RESPIRATION AND ENERGY IN MAN 135 



results. As soon as catarrh or enlarged tonsils or adenoids 

 are discovered, the advice of a competent physician should 

 be sought, for these diseases of the air passages prevent an 

 adequate supply of air from reaching the lungs and tissues, 

 and seriously interfere with the normal development of the 

 body and mind. 



Colds are inflammations of the air passages or of other 

 regions of the body, and they are probably due to the action 

 of bacteria. If the malady is confined to the nose cavity, we 

 call it a cold in the head ; if it is seated in the throat, a sore 

 throat results ; a cold on the chest is an inflammation of the 

 windpipe or its subdivisions. When the bronchial tubes 

 are affected, their lining membrane becomes swollen, and 

 the air passages are more or less closed; this is bronchitis. 

 And finally, if the inflammation affects the air sacs, pneu- 

 monia results. 



195. Suffocation. — We have often called attention to the 

 fact that the body must be supplied continually with oxygen 

 and that its wastes must be constantly removed. If this 

 process is interrupted, even for five minutes, fatal results 

 are almost sure to follow. If, in swallowing, food gets past 

 the epiglottis into the windpipe, choking results'. In cases 

 of this kind the head should be held forward (or downward 

 in case of a child) and sharp blows struck between the 

 shoulders. By suf-fo-ca'tion is meant some interference with 

 the process of breathing. Suffocation may be due to in- 

 closure in a small space with a limited supply of oxygen, to 

 the inhaling of poisonous gases, or to immersion in water 

 (drowning). In any case, the patient should be brought 

 out at once into fresh air. If water has entered the air 

 passages, the person should be turned face downward. One 

 should then stand astride him and support the weight of his 



