El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-05-13
THE CAUSE OF COLDS.
Bacteriology Now Divulges the Source
of the Affections.

Bacteriology Now Divulges the Source
of the Affections.
Bacteriology has at last divulged
the cause of the greatest of all medical
mysteries the ordinary cold. 1t has
been attributed to all causes-air,
moisture too much cold air, overhead
ing and, recently, to the stomach and
lovereating. The laboratory where the
microbes are caught, cultivated and
tanned like little beasts for several
years has been trying to identify the
lead to many diseases that have we'll
known germs. The first discovery was
that in colds there are several varieties
that produce the same results.
Germs look altogether different un-
der the micro: cope and in the culture
tubes. where the microbes are bred +,
after they have been identified and
| separated from Others by being shared
! from the common feeding ground OF
all sorts of bacteria) with a platinum
needle. Then to make certain that
| the real microbe in a given disease is
found the germs must be injected into
a rabbit or guinea pig Tor some dis
pepsary patient) to see if the same
, disease will appear. Microbes which
cause colds are always in the body or
! in the air.
| There are 20 different forms of BAG
/ terra constantly present in the nose,
! including nine or ten which are danger
Gus under certain circumstances.
There are 80 forms of germs in the
mouth, 40 of which may cause serious
| disease.
! Everyone knows that colds are usu-
! ally caught by getting oneself over
heated and cooling off suddenly. When
| the surface of the body is overheated
| all the microbes in the air seem to be
attracted to the body, especially if the
air around is chilly or damp: microbes
! cannot be killed by cold or damp. but
they do not like it and are always on
the watch to find resting place in a
man, especially in one who is over
! heated and whose skin is covered with
perspiration. If the nose is always in
a state of "catarrh'' it is easy to see
! how fresh cold or acute attack of
catarrh is caued by exposure to
chill. But how about the various
symptoms in other and distant parts
of the body which generally follow a
cold?
When the body is overheated and
then chilled the immediate effect of
| the cold on the surface of the body is
to excite contraction of the blood yes
sells near the surface. Thus the blood
| is driven from the surface to the in
ner organs, carrying along with it any
microbes that may have been lodged
| near the surface. This excite5 inflam-
| the first point affected. The way it
seems to act is as follows:
| All processes going on in the body
are governed by the central nervous
system. If, as result of exposure to
| cold, the regular routine of nutrition
and of circulation is checked in one
part of the body, the nervous force
4 hn nj
TEN if shut off in one place will be
increased in another. Such increase
is really Inflammation. If any organ
/ is liable to chronic inflammation this
will be the place picked out for the
J acute trouble as result of having
caught cold. All the unemployed
microbes will collect there and unem-
ployed microbes in slightly int1amed
| organ are certain to make trouble.
There is, however, one safeguard which
saves the body from destruction every
| time a cold is caught.
There is in the body set of valuable
| street sweepers who do in the blood
vessels and tissues exactly the work of
the STRENGTHENING department. These
are the white blood corpuscles, or
! leuoorytes. They differ from Col.
| Warnings white brigade in that they
eat up the debris, the microbes and
such things wherever they find them
| The more germs and bacteria collect
| ed together in one organ the more the
white corpuscles swarm in just like the
regular street-sweepers in the dirty
downtown districts.
If these white blood corpuscles are
caught while at their work their round
bodies may be found filled up with the
bacteria they have eaten, In case of
sudden emergencies Qtkc pneumonia
an immense swarm of white corpuscles
will suddenly appear.
| There are all sorts of ways of treat
ing an Inflammation in an organ
Many are as familiar to the public as to
the doctors. The old-fashioned porous
or mustard plaster is simply means to
collect quickly a large nun Der of white
blood cells in the places where they are
needed The same is true to all hot APP
plications, blisters. painting with iod-
inc or red flannel rags.
The new idea Of q cod, then, is that
it is nervous disease, which, to do
any serious harm, has to work through
the miscrobes, which are always pre-
sent in the body or in the outer pas
sages waiting for a chance to make
trouble. The best way to prevent colds
is to keep all parts of the body proper
Iy clad and free from any undue expos
ure, for il is the disturbance Of the