The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-04-03

One of the lectures 10 the public at Grtsl-
am Cnllcgc. London, was delivered by DR.. +.
Symcs Thompson, +. r. {. T., on the season
nile ionic of catching cold After dcscrip-
non of the symptoms and the pathological
conditions induced by cold, Dr. Thompson
nasscd on to the more interesting points Oh us
prevention and cure. In regard To proven
lion, he deprecated too much lear oil catching
cold and The dread of the least exposure to
cold air, As being very likely to bring about
that tender dollhouse plant condition SO Ia
yorablc TO isducing the evil one wished to
avoid. Exposure to cold air, he insisted, does
mn harm, except under the condition OF its
moving rapidly in small space mus eN-
nosurc to strong wind in the open air does no
harm while a Portuguese proVerb SAID win a
great deal of truth, if you catch colu rom
draught in kcy-hole you had better make
your will. 1t was draughts coming with great
rapidity through small openlngs when were
so especially injurious Living constantly
in very impure air made people very sensitive
| 10 cold, and ill-vcntilated bed rooms hau
much to answer for in this respect III was a
mistake to suppose that night air, except IN
aguish places, was obnoxious. IN l-onuoi,
night air was purer than air in the day ana
he advised everyone, while avoiding direct
draught, to keep the bedroom window slight
~ opened. ..,.
The effect of want of ventilation was strik
,ngly illustrated in the case OF horses. Wheh
left to run in the field they were hardy, ana
did not suffer at all from the cold but coop
ed up in warm stables they become very sen,
sitiye to cold and prone to serious and fatal
affections of the chest. That was lesson to
us TO keep our bedrooms cool and well Ventl''
ated In cl othing the great thing was 10 vary
the character and amount according 10 inc
season and weather, avoiding The extremes oi
always being swathed up IN flannel, no mat
ter what the temperature; we might initiate
with advantage in cold weather the example
OF Russians and Canadians, who were careful
to put on very warm clothing when leaving
the house and TO remove il the moment he
came in.
OF the curative treatment what was called
the "dry method had once been in grea,
vogue This consisted of abStaining from all
fluids for twenty-iOur, thirty-sN or lorty-elgh
hours, and where vigorously followed at the
outset the cold was generally stopped, nc
would not recommend this treatment to any
but those IN thoroughly good health, for ir
the delicate or sIckly the arrangement OF the
vital organs, especially the liver and digestive
organs, by this abstention from fluids, brought
about evils more serious than the colds. An
other method was the maintenance OF an equ
able warm temperature, and where thlS coulC
he done the skin was restored TO more natu
raj condition, and the evil was relieved The
mucous lining, however, could be more rap
idly relieved by inducing the skin to pcrspirt
vigorously, and if this was done at the outset
the cold would be checked. This could bt
done by hot bath; or very much better, by
a Turkish bath, for while in a hot water batf
it was not possible to endure greater hea
than 100 to 1913 degrees, in a Turkish bath {
temperature of $50 to 200 degrees could b
sustained without discomfort. Vigorous per
splration was in this way induced, the BLOOD
was drawn from the internal organs to TIT
surface, much of its impurity eliminated, ant
; if the cold douche was avoided, and the ski
was got thoroughly to work, the patien
walked away in an hour, and left all his COLI
hah nd