The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-26
ABOUT "BAD COLDS"
DIR. walsh says nature wni Cure
Them 10 We Let Her.

About every third person one meets al
this changeab.e season o. the year has
cough or a cold. About every second ona
OF the sufferers has some lufauible rem
edy for the affection. that ne or especial
| b. she. Is ready 10 connde 10 trusting
friends Meantime he or she. BY fortu
ate dispensation OF nature, continues 20
cough and TO sueeze for the regulation
period quite as long a. the uukuowing
Zones.
The principal advance in medicine In
I these last ffty years has been the acqui-
sition Of definite knowledge a. to 40"
| normal course OF disease. We know now
/ that unless taken very early. aud even
| then only exceptionally. ID is not possible
TO shorten the course OF infectious dis
eases. DO what We will pneumonia will
last Eve or seven or nine days. tn the
/ crisis comes ana nature ovcrcomes the
poison ia the system. In the same way
| typhoid fever runs iis definite course 81
about month. Smallpox rs It's four
| periods OF about three days each. -.-.eu-
matism takes It's own time. somewhat
| modined by the condition Of the individual
when the attack set iu. So DO scaria.
fever and measles and whoopng cough
no matter how much this may interfere
with the plans OF mice or men.
Colds Are Infectious.
Now though Il is not generally realized.
so-called ordinary colds are infectious DR.
eases quite ~ much as those mentonAi
/ Gods are not as contagious a. most 81
the others, though Il must not be forgot
| ten that rheumatism and colds often
spread In families or schools or barracks
To- way that saows that they are es-
sentlaiy Contagious diseases in their ma
/ ture
An ordinary cold O. . catarrhal inaam-
| nation OF some mucous membrane. pro-
| duced 10y the invasion OF some micr1b,
| lf the mucous membrane affected IS thar
OF tho nose. it Is called cold ln the hesd.
| Inc symptoms is q running from the
nose The material which thus flows ont
| was Formerly thought 20 come from fhe
| hruin. The Latins called the nasal 49,
| erection piiuita. and there Is a little ovat
| holy 81 the base q the brain called the
/ pituitary body This b. doubtless the ra,
/ son for speaking Of "a nasal cold AZ ,
| cola ~ the head. but OF course the fngan,-
nation OF the nasal mucous membrane
"oes no' spread 10 The brain. The sense
| OF iuiness in the head Is due 10 tho ~
largcmeut with blood of certain VEN. 49,.
sitive structures within tho nos. ~,
/ turhinate bodies "'
II the cold that IS. tho catarrhal IN
nammaticn attacks tho mucous ,,.,crt,,..
/ OF the tonsil n tonsiiitis Is prod,r.9 ,-its
alihculty Of swallowing. II the lsrvnx a.
a"'cteu' mat j.. the mucous memhranea
,''svt ing tine vocal cords hoarse,,. -
suits: II the inner lining Of ne i,,,,...
] then the affection is called hropcbi.ts mr..
microbes that cause the svnntorns ~ +,
| colo may attack the mucous mernhr4,,
OF the stomach or intestlnes and ff,en
gasirits or diarrhoea results.
whenever microbes gain foothoid IN
me Tissues. nature endeavors 10 throw
them on. Hence tho frst svfnp,or,e - /,
cold In the hcad-that g.. In Inc nos a.
repeated sneezing. Whenever an trrt
tant touches the nasal mucous membrane
sneeze results This Is a convul,i,.,
election of nasal secretion for the pnr-,o.s,
OF getting rid or the irritant In ,be same
way affections OF the pharynx. thar .
the back OF the throat. the larvnx and th.
bronc HAL tubes lead 10 cough Couch
FAR from being harmful Is Ideally hepe-
ncial The best thing for a cough g.
coughing. The convulsive forcIble expi
ration sweeps from the mucous membrane
ana carries with II the offending ma.
rial whose presence keeps up the On
tarrhal Inflammation. II nature r. but
given proper chance she viii soon cough
up an the sources Of the trouble.
Cough Mixtures Harmful.
Most Of che ordinary cough mixtures
50 popularity used do harm by limiting
the cough. This always makes th, coi5
last longer. There ore circumst,nces -,
der which the physician may have a.
choose between two evils and may de-
liberately elect 10 limit the cough Whera
cough will keep che patient and ner-
haps also friends awake for a good nart
Of the night It's suppression may he
Judged advisable. This r. not difficult
A little opium lu almost any form,
nmNinaa q 4nnmFnrHlah he
OF the preparations Of opium form tb.
principal ingredient OF most Of the orBt
nary cough mixtures. In old people
particularly. the suppression Of the courn
and che consequent re- entlon OF fnasrn
matory Tcretion that should. in the ord
mary course % nature. be thrown on. a
frequently productive OF serious reetttts
Healing Is delayed and chronic bronchial
affections follow.
Another part OF natures protective
mechanism il the fever that occurs with
colds. Whenever microbes invade the
body the temperature goes up. The rea-
son y that che chemical activity within
the body Is greater az the higher temper /
allure. The tissues live faster FOR "a
white and ore better able 70 resist mi /
crobe influences. Fever Is an unhealthv
state, however. because q q exhaustine
The tissues are putting forth a special ef- |
fort TO conquer the enemy but this Az |
era EFFORT cannot he kept up for long II
work. especially in the cold air l. done
during fever. u calls for greatly increased |
consumption Of energy. To keep $50 |
pounds Of material ~ temperature OF |
g degrees when the surrounding air Is /
much lower. requires constant burning OF |
tissue elements, that r.. the oxidation 81 |
carbon-consaininr substances Heat 4 4
ordinarily PRODUCED ty carbon oxidation |
even outside the body. To keen the bu-
80 -
grees higher than normal requires the /
burning ~ much more carhonaceous ma /
terial. II muscular work IL calling for |
Ass supply Of energy az the same time /