“Based upon his observations of Indians at rest, George had become convinced of the crucial benefits of lying on the back and sleeping with closed lips. His short book, The Breath of Life, or Mal-respiration, was published, first in America, by J. Wiley, George Putnam’s former partner, in 1861; then it appeared in England where it was called, Shut Your Mouth and Save your Life! The title could account for the book’s critical neglect, if it was seen as another of the crank cures between covers that rolled off the presses at just this period. But its robust sales and many printings boosted Catlin’s precarious finances and pointed to legions of converts.”