Fraternity-Testvériség, 1962 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1962-02-01 / 2. szám
í 10 FRATERNITY pharmaceuticals and bilogicals, successfully initiated the substance normally used by the blood to do the job. Once more the body itself provided the key to a medical milestone. Your body needs water. When tissues dehydrate, your mouth and throat feel dry and uncomfortable. Weakness and irritability add their complaints. Under pressure from these urgings, you take a drink. And your water balance is restored. One of the reasons you feel hunger is because your stomach contracts. If your reactions to emptiness didn’t demand satisfaction, you might starve to death. Fear, rage, pain ... all are primitive experiences which humans share with animals. In circumstances which excite the body, changes occur. All of these changes are directed toward increased physical efficiency. A young man chased across a field by a bull leapt a fence to escape injury. The next day he tried and couldn’t jump that high! Why? Fear stimulates us to vigorous action beyond our normal abilities. Under stress, our glands secrete adrenalin which quickens reaction and multiplies energy. Strong feelings affect our digestive organs. Pain or excitement interfere with the flow of gastric juice. If you eat while distressed, your meal won’t be digested properly. How does your body warn you? It stops the salivary glands and dries the mouth. Food is tasteless. You have the impression you can’t swallow. Saliva has been called upon as a witness in a court of justice. In India, crime suspects were forced to undergo the “ordeal of rice’’. They chewed rice and spit it out on the leaf of the sacred fig tree. If anyone ejected it dry, that was considered proof that fear of discovery had stopped secretion of saliva . . . and he was judged guilty of the crime! The major emotions have an energizing effect. People in love can walk together for miles without fatigue. An angry man can give long chase and not tire. The frightened person uncovers tremendous reservoirs of strength. Aided by science, the human body was never in better general health. But it is reassuring to know that when sickness challenges your built-in defense forces, the body is ready to fight back! CHEWING GUM FOR DOGS If your dog makes a pest of himself by chewing rugs or shoes, or even if he has a nervous habit of chewing his nails, the answer may be a new chewing gum for dogs. The gum, a beef product, comes in sticks seven inches long ... is harmless, and according to the manufacturers, won’t stick to hair or stain furniture or carpets. (That’s what the man said!)
