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Chewing Gum

The habit of chewing spruce or any other gum is not only filthy and unpleasant, but is also destructive to health, and parents cannot be too careful to guard their children against it. If the chewer spit the saliva from his mouth its loss weakens and exhausts his whole system and seriously impairs his digestion; for the saliva contains important properties which are all needed and are essential in the process of digestion. If the saliva be swallowed, impregnated as it is with the stimulating properties of the gum, it causes inflammation of the stomach, and often serious and troublesome diseases of this character are thus caused. It also not infrequently leads to the young use of tobacco.