" Wind"—home of the Fallacies Surrounding' It.

Otago Witness, Issue 2630, 10 August 1904, Page 68

" Wind" — home of the Fallacies Surrounding' It.

What is "wind"? We do not know the origin of the name, bub it may have arisen from the fact that the condition is sometimes supposed tc arise from the swallowing of air. There are very few animals who are able to swallow air, and man happens not to be one of them. The frog is the only familiar example. Should we try to swallow air, and succeed in mixing it up with water in the mouth, the air would leave the water in the top of the gullet, and while the water went straight down to the stomach the air would rise up into the back part of the nose and escape. '"Wind" is merely the gas formed in the process of fermentation, and resembles the gas which arises in the fermentation of sugar into rlcohol, or in the process of preparing the dough by the action of yeast. It is better to call this gas "flatus," since i<- involves no theory of its^production. Gas in the intestines varies widely in its composition. It may be merely carbonic acid formed from the fermentation of sugary or starchy food, or it may contain sulphuretted hydrogen, • a gas having the odour of rotten eggs, and the variety of composition depends much m the character of the food which is undergoing fermentation ; since, for .-xample, the presence of sulphur in the food — as in albumen of egg — • is essential to the formation of sulphuretted hydrogen. Of course, sulphur taken into the stomach in. qtiantity, as in the familiar sulphur and treacle, or as tablets, will tend to produce this gas, in greater quantity. The presence of gas in the intestines proves that the digestive processes are not quite normal. It is apt to set- iip rather severe colic pains, owing, apparently, to the difficulty the intestine has sometimes of getting ie to move along.

The excess of starchy food seems to lead to the presence of gas in the intestine. Beans and peas appear to be specially apt to produce it ; but any food which fails to be digested within reasonable time will ferment, owing to the continual presence of bacteria even in the healthy stomach, although they are more numerous the more unhealthy the stomach is. We have heard people talk aboub "wind and water meeting" ar>d "wind round the heart." The effects are not due to these things. Wind and water do not cause disturbances when they meet, and the heart cannot be surrounded by "wind" iv the intestines, although the air of heaven, as it lies, or moves rather, in the air spaces in the lungs, does surround it always in health.

When the stomach is distended by flatus there is apt to be a feeling of discomfort, and the relief which follows the eructation cf the gas shows that its mere bulk or pressure tends to cause the trouble. This relief may be obtained by taking "carminatives," as the drugs which act in causing the expulsion of flatus hare been called, from the "charming" way they tend to act. Some of the best known of these are ginger, preferably in powder, and along with warm water ; capsicum in the form of cayenne pepper, or more usually as a tincture ; various spices, including black pepper; and even dill water, which is mo&t commonly employed when the carminative is for the use of an infant. Mint, too, is used for this, and it is not infrequently associated with carbonate of soda. Sodamint tablets are sold to neutralise the acid formed in the stomach by the process of fermentation ; and the mint acts by causing the expulsion of any gas present from the fomentation, and any carbonic acid released from the soda bicarbonate.

These means are quite legitimate for the relief of marked discomfort ; but they do not cure the disease, and are merely palliatives and makeshifts. The proper line of treat'menu is rectifying the digestive processes by the method of eating, combined with the proper selection of food suitable to the state and capacity of the organs. The mere fact that your friends are able to eat certain foods -without apparent discomfort is no sure guide for you. Nor is the fact, that they can gobble their food quickly find slill maintain apparent health evidence that that is the safe or correct way foir you, or, for that matter, for them. You may find that you cannot eat certain foods in proper moderation ; 3-011 have a ravenous appetite for them, and it is necessary xo put a limit, and that a strict one, to the amount of this special food which, you consume. Not a few people suffer in this way from a ravenous desire for bread or potatoes. If they succeed in digesting them, they tend to get excessively stout, and if they fail they suffer from dyspepsia, and that usually of the flatulent type. Such people we advise to take these foods, trusting not to the guidance of their appetite, but to their judgment, and at all times carefully 'exercising it. Although it is a little irksome, the comfort it brings is well worth the trouble and the restraint. — Liverpool Mercury.