OUR BABIES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 64

OUR BABIES,

h By Htobu.

-. ' InWiikea nadar t»« aanicet of the \ Booietf for O*> Pnmtten of the H«*lth r of Wom«b voA CkiWren. i m "~ - OF FLTJNKET KURSES I AND SECRETABIES. rDnnedin.— Pluoket Nurses Mrs Matheson and | Miss Ellin. Office of the Society, Health fr Department Rooms, Liverpool street, fc Dunedin. Office hours, Monday, Thuxaf day and Saturday, from 2to 8 p.m. TeL r 1136. Son. -Bee, Mrs Carr, 8 Heriot row. it ' Tel. 1774. HJkri»tohurch.— Plunket Nurses Morgan and IT Macarthy. Office of the Society, 27 DurU few* »*r«e* South. Tel. 94a Offic* hours, §•• 9to 3 pm. daily, except Saturdays ana ms~ Sundays. Hon. sec, Mm F. H. Pyne. X- '' Bealcy avenue. Tel. 285. s. ■feßincton.— Phraket Nurse M'Donaid, 73 Aro mj. street. Tel. 2425. Hon. sec, Mrs By M*Vicar, 45 Marjoribanks 'street, City. 6r ' Tel 2642. Rlickland.— Plunket Nurse Chappell, Park |T street. Tel. 851» Office of the society, i m. ~< CBanoery street. -TeJ. 829. Office hours eF ' Tuesdays and Fridays, 2.30' ,to 4 . p.m. H ~JSon. sec., Mrs ~W. H. Parkes, JMarinoto, Eg • Srmonds street. TeL 240.' Bhpier— Plonket Nttrse .Donald, Masonic IF^otel. Tel. 87. Hon. eetu. Mts E. A. V 7. fk , Henley, P.O. Box 64. -Tel. 147. ByaeKian JsTorth.— PJunkrt" Kuree WT^woh, care of W. Park, bookseller, P<~ Square. Tel. 20. Hours, 3 to 4 p.m. X daily. Hon. sec, Mrs M. Oohen, Grey M street. Tel. 68. ■lew Plymouth.— Plunket Nurse "Warnoclc. W Criterion Hotel. Hon. sec., Mrs R. J. H Matthews. ■Cimaru. — Plunket Nurse Bowman. Office of ?- the Society, Arcade Chambers. Tel. 314. i Office hours. 3.30 to *.30 and 6.30 to 7.30. p Hon. sec., Mrs Smithson, Feillie, Sefton P- street. Tel. 230. Society's Baby Hospital, Karitane Home, ; Anderson's Bay, Dunedin. Tel. 1985. Demonstrations on -points of interest to '$■> mothers are given by the matron every | / Wednesday »fternoon from 2.30 to 3.30. ■p All mothers are invited. P? "Messages may be left at any time at tl)« Blanket Nurses' Offices or private addresses. Bite society's official (beet of in struct iocs, Erritten by Dr Truby King, price 3d (postage Kne), and all other information, available from ■we hen. focretary of each .branch. BggA previous article on Mastication, which Bpfppeared in this column a- fortnight ago, the extreme importance of exercisEgfc the jaws by giving babies and young Kmldrea some food needing thorough chewKpgt instead of limiting them to '* pap," Khen they have got beyond the stage of ■pother's milk. This providing -of food ■jguch needs -work to be done on it is Enually important during the second year, Hn3 exerts a" profound influence over the Hbuaufacture and setting" of the permaEgai teeth if continued until they have all ■Mfc through the gums and taken up. their ■pc — to cay nothing of the value of ■mier eating habits as aids to digestion Hpuuag<hoai life. To the expectant and Kjogrßtng mother, thorough mastication is of Kwcial significance, and the importance of HSp whole subject can scarcely be overBjjpEhnated. Tho following extracts from Hp- Barry Campbell will help parents to Eetfiee the duty they owe to their offspring Bom first to lest in this very practical field mjt true education. EL MASTICATION. E (Adapted from Dr Harry Campbell.)' K|- Mastication Promotes the Flow of the ■Bauta and the Insalivatiox op the BTood. — Th;> more the food is masticated the HjiDre completely is it insalivated. Now, ■masmuch as starch, is converted by the Hpliva, fir-t into dextrine and then- into Hptltose, it -follows that the whole of the lurch of the . focd ingested may. be trans.Jprmed into maltose within the mouth if Bjnly mastication is persisted in long Hmough ; and it is eurely better for the ;n-■Kridual;n-■Kridual to manufacture hi 6 maltose within BjSe laboratory of his own organism than Ho have it administered to him in the form wE th« artificially prepared " malt extracts"/; [jet, strange to say, patients are often ■Bowed these extracts when they are forH&lden the starchy foods which they could, By- adequate mastication, quite . easily con■jjjfct into maltose for themselves. As ' a Butter of fact, starchy foods, if sufficiently HjJMiliTated, -are seldom indigestible. ■mHabtication increases the avottxt of hjkalixe saliva passing into the 6touach, thus not only prolongs the period -of Hpuch^ digestion in that organ, but , influHjees gastric digestion in other ways;, it HW^probable 'that a deficiency -of alkaline in the stomach is inimical to normal fslemo. by "Hygeia." — Mothers should early understand that the salivary glands re late in developing, and that therefore arch does *not normally form part of the >bd until the baby is nine months old. fe«r that age, Nature provides for a •adily-increasing flow of saliva. -Hence ie need for introducing rusks, bread, freal jellies, etc., to keep pace with the cpwth -of the child's starch-digesting wans.] pIABTICATIOX PROMOTES TnE FLOW OF IBTBic juice, and thus prepares the bmaob for the reception of food. This feet is probably produced chiefly through (ft medium of psychic influence, for the ware efficiently mastication is performed Hjjft more effectually is the sense of taste KpdASTICATION" STIMULATES THE HEABT, and promotes the circulation. HffIfLUENCE OF MASTICATION ON X THE JAW AND ADJACENT BTRUC■f TUBES. KpiusoLss of Mastication.— Seeing that all K^thmio- muscular contractions stimulate Hi» flow of blood and lymph not only in Hie contracting muscles themselves, but in HJe neighbouring parts also, it follows that ■c exercise of. the masticatory muscles, HJbich,jLre far more massive. than is generHrar idealised, influences,' 'with their own Hpntion, that of the important structures ■Jfcoent to them — i.e., the jaw-bones, sali■Ey glands, mucous membrane of mouth, Hjp palate, tonsils, pharynx, and cavities of Hfelloae, etc. these parts are, during ■JBtioation, copiously _ flushed with blood HjR lymph, their nutrition being oorrespondHjpV stimulated, and it is not therefore ■Jrprislng that in those who from childhood Htoaras have been accustomed to masticate ■Boiently they should be well developed— Hl» jaws well grown and shapely, tho teeth Hand and regular, the tongue {for we must

