The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-07-18

r things in Nature that are 50
complicated and yet go so smooth
ly that we are filled with awe and
wonderment as we contemplate
them-the same emotions / sup
pose, that would assail US il we
beheld a miracle; so for all prac.
tical purposes, there are mir.
scles Of Nature.
The fact that in the functionins
Of our bodies we constantly per-
form familiar acts does not make
them any less miraculous. One of
these is the humble act of swallow
ing. | have been studying it late
ly and it seemed to come over me
as a brand new discovery what a
marvellous little performance il
is-part Of the equipment Of the
merest baby, and staying with US,
unless some misfortune occurs, in
all its pristine beauty until the
very last moment Of our recorded
time, until really just before our
number is actually up.
Mechanics Of Swallowing
Consider! You take a mouthful
Of food and chew it until you make
A bolus of it and the impulse TO
swallow is irresistible. Then the
back Of the tongue projects this
bofus as II 1t were a stone in q
slingshot into the pouch Of the
~pharynx behind the soft palate.
Then simultaneously a number Of
things happen.
The muscles Of the pharynx
seize it and force it into the
clutches of the esophsgus. But it
must get into the esophagus in
tact and nowhere else. So at the
same time the vocal cords come to-
gether and the epiglottis comes
down over them to keep the food
from getting into the windpipe,
the soft palate rises and lovers
the back of the opening into the
nose. And all this takes about one
second, and then all the muscles
relax and set the spring for the
next bolus.
Nothing more marvellous hap
pens under the hood Of the engine
of your automobile. You step on
the starter, release the brake, put
it in gear, step on the accelerator
and off she goes. And nobody
knows what happens except may
be William and the man at the re-
pair shop. Least of all do | know
what happens to my car, and that
ia why swallowing is so much more
satisfactory, because now / know
what happens when | swallow.
Action Of Esophagus
The esophagus itself follows up
in an excellent performance. It
grabs that bolus and in the twink
ling Of an eye shoots it into the
stomach. II the food is liquid, this
takes half a second-so fast you
a hardly follow it with the eye
in the x-ray Horoscope. II the
food is solid, it takes three to six
seconds.
The x-ray has given US most Of
our knowledge about swallowing.
II also has been the most import
ant source of information in rec
ognizing the difficulties and abb
normalities of the act Of swallow
ing-which we witt consider IN the
article tomorrow.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
H. F. HIS there any help
for a nose that bleeds almost every
day? A boy II years old some
times bleeds almost a pint. Could
heart trouble cause it? He does not
seem to feel a bit good lately. He
has never gone TO a doctor about
it."
Answer - Usually these condi-
tons are due to very simple causes
an liberation or an open blood
vessel in the nose. Probably not
due to heart disease at this age.
He does not feel good because he
has lost enough blood to have
anemia. He should certainly go to
a doctor about it as it is very SIM
pie TO treat
Fps linen whose services have
made 'em obviously an intelligent
la TO do the voting, with a still
igher-up group POSSIBLY simmer
ng down to one lone individually to
10 the final governing.
He specifically mentioned male
outrage" Apparently the ladies
lren't to have votes at all, no mat
er how intelligent they may be.
Incipient totalitarianism!