Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-11-13
COLDS, CAUSES AND CURES.

AS the season for Catching cold
is upon us we copy the following
very sensible remarks upon the
subject from the Household;
There is no disease affecting the
human family more common than
colds. 1t attacks the youngest and
the oldest, the strongest and the
weakest, as well as men, women
and children, of all climes, voca-
tons and classes. When once
cured, and even before it is entire
ly removed, the disease is liable to
return without great care is used to
escape its subtility. AT no season
of the year are We safe, and neither
day or night, at home or abroad,
are we secure from contracting
this unpleasant and dangerous
malady. Our systems some
times seem to require but
little excuse for taking colds. A
slight draught from a half opeaed
door, air from a window falling on
the neck, bed or underclOthing a
particle damp, mOistened feet or a
change in the weather, are sutticI'
ent, and sometimes from no con-
ceivable cause do we suffer the
severest.
Were the cause of cause al
ways known, we might usually
prevent them, but the most pru-
dent are often attacked. BY pay
ing more attention to the warmth OF
the body, dryness of the clothing,
freedom from draughts of air, or
wearing a small bag of camphor
gum on the chest, or carrying a few
crumbs of the same in the mouth
on long drives in cold or stormy
weather, many colds would be pre-
vented, and our strength saved to
battle those that are of a more
epidemic nature.
The approach or first effect oil a
colds felt differently. Sneezing,
tightness in the nostrils, rawness
in the nasal passages, sore throat,
chilliness, headache, ringing in the
ears, or drowsiness, is but a skirm-
ish of the battle that is to follow.
These signs usually appear in the
evening and should be attended to
at once, as a cold can only be brok-
en- up at the commencement. The
following morning ii no remedy
has been used, the disease will be
thoroughly seated, and cause
catarrh in the head, a cough in the
throat or lungs. In two to five
days, if care is used, the cold will
have ripened, and seem to pass off
rapidly by expectoration ofphlegm.
If more cold is taken, pneumonia
or consumption is liable to follow.
There is no universal specific
for colds even in their earliest
stages. That which will cure one pa
tent, will have no effect on an
other, and a cure for person to-
day may, ten years hence, be use
less. But most cases of the young
and middle aged can be cured, if
taken in season, by some one OF
the simplest employed for this pur.
pose. The following are few Of
the methods used to cure colds in
their beginning and others will
doubtless occur in the minds Of the
readers: Catnip tea made moder.
ately strong, with sugar and milk,
chestnut leaf tea, or tea made from
any of the minis, especially penny
royal, not lemenade, camphor sling,
or a long draught of cold water
Either of these should be taken
after the patient is in bed to pro-
duce perspiratiOn, and care must
be taken the following day. A
tablespoonful of water made hot
With cheyenne pepper, taken in sips
to moisten the mouth and throat,
has been my individual remedy for
years. Heating the feet is often
sufficient, and a poultIce of boiled
onions is good where there is tight
ness Of throat or lungs. Violent
exercise, as rapidly saving wood
or hopping floors, will sometimes
seem to answer the desired end.
The universal prevalence of
colds, and the direful results often
following, should induce us to use
every precaution to prevent them,
and prompt means to remove them
when once contracted