Evening star., 1932-04-30

Laughter goes well with meals" we
once wrote here.
An exception must be taken in the
case of laughter which makes one
choke.
Now choking, either at or away from
meals, is a subject which is not often
treated in everyday style.
One may find dissertations. of course,
in medical works, but isn't there more
to plain, ordinary, everyday choking
than that?
Everybody chokes, upon occasion, even
the most decorous.
There ere few persons who have not,
at some time or other, fallen into a
choking spell, occasioned by much
laughter, complicated by something
going down the wrong way"
Mostly we never bother much about
the dual function of the throat, which
lets food and water go to their proper
place, as we'll as permits air to be re-
ceived into the lungs.
There is a little trap door, which
swings one way for food and another
way for air. If something goes wrong
with the latch, if the door opens the
other way, down will go bread where
air is supposed to go.
Then one chokes.
x x X X
This choking is supposed to be some
what i'll bred, but if food and laughter
are mixed, as is sometimes the case
even with the most polite persons, it
will occur, unless one is exceptionally
fortunate.
Even children are taught-or, at
least, they used to be-that it is very
bad manners to eat and talk at the
same time. One should wait until the
mouth is empty, etc.
The temptation to offer a remark,
however, in a merry discussion, some
times assailS one at the wrong time.
Then what CONSERVATION one is likely
to cause, as one gasps for air coughs.
gets red in the face, and receives ad-
monitory thumpS on the back.
); y X K
1t is a curious thing, after all these
thousands of years of choking and back
humping, that few persons seem to
have any idea of the proper place to
thump the coughing individual
Either they hit one across the nape
Of the neck, which does no good at
all, or way down in the small of the
back, which is worse
The proper place to thump is square
ly in the middle of the shoulders, lust
below the point where the neck rises
out of the body.
Nor should the thwacking be done
with the closed fist. The idea is not
to bring pain to the sufferer, already
in danger of his life. but to dislodge
the piece of offending foodstuf, if such
it is, and send it down its proper
channel.
The palm of the hand should be
used. This should be applied Wig
orously, but not too vigorously. at the
point designated until the victim
seems better.
Most people fail to realize the seri-
business of this small crisis in the in
dividual life.
Just because SO out of a hundred
such cases end Of themselves. with no
more pain than momentary discomfort
and some small embarrassment, is no
reason why any such case should not
be taken seriously.
Especially at informal gatherings,
where the rules of etiquette do not
call for such a formal approach to
such matters, it is expedient, as we'll as
courteous, for first aid" to be offered
at once, instead of waiting for the
sufferer to get better of his own accord.
Not always is wrongly directed food
the cause of coughing and sputtering
Often hearty laughter alone will cause
the same effect. Or the person may
be of the type which is susceptible to
such disorders. Just what their med
ical name is we do not know but