OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3756, 9 March 1926, Page 72

OUR BABIES.

HYGEIA.

Br

PttbfhMtf ufldor tilt amplest at (hi •tyal Ntw Zealand Society fer the Health m Wetnan and Children (Munkat Society). M lt la wiser ta pat up a feme at the tap at a precipice than ta ma/ataln an embulanee at the bettora."

PLUNK EX NURSES, ETC. DUNEDIN BRANCH. KURSLd’ SERVICES FREE Nurses O’Shea (telephone 2348), Richards. Darling, and Ewart (telephone 116), and Mathieson (telephone 3020) Society's Rooms: Jamieson'a Buildings, 76 Lower Stuart street (telephone 116), and 315 King Edward street, South Dunedin (colophon e 3020). Office horns, daily from 2 to 4 p.m. (except Saturday and Sunday); also 125 Highgate. Roslyn— Monday and Thursday from 2to 4 p.m.; and at Kelsey Yaralla Kindergarten. Tuesday and Friday, from 2 to 4 p.m. Out-stations: Baptist Church, Gordon road, Mosgiel, Tuesdaj afternoons from *■ to 4 p.m.; Municipal Buildings, Port Chalmers, Wednesday afternoons from 2 to 4 o’clock

Secretary, Miss G. Hoddinott, Jamiesons Buildings, Stuart street (telephone 116).

Karitane-Harris Babj Hospital Anderson's Baj (telephone 1985). Matron. Miss Buisson. Demonstrations given on request ever, Wednesday afternoon from Z. 50 to Nurses and Karitane Bab, Nurses. Visiting hours: 2 to 4 p ro.. Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. NASAL HYGlENE—(Continued.) In last week’s column we quoted from a lecture given by nr Oetavia Lewin to school nurses in London, and sent to us by Miss J. B. N. Paterson, of Glasgow. The following is a continuation based on Dr Lewin’s lecture. Purifying the Air. Whatever else may vary, air itself is much the same all the world over—but its temperature, moisture, and impurities vary greatly. Air may be quite unfit to be taken down into the lungs unless warmed and filtered by the nostrils. It loaded with soot in the city, sand by the sea or dust from the country roads, it needs a great deal of preparation before entering the lungs. The lungs are a pair of spongy Dags fillin" a great part of the chest. They consist of a delicate living tissue made up of tubes ending in clusters of tiny sacs, looking, under the microscope, like bunches of grapes. When once anything gets right down into the lungs, it i~ impossible to get it up again. Fortunately, Nature has supplied us with the apparatus needed to safeguard the lungs and keep out intruders. But we must do our bit; we must keep the tortuous passages and cavaties in and behind the nose clean and 1 ir. It is mainly in the vities of the nose itself that the machinery for warming the air and arresting dust, microbes, and other impurities is placed—at the entrance to the breu king organs. This machinery is buried deepb* in the head, behind the nostrils, quite out of sight, and safely out of harm’s way. The bloodvessels that abound there are so thin that they can give up the necessary heat as the air swishes past them. Tiny glands throw out moisture just as fast or as slowly as it is ailed ior. The nerves are so numerous and so much linked up with all the other parts of the body that they can take and send messages to any part in an instant. Think of what happens when you strike your nose against any hard object, xou see stars, feel giddy and sick, and hear buzzing noises. All this happens in a flash. This is but a little of the story of the nose. Compare the nose with the mouth. All is plain sailing there; we can see everything. The teeth for crushing and breaking up food, and the tongue for rolling it round—for the chief work of the mouth is eating. If air is breathed in, not through the nose, but through the mouth, there is an uninterrupted passage for letting it pass straight through to the lungs, just as it comes from the outside world—often cold, dusty, and dirty—the same imp e air that may make it necessary for us to wash our hands before sitting down to a meal. How can we be so foolish as to draw the air down into the lungs the wrong way—cold and unpurified? Another proof of the nose being the only organ intended to convey air to the lungs lies in the fact that it contains the smelling apparatus. If we were meant to lie mouth-breathers the smelling apparatus would be in the mouth. Wc only smell when we breathe in through the nose. Keep the Nose Passages Clear. The power of smell is very important. As long as we keep the nasal passages clear the sense of smell looks after itself. In order to detect a delicate odour. we take a short, sharp breath through the nostrils; this sends the air up towards the brain to be tested there where the smell-nerves are placed. No obstruction* should lie in the path of this air, no dustladen discharges, or they may be carried up there too. The floor oi the brain must not be bombarded with such stuff; it clogs the drainage, and may cause serious disease. The brain, like all living tissues, is constantly giving off waste material, and this must be swept away before it has time to accumulate. Never forget that the nose is a wonderful incubator. Any germs locked •up in it multiply in their millions very rapidly, and their products poison the blood.

Do not Sniff. Smiling is very dangerous. It bombards the base of the brain with refuse, blocking the drainage, and thua forming breeding grounds for germs. Sniffiug is bad for brains and head. 1)0 NOT SNIFF; BLOW THE NOSE INSTEAD. Next week's article will contain the conclusion of this lecture, dealing with the natural cleansing of the nasal cavities afforded by the common sneeze.