Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-11
ON COMMON COLDS.

About this season of the year people are
more of less liable to attacks of common
colds; or, as many say, bad colds" In
Northern countries they are extremely
prevalent, and l find them pretty well rep
resented in Texas. / spent two winters on
the Southern sea cOast-One at Biloxi,
Miss, and the other at Jacksonville, Fla,
and such trouble as common cold seemed
to be almost wholly unknown there, though
the blizzard temperature fell, on several
occasions, almost as low as it ever falls in
Texas. As you seem to have lived on the
coast it has occurred to me that you might
be able to explain why there are more colds
here than there, and also that you might be
able to give a reliable remedy for the
malady. Such information, especially the
latter, would be highly appreciated by hosts
of GAZETTE readers. TRINITY.
Tarrant County, Tex.
There is really no remedy for a common
cold, as any of our well-informed physicians
will tell you. for once the malady has taken
full hold of the patient it will run its course
in spite Of everything that can be done.
The world is full Of ''remedies," so-calied-
they are about as numerous as are the peo-
pie, for almost every person you meet will
tell you of an infallible remedy for colds
that he has often applied, and therefore
knows it to be everything as cure. A
man with cold is about like horse with
the ''bots," so far as relates to multiplicity
of remedies recommended. In a case Of
the horse one man recommends bleeding,
and before the bleeding has been finished
another comes along and recommends one
pint of castor oil as drench. You hasten
to get this into the suffering animal through
a COW horn with the little end sawed off.
The man who knows everything climbs
over the fence, just then, and has you to
roughly scrape the said suffering animal
fore and aft with fence rail; and then
another man comes and has you to we'll
nigh pound in the animals ribs with
board Ito make the bots let CO." Then
comes the man who recommends a pint Of
kerosene, which is sent through the cow
horn; then comes the man who has always
cured bots with quart of bad whisky,
shaken before taken" and that follows
the kerosene The bluestone man next
gets in his remedy, likewise the turpentine
man. and the red pepper tea man, and the
tobacco tea man, and the jimpson weed
tea man, and SO on, until the
horse dies, leaving you to lay the
pleasing JUNCTION to your soul that you did
all you could for him, poor fellow! but his
time had come and there was no saving
him. And should it occur to you TO make a
record Of the misfortune in your daily Jour-
nal, that record, to be correct, would proba-
bly, read about as follows: "Dled on this
day my favorlte horse, Bolivar. Originally
attacked by common horse collie, which OF
itself would no: have amounted to anything
serious; succumbed eventually under
rapidly succeeding chain Of complications"
The only thing one can do for cold, in
remedial way, is TO palliate the sunerings
Of the patient so far as possible, while ma
ture is asserting her supremacy and wear
ing out the disease. These remedies may
consist Of some kind of internally admins
tered agent, as quinins and other heating
substances, not including heating tea
drenches. A gentle cathartic will often
prove more or less e6ectual as An assistant
to nature.
If the case is 9 bad o.s, and no regular
physician can b consuloed, and the 1atieut