The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-04-01

Conn, says quite definitely that
this is a piece Of superstition. To
quote him. Body doors are not
produced by some complex chem
istry deep in the flesh and dis
charged on the surface. The
sweat and grease, as they come
from the glands of the skin, have,
with rare exceptions. little odor.
But they acquire an odor when
they stay on the surface, turn
rancid and putrefy from bacterial
action"
Many body odors are a COM
pound Of emanations from the
skin and the breath. Garlic or
onion odor is, in 95 per cent of
cases, due TO small amounts of the
food left in the teeth. In other
words, garlic and onion odor does
not come from the absorption Of
the vegetables in the digestive
tract. 1t is not carried by the
blood to the surface Of the body or
to the lungs and exhaled in the
breath.
Body odor which may come from
the skin, so far as science can say
anything about it, is due simply to
the fermentation Of the secretions
of the skin with some form of bac-
terra. The treatment, therefore,
should be, logically, simple clean
illness with soap and water, but
unfortunately the problem is
little more complicated than that
because ordinary soap and water
does not always kill or remove
permanently the causative germs.
As a practical method Of treat
ing this problem. which may bor-
der on tragedy for some people,
the best thing to do is to assume
that body odor comes from the
fermentation Of skin secretions by
bacteria. and to try to find some
soap or lotion which will kill the
action Of the germs. Nobody can
say definitely that one particular
kind of soap or lotion will do this,
so the treatment must be more or
less a matter of experience by
trial and error.
Hsggard's Experiments
Breath odors come into the same
category and the same advice
should be given to those with bad
breath. Doctor Haggard found in
experiments that ne could kill the
odor Of the breath no matter what
was its cause with any chemical
which would liberate chlorine in
the mouth. Chlorine is very de-
structive to any free protein.
Doctor Haggard made up
mouth wash composed of a salt Of
chlorine, which would be harmless
and at the same time destructive
to breath odors. He found he
could kill a garlic or alcoholic
breath in FIVE minutes. The only
objection to using this as tooth
paste is that it has a rather dis
agreeable taste. So humans being
what they are, the world awaits a
tasteless toothpaste that will kill
bad breath.
Humans being what they are"
means that they will say, 81 would
do anything to get rid of this bad
breath" but when given a simple
toothpaste that causes them five
minutes discomfort, they prefer
the bad breath.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
r. NJ. MI am troubled with
red infamed eyelids with small
white pimples which seem to be at
the, seat Of the eyelashes. Could
you give me information about
cause and cure?"
Answer - Chronic graduating
eyelids due to pus infection Of
the hair follicles Of the eyelashes
should be treated by pulling out
the infected eyelashes with thumb
forceps and then bathing the
eyes with boric acid solution and,
further, twice daily, morning and
evening, brushing the edge Of the
eyelids lightly with a camel's hair
brush dipped in a ten per cent
solution Of alcohol. But the con-
dtion may become serious il it
diverts the lashes onto the eyeball
ard it is wise TO consult an ocu-
list. a