The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-29


age, and it is one of the reasons why
such voyage is often beneficial TO
patients suffering from consumption,
who are so sadly liable after any
catarrhal attack to lose the ground
they have been slowly gaining 1t
would seem, too, that the infection is
generally carried by human agency.
and it is noteworthy that some at least
OF every ships crew or passengers must
take it with them when they go
aboard, for apparently every ship
which reaches st. <ilda brings the
cold. Probably those who carry it are
often quite unconscious that they have
anything wrong with them, the disease
pelng, as 1t were, latent. It would
seem, too, that practically all human
beings, irrespective of age or sex, and
even when in good health, are highly
susceptible to colds, if they have been
FOR some time free from them, and so
have lost immunity.
Additional evidence that colds are in
Iectlous is furnished by what we OBJ
serve among our domestic animals,
Eats seem to be especially susceptible.
Propably they often bring home from
their nocturnal rambles those mys-
ferrous catarrhal attacks which so ran
idly run through the house II is an
OLD saying, THE cat Is sneezing; we
shall all have colds" Sheep, too, are
haDie; whole flock may suffer. and
may show that curious eruption
around the lips (herpes labialis) which
we all know only too well as one of
me most unpleasant accomplishments
vi pad cold in the head. On the Aus
lrallan sheep runs, when the shearing
season comes round, the men who con-
gfegate at the sheds are freauentlv
snltten with an illness of a catarrhal
nature, which rapidly takes hold of
lneln, ana often affects some 90 per
cent. sometimes it becomes very seri-
GUS ana may even develop into a fata.
GUS ana may even develop into a fatal
plieutllonla. 10 all appearance 1t is
caught from the sheep.
Horses, too, are very subject to nasal
catarrh, and it is a widely prevalent
oelier among coachmen that if a horse,
cues INTO fresh stable, and especially
IL morse which has been out at grass
goes INTO stable with other horses if
wiz be most likely to develop a cold.
All TINS evidence seems to force us
TO the conclusion that cold is a spe-
CHG alsease, and that without the pos
slblllty of infection it is impossible TO
catch it. That is to say. that it is due
70 a micro organism, and that without
the presence of this micro-organism
the disease cannot be contracted. be
the exposure what it may. What is
the bearing of this belief? Is it of anv
Importance to us, if true it be, to rec
ognlze its truth? Contrast it for mo-
ment with the commonly accented the
ofy' Wnlch may be roughly stated as
follows: First, that the greater mum
ber Of illnesses begin with cold. This
IS more or less correct Second, that
all colds must necessarily be due to
exposure of some kind. draughts. damn
colo or wet, though this exposure NAV
be SO slight that the sufferers are often
quite unconscious of it, and say: Il
am sure don't know how l have taken
cold"
The practical result of this theory is
that, in their fear of these unrecog-
nized exposures, people are apt to take
more and more care of themseNes-in
other words, to coddle more and more.
This treatment tends to make them
more and more delicate: less and less
able to Withstand exposure; more and
more sensitive to the depressing effects
of Geld, less and less capable of react
ing healthily against X; and what is
far worse, more and more afraid of
fresh air and good ventilation. Qn the
hack-hlochs of Australia the writer
has actually known a monthly nurse,
strong iii the consciousness of I'M
questioned wisdom and armed by the
authority of established custom, even
when the thermometer stood at 80 in
the shade, refuse to open the window
lest her patient should take oold) And
this coddling treatment, when lit is APP
piled to children, is especially injurious,
causing them to grow up delicate in
stead of sturdy and strong, and in the
long run tending to undermine the ro-
bust health and hardihood of our Eng
lish race.
Now, if this commonly accepted the
DRY is, after all, an erroneous one; if
all this overcarefulness is not only in
furious in many ways, but is alto
gether useless as a precautionary
measure-given exposure to infection
which must sooner or later be incurred
a nation should give up our traditional
belief, howsoever much we may have
cherished it. If the alternative theory,
that of infection, be the true one, and
if it be frankly accepted, many conse-
quences must follow which it is i'm
possible TO consider here.
But one thought forces itself upon
US If it be true that exposure is not
the direct cause of the disease; if, as
seems probable, 1t only acts by lower
ing our vitality, and so enabling the
germs TO get a foothold, surely the
more we become Injured to such expo
sure the less likely will it be to affect us
in this waY-a thought which, if acted
upon, would go far toward preserving
that hardness which is so characters
tic of our nation, which would prove as
effective a protection against cold as
against other enemies.