Sneeze

“ On hearing a sneeze one must at once return, no matter how near he may be to the end of his journey, as "of all things a sneeze is the most unlucky." Even inside a dwelling, if one happens to sneeze, the rest mumble a charm, with the unction of the old Highland woman who places the tongs in the fire before going to milk the cow. ”

“ Mother Earth is the true Antiseptic!!
And so ends my talk on a late evening walk, and the woes of this dashed wooden pavement,
Which worries my nose, sets my thorax in throes, my nostrils stuffs up, till I'm like a pug pup, all snorts, sniffs, and snuffles; my temper it ruffles; gives me a choked lung, and a coppery tongue, a stomach at war, and a nasal catarrh; a cough and a sneeze, and a gurgle and wheeze; a thirst quite immense, and a general sense that the bore is intense ”

“ To sneeze voluntarily is to sneeze when you don't want to, and to sneeze involuntarily is to sneeze when you want to--which seems queer, since we usually think of a voluntary act as one done to further our wishes. The solution of this puzzle is, {525} of course, that a voluntary sneeze is desired not because of a direct impulse but to gain some ulterior end, such as to prove we can do it, or for histrionic purposes--in short, for some purpose beyond the immediate satisfaction of an impulse. ”

“ Coughing, sneezing, clearing the throat, etc., if done at all, must be done as quickly as possible. Snuffing, hawking and expectorating must never be done in society. A sneeze can be checked by pressing the thumb or fingers firmly across the bridge of the nose. ”

“ Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger, sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger, sneeze on Wednesday get a letter, sneeze on Thursday, something better, sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow, Saturday, see your true love to-morrow.
To sneeze three times in succession, is a sign of a gift. ”

“ Immediately after the sneeze place the menthol mixture in each nostril. When the child is about to sneeze place a handkerchief before the nose, as this discharge is full of germs and will infect others when dry. Internal remedies should not be used unless the child is distinctly sick and is running a fever, in which case a physician should look the child over and prescribe whatever is called for. ”

“ Adults who sneeze pronounce the name of some god, the common expression being “Srimadrangam.” When a Badaga baby is born, it is a good omen if the father sneezes before the umbilical cord has been cut, and an evil one if he sneezes after its severance. ”

“ If anyone who is speaking is interrupted by a sneeze, whether his own or that of another person present, whatever he is saying is held to be proved true by the occurrence. ’Γειά σου, cry the listeners, καὶ ἀλήθεια λές (or λέει) , ‘Health to you, and you speak (or he speaks) truth.’ If however no one present is in the act of speaking when the sneeze is heard, the first phrase only is used, ‘Health to you,’ or by way of facetious variant, νὰ ψοφήσῃ ἡ πεθερά σου, ‘May your mother-in-law die like a dog [889] .’ In either case the prayer for good health can benefit only the sneezer ”

“ According to one belief, if a person sneezes face to face with another who is about to begin an auspicious act, such as starting on a journey, decking his person with ornaments, performing a marriage ceremony, and the like, it portends misfortune to the latter; but a sneeze on his right or at his back foretells good. A sneeze in front of a person starting to perform an auspicious act is supposed to mean that a blow has been struck on his forehead, suggesting that the act should be stopped. ”

“ Sneezing, for example, is a specific response made by the motor mechanism to stimulation of nociceptors in the nose, while stimulation of the larynx does not produce a sneeze, but a cough; stimulation of the nociceptors of the stomach does not produce cough, but vomiting; stimulation of the nociceptors of the intestine does not produce vomiting, but increased peristaltic action. There are no nociceptors misplaced; none wasted; none that do not make an adequate response to adequate stimulation. ”

“ DIRECTIONS FOR COUGHING, SNEEZING, OR MOVING BEFORE THE KING AND QUEEN.
In the first place, you must not cough. If you find a cough tickling in your throat, you must arrest it from making any sound; if you find yourself choking with the forbearance, you must choke—but not cough.
In the second place, you must not sneeze. If you have a vehement cold, you must take no notice of it; if your nose membranes feel a great irritation, you must hold your breath; if a sneeze still insists upon making its way, you must oppose it, by keeping your teeth grinding together ”

