The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-02-10
+. Catching COld.o

Watching SVius
Catching cold" does not usually
occur in the coldeSt season of the year.
Moist and chilly air is the source of
nearly all the maladieS that are pro-
duced by taking cold. This moist and
chilly air causes not only the lesser ills
of life, but those more serious maladies
that end in death. Cold and dry all
does no harm that art and care may not
avert. We may control the lesser ills
arising from catching cold, but cannot
always limit the severity of many mala-
dies they introduce.
An impression extensively prevails
that "a cold' will run its course, do
what one may. We never know at the
outset of many maladies exactly what
that course may be. What is taking
cold? Heat is the positive condition
and cold negative. Catching cold
then is losing hest. Exposure to cold
temperature removes heat from the
body in which it has been made. Our
clothing is not warm; it generates no
heat, but simply retains the heat the
body generates. AS cold removes the
heat, the arteries, veins and capillaries
shrink and are no longer able to con-
vev the vital fluid on its wonted rounds
Body heat is generated by the oxygen
we inhale and absorb combining with
the waste deposited in every section of
| the body. The arteries convey the
blood to every tissue and deposit the
heat it needs. Cold checks the normal
flowing of the blood through the outer
surface of the body and augments it in
the inner organs. And as the oxygen
is continually burning up the waste, the
amount of heat in the inner tissues is
constantly increasing and accumulating
in the inner tissues, and ultimately in
vites the coming of inflammation.
Exercising the body increases the ac-
| ton of the heat and the flowing of the
| blood, and so aids in generating body
| heat, and more or less repels the intiu-
ence of cold. Whenin this condition,
| if exposure to cold occurs, the blood is
suddenly lessened in its normal course
through the skin and adjacent parts,
and forced to accumulate in the inner
tissues that soon become too full for
healthy action.
| The skin was intended to maintain a
uniform temperature of the body, but
as it is exposed to a great variety of
| temperatures it needs the aid of cloth
ing enough to retain the heat actually
| generated. The skin is full of minute
tubes. Every square inch contains
| $500 openings, the apertures of glands.
The entire surface of the body contains
| 1000, 900 apertures, or nearly twenty
eight miles of tubing for draining pur-
poses. They yield two pints of fluid a
day, even when no moisture is per-
ceived. If bodily exercise be excessive,
the amount of perspiration is much in
creased. At this point if exposed to
cold the skin contracts so as to resem-
BILE goose-s skin, the pores are closed and
perspiration is stopped at once.
To avoid the chills and results of tax
ing cold, we must protect ourselves by
sufficient clothing, by inhaling pure air
and maintaining uniform temperature
in the body. Colds are not caused by
anv special temperature, but by vicissi-
tudes of temperature. The results of
catching cold everybody has more or
less experienced. The sense of fullness
and tigEtness in the nose and forehead,
the usual sneezings, the watery eyes.
the tickling of the throat, the feeling of
] laziness and discomfort-and then, after
a few days have passed away, in uneasi-
ness and tightness in the chest, hoarse-
ness and irritation about the larynx-all
these and other indications of having
taken cold are experienced sooner OF
later by nearly all. If the results OF
having taken cold are not removed, the
pulse becomes quick. the skin is dry and
a general feeling of uneasiness is felt,
and the sufferer begins to wonder how
| the complaint will end. Cold in the
nasal cavities or coryza, distress in
the head, inflammation in the throat,
may slowly or rapidly succeed each
other.
At the outset of the malady the lining
membrane of the nose is dry, red and
swollen, the voice is changed and
/ smothered And then, in place of dry
ness watery fluid flows from the nose
and frets and infiames the upper lip.
| The effort to remove this unusual secre-
ton renders sore and painful the lower
nose, and yet gives a certain amount OF
relief, lessons the fullness of the brow,
the swelling of the mucous membrane
of nasal cavities, diminishes the fullness
of the nostrils, but the partial loss OF
taste and huskiness of voice remain,
the watery secretion becomes thicker
and tenacious and heals the irritated
surface. The feeling of fullness and
oppression, the uneasiness and irrita.
bility gradually pass away. If this is
not the happy end, chronic catarrh may
follow, or the results of having taken
cold NAV assume other forms. Bron.
chitis, Group, diphtheria, Inflammation
of the lungs and pleura may appear
Prairie Farmer.