Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-08
CATCHING COLD.
Some Facts of Interests Not Generally
Known
Piits5urg D,sDateh.

Piitsbur0 Dispatch.
1t was said of a great lady once that she
caught her death o. cold by taking Cruel
out of damp basin.
While this is highly improbable, yet the
mysterious whenceness, so to speak, of a
cold is often such as to puzzle even the
| doctors. Why is it that so many have
taken cold since the present hot spell set
in,after passing through the unusually cool
and notably changeable weather of the
three weeks previous without a snif1e
Why is it people of all conditions of
health may be caught in a rainstorm, pad
die around all day with damp, or even wet
feet, get chilled for want of a wrap, or get
their clothing thoroughly saturated with
perspiration and coming out next morn
ing feeling first rate, but as soon as the
thermometer hobs up serenely they all
catch a cold!
Catching cold" seems to be a misno-
mer. 1t is an exceedingly rare thing for
a person to catch one while the thermOme-
ter Is going down, and they are rarely
found when the streets are glare of ice,
or when the winds are loaded with frost
and snow or chilling mists. ga nippiug
and an eager airs is not prolific of colds
neither are ''the winds from the east, bad
for man and bad for BEAST" fraught with
them.
The genuine cold, of which there is such
universal complaint, is a product of hot
weather. Benjamin Franklin, who was a
close observer, and of a distinctively
philosophical turn of mind, said: 1.-THE
causes of colds are totally Independent of
wet and even of cold" The ''fresh air
IDIOT who sleeps on the back porch or on
the roof, sits out at night regardless of
falling dew and night air and seldom has a
cold, but the careful man who keeps a
thermometer in his room, has his windows
closed at sunset, drinks iced tea and takes
cold lunch to preserve an even tempera-
ture is usually the first to sneeze.
Another anomalous feature of a cold is
that the patient is unusually hot. A Their
mometer placed under the tongue always
shows the temperature to be above the
normal. Thirst, which is one of the
symptoms of cold, is always indicative
of feverish or super-heated condition
The ''stutfy" feeling about the head,
aching of the bones, inability of the eyes
to bear light, aching or soreness of the
teeth and stiffness of the joints, all indi-
cate congestion, condition Invariably
accompanied, if not really produced, by
rise in the temperature of the body.
There can be but one conclusion. Colds
are not colds at all. They are something
else. Then the question arises: "It cold
is not cold, what is itT'
DR.. John used to say that colds came of
surteits, and pointing to the number of
cases following hog-killing in the coun-
try. AT this time the people waXed fat
and full. There were spare-ribs, back
bone, sausage, pigs feet, head-cheese,
sOuse, dOughnuts, buckwheat cakes and
fried mush. 1t was the custom then as
now, however, to attribute the cold to the
exposures on butchering day, while the
facts are that much greater exposures
had been endured while logging, hunting
rabbits or sleigh-riding, without the sign
of a cold. DR.. Herring, a noted English
physician, says he noticed that a family
with whom he was intimately acquainted
always had to be treated for cold in the
head the next day after dining on roast
goose. In this city it has been noticed by
several physicians who make speciality
Of treatin- colds in the head, that there
is great rush of business Immediately
following Thanksgiving, Christmas and
other feast days. 1t is also well known to
physicians that when convalescent
patient takes a relapse from overeating
the symptoms are precisely those of a
cold, so much so that the friends of the
patient account for it by "taking cOld,o
and go around plugging up all the cracks
in the room to keep ''the colds" out.
A young lady, who was recovering from
a mild attack of enteric fever, took a cold
and died. Since then the family regard
one of the dearest lady friends of the de-
ceased as her murderer. She had been
calling on her sick friend one day, and as
she was leaving the room she stood in the
dOol a moment, woman-like, trying to get
the last word, and let draught in. The
mother of the deceased, in telling the
story, said: "The poor dear was getting
along so well, and had just finished a
nice lunch of jelly cake and cream, when
that foolish thing had to stop in the door
and let a draught of air in from the par
Tor. About half an hour later the poor
dear had a chill, and from that moment
sank rapidly and died within twenty-four
hours" She firmly believes a cold slipped
in at the door, her daughter caught 1t, and
it killed her. 1t would be useless to suggest
that the jelly cake and cream had had
anything to do with it.
Hay fever patients invariably grow
worse as the weather grows warmer.
They hail frost or a cold rain as a real
gOdsend. Those of the victims of this ter
rible pest who have noted the symptoms
generally say their sufferIngs are inceased
by high living and lack of exercise. Its
also point worthy of note that the rene
dies which give the most relief produce
more or less nausea, and impair the APP
petite. Light diet, plenty of exercise and
pure air are the surest preYentatives. as
well as the best remedies, for it.
There are three leading causes of colds
wrong food, excessive eating, and i'm
pure air. Either one of these will produce
a cold under favorable conditions, but the
three combined rarely fail to bring their
man, no matter how hale, hearty or vigor-
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