Mouth Closing.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 978, 28 November 1890, Page 5

Mouth Closing.

HOW THE SNORER MAY GIVE HIS (OR HER) FRIENDS RELIEF.

The following is suggested to snorers : There are two channels in which the air travels in going to the lungs, namely, the nose and mouth. These two passages unite in a common cavity, and from that point there is but one tube leading to the lungs. There is a bone called the hard palate, which forms the roof of the mouth and the floor of the nose, separating these two air channels from each other.. At the inner or posterior end of the bone is a little body called the soft palate, made of muscle, and covered with a delicate skin. This soft palate is attached at one end to the hard palate; the other end hangs loose and moves or laps in the act of breathing, something like a window curtain when acted upon by a current of air. This is its condition while we are asleep or awake, though during sleep it lacks in tonicity, being much more relaxed or flabby than when we are awake. Now, in order to snore, one must keep the mouth open as well as the nose, and •in this condition the two currents of air passing in and out together during the act of breathing catch this little curtain between them and throw it into rapid vibration. This vibration, more or less intense and sonorous, is what we call snoring. It is only with the mouth open that snoring can be accomplished during sleep. Awake, if the nose is closed by the thumb and finger, by taking a forcible breath, it is possible to snore, and the same result may be accomplished with the mouth shut and the nose open, but the muscular effort necessary to its accomplishment is more than we can command during sleep, and would wake up the person who might unconsciously make the effort.

If the mouth be closed (the natural condition during slumber) but one current of air will paBB to and from the lungs. The current pressing about equally on all sides of the canal, will press the soft palate forward and downward until it is applied to the tongue, and will hold it there gently, thus preventing any sonorous vibration. It follows that any device which prevents the lower jaw from dropping down during relaxation of sleep, and opening the mouth, will shut out the one unnatural current of air and prevent snoring. An apparatus could be made of a simple cap fitted to the head snugly—-a cap of soft material fitting the chin and a piece of elastic webbing tacked to the chin-piece and to the head cap near the ears. The webbing can be made more or less tense as may be required to effect the closure of the mouth. The apparatus is so simple that anyone can make it. Now, snorers, you can repair the windpipe, and the non-snorers will be left to the quietness of their own slumbers.