“ One night when I went in to make a fire, I availed myself of the opportunity of sprinkling a very heavy charge of this powder about my master's bed. Soon after their going to bed, they began to cough and sneeze. Being close around the house, watching and listening, to know what the effect would be, I heard them ask each other what in the world it could be, that made them cough and sneeze so. ”

“ The prevalence of colds, sore throats, irritated vocal cords, bad voices, catarrh, bronchitis, laryngitis, and asthma in America to-day demands summary measures. One can learn to sneeze into a handkerchief, not into a companion's face or into a room. School children can be taught to avoid handkerchiefs on which mucus has dried. ”

“ Many thanks for your kindness in directing me.”
“Don’t mention it,” said Anthony. “I hope you haven’t caught cold.”
“Eh?” said the stranger.
“From kneeling on the damp ground, I mean,” explained Anthony. “I fancied I heard you sneezing.”
“I may have sneezed,” admitted the other.
“Quite so,” said Anthony. “But you shouldn’t suppress a sneeze, you know. One of the most eminent doctors said so only the other day. It’s frightfully dangerous. I don’t remember exactly what it does to you—whether [Pg 134] it’s an inhibition or whether it hardens your arteries, but you must never do it. Good morning.” ”

“ There dwelt an old woman at Exeter;
When visitors came it sore vexed her,
So for fear they should eat,
She locked up all her meat,
This stingy old woman of Exeter.
SNEEZING
If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger ”

“ Thus, in the Midland counties, grandmothers still exclaim, "God help you!" when they hear a child sneeze; and it is a very common notion that to sneeze three times before breakfast is a pledge that one will soon receive a present of some kind. [123] The sneezing of a cat is considered an evil omen, it being a sign that the family will all have colds. According to a Scotch superstition a new-born child is in the fairy spells until it sneezes, but when this takes place all danger is past. ”

“ Sneezing is the simplest of the purely expiratory noises. Just as the hiccough depends upon a single violent spasm during inspiration, so the sneeze is due to a single violent spasm during expiration, generally of the abdominal muscles, but, when very violent, of the other expiratory muscles also. It is a reflex action which occurs after an irritation of the mucous membrane lining the air-passages of the nose, and also after irritation of the optic nerve by a bright light. ”

“ If we analyze the sneeze, we find that it simply consists of a spasm of the pharynx, larynx and diaphragm through the reflex action of this membrane. The over-stimulation of the membrane, in the case of the singer especially, may generally be set down to an incipient cold; but any inflammation of this part of the mucous membrane of the nose alone may give rise in reflex action to vocal disability. ”

“ And what if you should happen to cough or to sneeze?"
"A man who is making his escape does not cough or sneeze." ”

“ The impurities which are stopped and retained by the sieves and mucous membrane of the nostrils, are thrown out again by the expelled breath, in exhalation, and in case they have accumulated too rapidly or have managed to escape through the sieves and have penetrated forbidden regions, nature protects us by producing a sneeze which violently ejects the intruder.
The air, when it enters the lungs is as different from the outside air, as is distilled water different from the water of the cistern. ”

“ Sneezing is a sign that a sick person will be restored to health; he returns thanks after sneezing, saying, ‘Ye people of ours, I have gained that prosperity which I wanted. Continue to look on me with favour!’ Sneezing reminds a man that he should name the Itongo (ancestral spirit) of his people without delay, because it is the Itongo which causes him to sneeze, that he may perceive by sneezing that the Itongo is with him. If a man is ill and does not sneeze, those who come to him ask whether he has sneezed or not ”

