trapped by the mucus. The living en-
: emies are killed. for the mucus is ant
I septic and germicidal. Thus the air |
e heated. moistened and purified befor
it reaches the lungs.
f Air breathed in through the mouth
. nOJ WuElleu. ulOiSleueu OT puIlueC e.
r cept to a very slight extent. Const
quently it reaches the lungs cold. dr.
e and laden with dust and diseas,
Bronchitis. tonsilitis. diphtheria an
: consumption are the result.
The mucous membrane of the nos
j Is subject to diseases such as catarrl
e cold in the head" and hay feve
5 Adenoids grow in the back of the nos
/ and stop up its tubes. A simple an
easy operation will remove the latte
/, while the former If taken when the
first show themselves can be cure
without difficulty. If neglected the
may become incurable. Thus not onl
do they prevent the necessary warn
y ing. moistening and altering of the al
but they spread and cause many di
II eases of the throat and lungs and al
f the commOnest cause OF serious an
L intensely painful trouble with tt