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Show I MILLIONS OF GERMS FIND LODGEMENT IN CHEWING GUM ATTRACTIVE TO TROPICAL INSECTS I. When it was discovered that tho Bap of the chicle gum trco made tho t beet possible base, tho manufacture f of gum became a real industry, and a has grown to enormous proportions. v as la evldonced by tho importation i during tho past year of about 8.000,-f 8.000,-f 0j)0 pounds of chicle gum, the fin-a' fin-a' l3hed product having a market value I of over 534,000,000. I It Is easy to seo that we aro a naff! na-ff! tlon of chewors. It Is an American H habit and an American industry, and Bkept allvo by tho hundreds of immigrants im-migrants landing- here every day, trho adopt it in their process of evolution, evo-lution, and thus become tho l-.rgcst asset of tho gum manufacturer. I It would probably remain more of I ft. social question than a subject for 1 medical discussion were It not for 4 the manner In whloh It Is advertised I by some of the selling agents. They IB I? make their strongest appeal on a purely medical basis. Their chief claim Is that it Is an aid to digestion. Thoy also present it as an assistant to oral hygiene. If it confers such benefits to mankind we may wink at any reasonable stretch of the advertiser's adver-tiser's imagination, but if thl3 form of advertising Is fraudulent the medical med-ical profession should take heed and tho general public ought to bo advised. ad-vised. Chlclo gum, the baso of chewing gum, Is collected In Mexico and other tropical countries. Tho sweet, sticky naturo of tho sap attracts and holds countless Insects, In-sects, creeping and flying, after the manner of a strip of flypaper. Tho natlvo gatherers of the sap arc not unduly solicitous over the presence of Insects or extremely careful to avoid Including pieces of bark and leaves, for they are paid by tho pound. Tako at random a piece from each package, wash off tho sugar and hold tho piece to tho sunlight. In every case will bo seen particles of dirt. Every man, woman and child user of chewing gum Is for tho tlmo a walking washing machine. Tho manner in which it aids digestions di-gestions is hard to explain, whllo thero are many good reasons why . it can exert no particular lnfluenco over that process. It cannot aid salivary digestion for obvious reasons. rea-sons. With oven a moderato effort given to mastication, tho salivary enzymes produce all tho effect on starch that naturo requires. Mastication Masti-cation Is mostly usoful as a process of trituration and lubrication. Thero is no evidence that salivary digestion continues to any consider- able extent after the food reaches tho stomach. Gastric secretion is quickly stimulated by tho anticipation anticipa-tion of food, and tho acidity of tho gastric contents soon Inhibits tho action ac-tion of, or destroys completely, the salivary amylase. There Is, undoubtedly, undoubt-edly, a certain amount of salivary digestion continued In the stomach previous to the complete admlxturo of 'food and gastric ferments, or pos-fllbly pos-fllbly a slight amount owlupy to tho lessened Inhibitory action of combined' com-bined' hydrochloric acid, the product of protein hydrate; but this Is only a possibility, and to what extent It proceeds is as yet problematical. Therefore, if gum-chowlng 13 going to aid digestion by a further addition addi-tion of salivary amylase, thero Is no time to lose, and one must labor diligently for a short time. The act of chewing does stimulate gastric secretion, but after a meal ihe appetite is appeased, and no form of stimulation to the gastric mucous membrane can equal that of food in actual contact with It, Moreover, More-over, tho nervous reflex governing gastric secrotion Is sufficiently sensitive sens-itive to accommodate Itself to tho amount and kind of protein substances sub-stances with which It has to deal. It is possible that some brands of chewing gum do contain a trace of pepsin. It so, the most that can bo said of It is that it docs no particular particu-lar harm. The greatest amount of chewing Is dono between meals, when gastric digestion Is well along toward completion com-pletion and tho stomach contains sufficient free hydrochloric acid to destroy whatever salivary enzymes may reach It at that tlmo. It Is ox-tremely ox-tremely doubtful that the chewing process can lnfluenco Intestinal digestion. |