STONE AGE TEETH

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 81, 3 October 1923, Page 6

STONE AGE TEETH

WHAT THE OLD MAORI CAN

TEACH US

"HEALTH WEEK" ACTIVE.

The "Health Week" free exhibition at the Town Hall, to which all are welcome, is attracting much attention. There is much that is educative. As will be seen below, and in a report on another' page, the Health Campaign is active all day long.

When one walks into the Town Hall by the main entrance -he will find on his Tight-hand side skulls and jawbones, along with plaster casts thereof. The purpose, however, is not to warn him to prepare for the after-life, but to show him one- of the ways by which he may postpone it. Incidentally/ he will be a pupil sitting at the feet of the "stone age" man in order to learn how to live, for he will be confronted with a Maori jawbone to which a semitoothless civilisation must nowadays do. homage. AN ABORIGINAL EXEMPLAB. ' The owner of the Maori jawbone must have carried it around with him for at least sixty years, and the inuTeations are that at his death his teeth were flawless. This result was achieved by the Maori in spite of, or because of, a severe daily demand upon the grinding pOwer of his "ivories." By sheer use the teeth have been worn down to the dentine, but they still present a.grinding surface, and are untouched by the decay that'rots civilisation's teeth. The Maori evidently fed on something hard, with hunger as sauce, and the results, to his dental equipment and health, were certainly good. It is understood that

FOOD AND VITAMINES. 1 Dr.' Hardwick Smith, speaking <l <? on " Food and Vitamines," has *? quoted as follows from the Mcdi- <? •? cal Research' Committee's report: •'? §" What can be precisely said at |j present isthat if minute amounts n >. of certain constituents are remov- s S. Ed from natural foods, such foods > fail to support nutrition, and j|j V grave symptoms of actual disease % Sj may supervene. The failure and S >, the symptoms can be prevented, |j or the animal restored:to health a !§) by the' replacement of what was (5) |j removed from the food or by A |j adding an equally small supply j| from other sources." The consti- S |§ tuents which might bo so re- |) moved were, said Dr. Hardwick g) (§ Smith, vitamines, the vital spark ro) © of all foods, without which g) || They Became; Dead and ,•> 5© @ , • •'■' Useless. '■'■.■' ; '#vS

since modern Maoris'have .taken' up the bad eating" ways of. the pakeha, even their aboriginal teeth . have shared in the general decay. . ■ . This is one aspect of "the ever-in-creasing deyitalisation caused' by the dsj, mands of modern . civilisaiion s ' f alsevalues and unnecessary mode of■■ life.", It should be mentioned here that' the stall containing the exhibit under review is provided by one of the divisions of the Health Department—the Dental Division. Casts of the jaws and mouth cavities of white children are shown. There are some perfect ones, belonging to children of 5-7 years, fed on hard crusts, fruit, "water, etc., instead of on an excess of sweets. There are other casts of badly-shaped mouth cavities, and badly-developed teeth. Diseases of teeth are shown in another exhibit. The process of replacement of temporary teeth by permanent teeth is illustrated. Terse instruction is given by posters and placards and charts on the walls. The Dental Division has completely trained (two years course) 32 nurses, and 14 are now in training.

CAUSES OP DEFORMITY.

.Next j^ order is the stall of two other Health Department Divisions^bcnool Hygiene and Nursing. The exhibits have been arranged by Dr Ada iatterson and Miss Maclean. Prominent on the wall are the creditable efforts at poster work carried out at the pubhe schools and at the Technical School, inese contributions of the younf idea are worth inspecting. Models are shown *>f correct school dress for girls and boys. There are casts of the chests of New Zealand children, showing chest deformities that are the result of faulty habits, and showing also proper juvenile chests. Casts of feet tell the same story; some, of these pedal deformities appear, to be congenital, but some are the result, of bad footwear. Charts on the wall show correct sitting positions also sitting positions that are bad for bodily form and health. How much of

