198 ADVANCED PHYSIOLOGY 



comes in contact with the blood, is by gradual passage, 

 or by diffusion, from the larger air tubes into the smaller 

 sacs. 



BREATHING HABITS 



Certain practical lessons as to methods of breathing may 

 be drawn from these facts. Diaphragm breathing fills the 

 lungs at their lowest point, rib breathing tends to fill the 

 upper lobes. Either of these types alone will produce only 

 a partial action of the lungs, and if one accustoms himself to 

 only one type of breathing, parts of his lungs are liable to 

 become sluggish. This inactive condition produces a tendency 

 to lung diseases, e.g. consumption, which generally starts in 

 the least used lobes of the lungs. Breathing should, therefore, 

 involve the whole lung equally; neither rib nor diaphragm 

 breathing should predominate. Among people who are not 

 hampered by ill devised clothing, both ribs and diaphragm 

 act freely in natural breathing. Our methods of dress inter- 

 fere with this freedom. Corsets, tight bands around the 

 waist, and the custom of supporting the skirts from the hips, 

 interfere with women's abdominal breathing. Men have a 

 tendency to make the breathing too exclusively abdominal. 

 They should give particular attention to developing rib, or 

 chest breathing, while women should especially try to strength- 

 en their abdominal breathing. This can easily be done if a 

 little attention be given to the matter each day. Unneces- 

 sary or needlessly tight bands about the waist are used only 

 by those who see beauty in a weakened, misshapen form, 

 and who hold health a cheap possession. 



In an active, out-of-door life, like that led by children, 

 soldiers or mountaineers, vigorous exercise causes very rapid 

 breathing and thus keeps the lungs active. But the quiet 

 life of adults in cities does not involve much exercise, and 

 the lungs are rarely filled with fresh air. For this reason it is 

 a very good practice for city-dwellers to take several long 



