The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-04-12
HOW TO AVOID CATCHING COLD.

man." If that is true the percentage
of invalids in the American public is
somewhat appalling. A New York
doctor, when asked about his English
confrere's statement, laughed, but
gave his Endorsement.
"Of course, that doesn't mean that
every man who feels cold is seriously
ill.," he said "but, as a matter of
fact, only very exceptional exposure
is sufficient excuse for a we'll mans
suffering from cold in any climate to
which he is accustomed. If ordinary
exposure in this climate can make
person uncomfortably cold, there is
something wrong with that persons
physical condition or clothing.
Taking cold ism t a matter of tenn
perature. 1t is a question of physical
condition. Fatigue causes more colds
than all the draughts that blow. A
draught isn't going to harm man
whose nerves and circulation are in
perfect tone. A man goes home, fag-
ged and jaded at the end of the day.
He, goes to an evening function, in
dress clothes, takes liberties with his
stomach or nerves. He is chilly,
takes cold-and swears it was all a
matter of temperature or draught. If
his blood was pure, his nerves steady
and his digestion good, the tempera-
ture wouldn't have affected him.
"Quite aside from the problem of
what we call colds, the ordinary SEN
sations of cold seldom have an exter-
nal cause. Their cause is external.
The men and women who go shiver-
ing along our streets in winter wealth
er ought not to be cold, unless they
have some disease that explains their
chilliness. They think they can REM
edy matters by piling on heavy cloth
ing. 1t can't be done that way.
Naturally, warm clothing will help to
Offset low temperature, but it will
not make man warm if there is, as
| &c l4eI1ally. the case, some internal ren--
son why he is cold.
IT believe that fully three-fourths
of Our people wear too many heavy
clothes in cold weather. They feel
cold and the only thing they think of
doing is to put on another thickness
of flannel. Warm clothing is all
right, but heavy clothing isn't, and
the close fitting fannels that are so
universally worn are an abomination.
They keep the skin from breathing
and the moment the skin gets out of
breath, the owner of the skin will be
cold, even if he wears flannel and fur
a foot thick.
cit seems queer to me that people
will never learn and put in practice
the simple rules that will insure them
comfort in cold weather. Putting
aside invalids, we'll take the man
who considers himself perfectly we'll,
but vino gets blue and shivers on a
cold day. His circulation is out of
gear. He must find the cause and re-
move it, if possible. If not, he must
offset it, as far as he can, by simple
and rational means.
Imperfect digestion may have i'm
poverished his blood. Then he must
forswear gastronomic indulgence and
eat plain food that will make pure
blood. The first plunge into wintry
air, out Of warm house, will always
make the pores gasp, and drive the
blood from the surface to the inner
fortresses in the big veins and arteries
and around the vital parts of the
body; but, if the circulation is good,
the reaction will follow almost, i'm
mediatety, and the blood will flow
back to the surface with rush, pro-
ducing a fine tingling glow.
In order to bring about this happy
condition, a man must take care of
his body and encourage his circula-
ton. Pure air, wholesome food,
plenty of exercise, frequent bathing
and ventilation of the skin, and avoid
ance of sweltering clothes will put the
average man where he can defy any
winter weather this climate can fur
nish. If his nose and fingers do get
cold temporarily in extreme cases,
they will warm up quickly and gener-
al prolonged chilliness will be un-
known to him.
"Our houses and Offices are too
hot. We all know that. So far as
possible, we should remedy it; but un-
fortunately it ism always possible, es-
pecially in an apartment house or Of
fee building. When one can't keep
the temperature down to some point
between 90 and 10 degrees prefera-
bly, nearer 90 degrees than 10 degrees
one must grin and bear it and do
what one can to counteract the injury.
At least, let the air be pure. Foul
air is worse than draught. Indeed,
if a man is in prime condition,
draught ought not to harm him. One
great physician of this generation
used to turn cold draughts of air on
small sections of patients body un-
til he got the patient into condition
where he could endure the cold cur
rent on his whole body.
"Few persons understand how des-
perately the skin needs ventilation.
A large majority of my patients, I
verify believe, do not expose their
whole bodies to the air once, from
September to June. Now, that is
ridiculous. 1t would be suicidal for
a person who wasn't used to it to take
off all his clothes and loiter around in
room at ordinary temperature. but
the thing may be done by degrees,
| and the body needs an air bath at