I ■ FRESH AIR; I g Pure air has no odour. Air \ that has an unpleasant smell is \ impure. Do not allow the air in <f the house to get stale.' In sum- <l % mer, windows should be wide @ |J open; in winter, if there are two <| X windows in the room, one should # S be open from the bottom, the <? | other from the top. If there be <§ |) only one window, open it a few •< @ ™ches at the top and bottom. <s g) I here should always be a window *s open, and a door," too, if practio- S <& able, to ventilate the rooms f § Where People are Sleeping. S

ill-health is due to the state of huddle into which sitting writers and diners allow their bodies to sink! The patients of Pukeora Sanatorium have contributed various exhibits. Their basketware and leather goods are- of good rjuality and workmanship. They also exhibit a- splendidly made model shelter for consumptive treatment. Not the least interesting of their contributions is a home-made cooler designed to do the work of the more expensive ice chest. Ihis cooler-consists of three things- (1) An earthenware vessel; (2) a wooden box big enough "to contain the vessel, with good space between vessel and box walls; and (3) sawdust sufficient to fill the space between the box walls and the earthenware. The sawdust insulatiun keeps the contents of the vessel cool. Some Technical School pictorial posters must not be forgotten. In order to preach the moral of "get up early," one youthful artist paints an intimate por- • trait of .Miss Mary Lie-abed. Another preaches "an apple a day" by painting a youth with a big bulge in the side of his cheek, and a corresponding dent in the cheek of the apple. Then there are companion pictures supposed to illustrate

the bad effect of smoking on boys The non-smoker has won a prize, and has incidentally acquired an unctuous upturn of the eyes that smacks strongly of con scious rectitude.

The stall of the St. John Ambulance Association arid Brigade contains a display of the apparatus of first aid and home nursery. There are a field equipment stretchers etc. ; also equipments suitable for schools. The stall is under Mrs Barllrop, Miss Robinson, and other members of the association

AN INSTITUTION: MORNING TEA. The factories and shops campaign, including health talks and first aid, is going £ ci nl Pla"s-Mills. «nd Dr. Helen Bakeweil have been reinforced by Sister

I BROWN BREAD f k is in every respect a better food $ jl than white bread. To those who # X suffer from constipation brown <| #,ladlS of Great value. It keeps # the bowels healthy and active. <f |> A large amount of meat is not <t f necessary. It is a mistake to <t |> tnink that hard work cannot be <n & performed without much meat <s A good rule is to take meat at $ only one meal in the day. Those @ who lead a sedentary life should N I Take Little Meat. I

J. E. Lewis, of the Bed Cross. The lecturesses have a good hearing, and occasionally some questions. Some of the girls accept the "three meals a day" rule with the reservation that morning tea is an established institution and on the whole a helpful one to health and work.

Staff bergt.-Major Kidman, at one oi, his first aid demonstrations yesterday, had a patient—a listener who suddenly fainted. Sei-gt.-Major Kidman gave a practical demonstration, and quickly restored the man. The patient's first hand description of what it felt like added to the realism of the situation.

To-day Dr. Platts-Mills gave a health talk at the Victoria Laundry where over a hundred employees had leave to attend for three-quarters of an hour of the employers' time. In addition to the programmed health talks in factories and shops, the Industrial Committee of Health Week has carried out extras at four establishments . (W. and J. Staples boot factory, Equity boot factory, Munt, Cottrell, and Co., and Leyland Motors), and will do its. best to meet all fresh applications from factories or shops for health talks. At 3.30 p.m. to-morrow will be seen the .health girls in fancy costume. To the five young ladies already mentioned in. this group has been added a sixth, Miss Jean Ashby, who typifies ."Cleanliness." The sponges attached to her costume typify washing, the squares of her pretty costume represent the tiled floor of a bathroom, and the toothbrushes that serve for trimmings explain themselves. These six. young girls belong to the Junior Red Cross.

Last evening the illuminated tramcar added to _ the Health Week attractions. The public is also being, "reached" per wireless "broadcast" and'per magnavox. The Health Week clean-up is progressing, notwithstanding a tendency in some districts to stack refuse too late for time-table, and to stack < too much "trade refuse," the. liability for removing, which is on the owner.