“ The mention of sneezings in the passage quoted in page 128 from Alcuin is remarkable, for here again a very early superstition holds its ground in the nineteenth century. Nurses in Durham, not to say mothers, still invoke a blessing on children when they sneeze; indeed, some extend the practice to adults. In Germany such is certainly the case. A young cousin of mine, lately at school in the Duchy of Wurtemburg, was greatly astonished to find that a fit of sneezing in which one of the professors indulged was responded to by a cry from all the pupils of “Gesundheit,” or “good health;” ”

“ If a man sneezed at the table while they were taking away, or if another happened to sneeze upon his left hand, it was unlucky; if on the right hand, fortunate.
If, in the undertaking any business, two or four sneezes happened, it was a lucky omen, and gave encouragement to proceed; if more than four, the omen was neither good nor bad; if one or three, it was unlucky, and dehorted them from proceeding in what they had designed. If two men were deliberating about any business, and both of them chanced to sneeze together, it was a prosperous omen.—Archæol. ”

“ The second fact of experience, catching cold after sitting in a draft or a chilly room until you begin to cough or sneeze, is one to which a majority of us would be willing to testify personally, and yet it is based upon something little better than an illusion. It is a well-known peculiarity of many fevers and infections to begin with a chill. ”

“ A small amount of this powder, when blown in a room, will cause everyone to sneeze without anyone knowing where it comes from. It is very light, will float in the air for some time, and penetrate every nook and corner of a room. ”

“ If you wear such heavy clothing indoors that you are constantly perspiring, your underclothes become damp, and when you go out, even though you put on your overcoat, your body becomes chilled. If you begin to sneeze, that is Nature's way of telling you that you are killing many of your cells by too much cold. ”

“ I am a professional man. For the past five-and-twenty years, with only one exception (the year following the Diamond Jubilee of the late Queen Victoria) , I have fallen a victim during the first days of November to an attack of bronchial catarrh. In this distressing complaint, as you may be aware, an early symptom is a fit of sneezing, with other manifest discomfort which I need not here particularise.
For the past twenty-five years (with the one exception to which I have alluded) my first sneeze has been the signal for alarm among the women-folk of my household. ”

“ Its effects as a sternutatory, i. e. as exciting to sneeze, are known to all. If applied to the nostrils, in the form of a powder or snuff, it produces violent and repeated sneezing, with a slight degree of vertigo. The violent agitation produced in this way, together with a copious discharge from the nostrils, often relieves catarrh, headache, and incipient opthalmia or inflammation of the eyes. But habit soon blunts the sensibility of the organs, and much positive injury follows the habitual use of snuff. ”

“ Because, the mouth being shut, we draw breath in by the nostrils to refresh the heart. 2. Because the air which proceedeth from the mouth doth savour badly, because of the vapours which rise from the stomach, but that which we breathe from the nose is not noisome. 3. Because the phlegm which doth proceed from the brain is purged by them.
Q. Why do men sneeze? A. That the expulsive virtue and power of the sight should 216thereby be purged, and the brain also, from superfluities: because, as the lungs are purged by coughing, so is the sight and brain by sneezing ”

“ The frequent cough and occasional sneeze heard among the audience in theatre, hall, or church, are provoked by the inhalation of fine dust suspended in the air, and might be prevented by careful sweeping and dusting after occupancy. ”

“ Whenever you cough or sneeze, if you can control these efforts of nature, do not let the sound be high or strong. Do not heave sighs so piercing as to attract attention. Do not breathe heavily, or make noises in yawning. ”

“ If there is an itching of the body, make it stop by the force of your will. In from three days to three weeks, you can stop the itching sensation at will. Then try the habit of sneezing; stubbornly resist the inclination to sneeze, and you will soon have the mastery. ”

“ We may seek to diminish the spray output of those infected with colds by teaching them to cough, sneeze and talk with a handkerchief held in front of the mouth or to stay at home until the acute stage is past. ”

“ How do the disease germs get into the air? When one sneezes, a spray of droplets is thrown into the air. If the person sneezing has the grip, these droplets contain the germs that cause grip. Whenever a person with consumption coughs, he sprays droplets which contain the germs that cause consumption. ”