Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-11-20
All Out for
Carrying
Practice!
Salt, Soda in Hot Water
Favored Widely
BY LOGAN CLENDENING, NJ. ID.

THAT low sound you hear
- early in the morning now
adays. which you can't quite
identify, is probably due TO the
gargling up and down the block.
If it were Spring. it might be
laid TO the babbling brooks COM
ing in with their torrents and
freshets Of the new year.
But in the period of the decay
and death-of the old year, it is
probably just the neighbors
gargling.
Doctors still scorn gargling in
their public announcements and
at the bedside of a patient. but l
can tell you from years of ex-
perience with them, intimate
association. and being ROOM
mates with them at medical con-
ventions. that they gargle Just
as much as anybody.
The only reason they do not
recommend gargling is that it is
a one-man job, and there is
nothing a doctor can do TO help
out during the treatment.
THE only kind Of treatment
that doctors approve is when
they can poke something into
one of the cavities OF the body
and you can't see them do it.
and they touch things up and it
all seems very mysterious.
When il comes to gargling, the
doctor has no hand in il and you
can observe the results on your
own.
OF course, the doctors have
some other objections to gargling
for sore threats and colds.
They say that If you gargle
with an antiseptic, the anti
septic is too weak 10 kill the
germs and you only fool your
self. This may be true.
In fact, as good a gargle as
you can get does not depend on
any strong antiseptic for its ef-
feet.
1t consists of one teaspoon OF
salt, and a teaspoon of soda TO
a glass of hot water.
The soda and the salt furnish
slightly antiseptic and astrin-
gent action and the hot water
acts as a hydrotherapeutic
agent
THE test of the value OF gar
l. Cling lies in its longevity.
I suppose our primitive an
cestorS on the banks OF the
Euphrates found some warm
springs where they gargled and
-douched- their noses and thought
they were curing their colds.
1t is a long stretch of time
between primitive man on the
banks of the Euphrates and
your neighbors up the street.
but from then 10 now the gargle
has held its own as throat
soother. so there must be some
thing toTit
l think that II is due mostly
TO heat and the effect of hot
water.
Some modern researches have
put gargllnge on a scientific
basis
These studies were made by
having patients gargle with
liquids that cast shadow on
the X-ray plate, and il was
found that ordinary gargles do Y
not reach the back OF the throat
because the tongue is pressed
against the soft palate and the
fluid does not reach the phar-
ynX.
THE proper way is 10 sit well
Il back in a chair. take swal-
low of water in the mouth and
bend the head as far back as
possible.
Stick the tongue out and
grasp the tip with a handker-
chief.
You cannot swallow the water
in this position; il is impossible.
However. you will feel as if
you had swallowed the water.
Now start TO gargle and eXhale
air slowly.
Then close the mouth and
quickly throw the head and
body forward
This forces fluid into the back
of the throat. After few trials
with ordinary water, try il with
hot salt water.
When properly done. the re-
suit is great relief from the
throat irritation.
Children can be taught 10
gargle this way as we'll as adults.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
r. a. w: How can a person
tell they have pellagra of the
stomach?
Answer: Pellagra affects the