690 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



first laws in the ''code of health," and is binding at 

 all times and at all ages. The greatest enemy of health 

 is dirt ; and the worst of all kinds of dirt is that which 

 arises from the destructive processes at work in the 

 body. 



MOUTH-BREATHING 



Few persons are aware that this practice, so very 

 common, is specially harmful, and many will be sur- 

 prised when we say that it is exceedingly detrimental 

 to health, even dangerously so. It is generally due to 

 obstructions in the nasal cavities, either through thick- 

 ening or swelling of the mucous membrane, or the ex- 

 istence of polypi or other morbid growths. Sometimes 

 it is due to habit merely. A child catches cold. The 

 nasal passages become obstructed, necessitating mouth- 

 breathing during sleep, when respiration is involun- 

 tary, and hence less forcible than during the waking 

 hours. The cold is soon recovered from, but the habit 

 has been contracted, and is continued even to adult 

 years, or during an entire lifetime. 



Enlargement of the tonsils is also a common cause 

 of mouth-breathing. 



Habitual mouth-breathing ultimately results in seri- 

 ous disease of the throat and larynx. It is also the 

 cause of the peculiar malformation of the chest known 

 as ''pigeon's breast." 



The remedy consists in the application of such meas- 

 ures as will remove the obstructions, if present. Polypi 

 must be removed. Morbid growths must be removed 

 or destroyed. Catarrh, if present, must be cured. If 

 mouth-breathing is a habit merely, as is often the case, 



