Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1921-08-15
THAT MORNING YAWN;;
WHAT BRINGS IT ON
Blood Must Be Drawn To
Muscles And Brain-Stretch
Helps, Too
UESTIoNS ANSWERED

disease are hidden in the simplest
disguises-for example, a laugh. a
yawn. sigh.
Doctors are only just beginning TO
wake up to this, and in America the
subject is already engaging a great
deal of interest
An American doctor, Professor
Grille. made a study of the expressions
of fighting men during the war, and
by so doing added greatly to medical
knowledge. A study OF the same lines
is being carried on IN England now,
and is already bringing enlighten-
ment. -
Take a yawn and stretch, for ex-
ample-the ordinary mans beginning
-os his day.
Why does one yawn on getting out
of bed?
Why does one stretch ones limbs
and get comfort from doing it?
Why does one rub ones eyes?
These are the most ordinary acts in
the world, and yet their meaning is
only just becoming understood.
Let us glance at the sleeping man
before we try to answer the questions.
AS he lies in bed his muscles are all
relaxed and soft His chest moves
very little; he breathes with his body,
and that slowly and regularly.
Now we know that inactive mus
cles and an inactive brain have a
smaller amount of blood in them than
active muscles and an active brain.
We know, too, that when the chest
is moving very little the lungs are
not opening very widely. We can in
fer from that that less than the usual
amount of blood is present in the
lungs
There are several parts of the body
which can hold great deal of blood
the muscles. the lungs. the brain.
and finally the organs of digestion.
The bulk of the blood of the sleeping
man is not in his muscles, his brain,
or his lungs, 1t must therefore be in
his body proper.
Experiment has shown that there is
where it is. Therefore, when he
awakes he is not fit for immediate
exertion or activity. He must first
bring his reserves of blood to his
brain, muscles and lungs
There are two ways in which this
can be done.
The first is by pressure on the body
itself, and the second is by suction.
Pressure in this case means the
pressure or squeeze of the muscles OF
the front of the body Suction means
the opening up of the chest, and so
the drawing into it of blood from the
veins.
The awaking man on getting out of
bed draws a deep. long breath-what
is called a yawn. At the same mo-
ment he throws his shoulders back.
and so brings his shoulder-blades
nearer to each other. The strong
muscles of his back become taut, and,
thanks to the position he has as
sumed. his chest is pulled open. Thus
"yawn"-are part of the same pro-
cess. II is the stretch which makes
the yawn.
But the stretch achieves another
purpose. In stiffening himself up and
throwing back his shoulders, our wax
ing man also stiffens the muscles
over the front of his body SO that they
press strongly on the bodily organs.
This, the stretch" the deep breath
the pressure naturally tends to drive
blood upward out of the body into the
chest and lungs. The suction we
have spoken about comes from the
chest itself When it is pulled open
by the stretch" air rushes in and
blood also rushes in to fill it up. We
have an effect like a suction pump
At the same moment our waking
man often begins to rub his eyes He
is now fully stretched, with his head
thrown back and his body taut His
chest is widely expanded and is filled
with air and blood. So far, however.
blood is not being sent quickly
enough TO his brain and muscles. II
is necessary to whip up his heart to
stronger efforts
Now the heart can increase its
working power in two ways. 1t can
make bigger beats and it can beat
more quickly.
In the first case its output of blood
per beat is increased; in the second
its output of blood per minute. in or
der. to give bigger beats. it. must open
more widely and so take in more
blood.-CFrom the Philadelphia Rec
ord