not forget that it, too, Is a masticatory muscle) and salivary glands large, the nasal and naso-pharyngeal passages spacious, and the mucous membrane of the mouth and adjoining cavities healthy; and that, on the other hand, in those who have never adequately exercised their masticatory muscles these various structures should be correspondingly ill-developed and liable to disease. It should be observed that some of the largest muscles whioh cause the move1 mente of the lower jaw during mastication arise from the very region whence adenoids ! spring. J The Jaw-bones.— That the jaws ' do not attain normal size un!es3 properly exercised is ehown by the overcrowded teetii of those j brought up on soft foods, even in the I absence of that peculiar deformity of the | jaws resulting from mouth-breathing, which, as we shall see, is iteelf the indirect result 1 of inefficient mastication. ' The Teeth.— But were there any doubt on these, matters, it is only necessary to consider the teeth themselves to arrive at certainty. Wiho can contemplate the jawbones of a six-year-old child, so dissected as- to display ell -the -embedded teeth, without being < aesured of the influence of mastication in* promoting {heir normal develop.ment and eruption? Fifty-two teeth meet the view f the entire region from the Time* to the inferior border of the mandible iq, in fact, a mosaic" of them, temporary and permanent, the latter in various phases of' growth, 'and only by efficient mastication that shall ensure- the conditions neoessary to -it can their adequate deVetepmenV possibly be brought about. It is mastication alone that oan stimulate the circulation — in the tooth-germs that they may grow, and in" the jaws that, when grown, the teeth shall find room ; and mastication, again, is necessary to enable .the permanent teeth to take, up their nprmal positions, so as to secure a good " bite" — i.e., proper apposition of the* upper and the lower teeth. The pressure , of the two rows of teeth against each other makes for a healthy condition alike of the teeth, the socket* containing them, and the surrounding tissues of the gums, inasmuch' 1 as it stimulates the circulation in tooth-pulp, I tooth -sockets, and adjacent parts. Hence I disease of the teeth and tooth-sookete (decay, abscess, etc.) is much more common in ineffi- - cient-than in efficient masticators. A few -words may here be said regarding the influence of mastication in wearing _ down the teeth. Those who masticate well wear away their teeth considerably. This is due not so much to the attrition of coarse, hard l food against the teeth as to that of the I opposing teeth against one another, for it ! must be remembered that in normal mastij cation these are not merely pressed vertij oally one upon another, but also are made ! to grind against one another by a lateral I and sagittal movement.' If in a person, ' say over 30, -we find little or no wearing : down of the teeth, we may be sure that he j docs not -masticate properly; the information" which this simple test gives may often cause us to surprise our patients by passing -an accurate opinion on their masticatory habits. I suppose it is because the English people, nurtured principally on soft food, do not wear their teeth down, and still more because, not - using their teeth properly, these tend to grow out of their sockets, and thus appear unduly long, that our Continental neighbours resprdus as being large and long in the tooth. and^M such so frequently represent John Bull in their cartoons.