Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-01-27
NEW THEORY ABOUT COLDS.
Prevalent Only Where Civilization
Exists.

Many people may be- surprised 90
hear that even In this world there niu
places where II " impossible 10 catch
"a cold. simply because there are no
colds tu catch There ace facts. how
ever. which seem 10 provo this. For
example, hansen nnd his men during
the three years which they spent In the
Arctic regions, never caught cold.
Yet they were exposed to cold. fatigue
aud wei to u degree which we az home
can hardly realize. The members %
the jackson iinrmsworth expedition.
who stayed for three years In Franz
Josef Land. never once suffered from
colds Yet they also with only two cx-
ceptions. suffered from severe colds d.
rcctly they reached civilization.
Very Interesting. too, II Sir Martin
conway'H account of his experiences.
For two months when exploring spitz-
bergen. he and his four comrades were
exposed To considerable prlvHtlonF,
were almost constantly wet through.
and frequently had To sleep In their
wet clothes. yet their health never suf-
fcrcd IN any way from this. But ut
the end ~ that time they went down TO
Andfec'a settlement On the coast. where
some forty men were living, and whefe.
moreover. there was almost constant
intercourse with the mainland. With
IN two dnyu ~ their arrival Conway
ANA his companions all developed vio-
lent colds. stu more striking were his
experiences IN the illmalayas.
Then there ~ the classical Instance
Of thc -. kilda cold. on that rocky.
lonely island. lying some forty miles
beyond the western liebriles. there are
niRh upon q hundred inhnbltnntH who
keep few sheep and cows. cultivate
some forty acres. and collect tho eggs.
feathers and young Of the numerous
aFAlNl fFIfIF tafuaN IL
ana their seas were W stormy. that
for eight months out of the twelve they
are practically Inaccessible. Formerly
they were visited only once "a year by
a ship from the mainland. Now several
call there during the summer. Including
excursion steamers from Liverpool and
Glasgow. The curious point Ia that
whenever ship reaches the island all
the Inhabitants, including tho very In
fanta at the breast. arc seized with
cold. This fact has been known for
noarly two hundred years. and greatly
Interested DR. johnson when he aud
Boswell were making their famous
tour ~ tho 1lcbrldea.
The problem 81 this H. Kiidn cold
long puzzled learned men. who seem
mover 10 have suspected the simple ok
PLANTATION ~ the mystery. one solution
suggested was that the stewart always
brought whisky with him. and that II
was the intcmpornncc and iolity which
took place ON the occasion which
caused the epidemic. Another sxplnna-
tion was that ship could only reach
the island from the mainland when the
wind was from the northeast. THE
wind, not the strangers. caused the
cold" This cold II Htill characteristic
~ the Island, and II called by the In
hnhltRntr the stranger cold on the
arrival ~ the first steamer every sum.
mer all the island folks fall Victims:
afterwards many Of them escape. The
attack lasts eiRht or ten days. and N Of
ten accompanied by bronchial catarrh.
The Inhabitants affirm that N tho ship
comes from Liverpool or Glasgow the
cold they catch ~ more severe than IN
u comes from the liebridca.
All these instances. and there nre
many such. 10 10 show that "a cold N
an Infectious disease. prevalent wide
~. an doubt. but only whcrr man. per-