The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-11-04
KOr...F

ands toward the scrap-heap of human
lty, bad colds and their allies stand at
the head of the list. With some of us
they come and go at different times,
and therefore, like Easter may be re-
garded as feasts which are movable
But with others like myself, a cold is
like the tide; it GIBBS and flows. There
are spring tides, neap tides and all
| the other tides, but it is rarely there
| is a slack tide. It's intensity and
frequency may. be gagged by the num-
Der of handkerchiefs required.
Now, why is it that our best friends
the doctors have not bettered the sit
uation? They have certainly done
much, but the treatment of the old
practitioner is still very like that of
! our grandnlothers: You must go to
bed, keep in a room with constant
temperature, and take a something
or other three times a day AS bit
OF goodbye pleasantly you learn that
the last dose might be grog-but, Of
course, made in a particular way. To
be in draught or to expose yourself
to an east wind might be fatal.
| The young practitioner takes sides
with his elders, but, to go one better,
tells you with emphasis that colds and
bronchial troubles are not due to cold
, air, but certain heterogeneous The
big word has no doubt alarmed the in
habitants of many Villages, but if
| you ask its author to tell you some
\ SYa1 Oh Il IS
which he speaks it is astonishing what
you hear. One man told me there were
| two hundred species in my mouth. OF
course, l did not believe him. The
suggestion that my mouth contained
a Cosmos and that was full up with
unlimited guests was very dreadful.
However, there was the consolation
that many of the tenants might be
| friendly to their host, and that if they
had occupied all available space they
would probably oppose an invasion
from armies which were hostile.
By reading learn that on the top of
very high mountains, or one hundred
miles or so off shore, the air is prac-
tically pure, but as we descend to-
ward the plains or approach the land
the number of organisms increases. At
the Montsouris Observatory, immedi-
ately to the south of Paris, where bac-
THEOLOGICAL research has been carried
on for very many years, it is found
that the air contains on an average
about 400 microbes per cubic metre. In
the streets of Paris the number of mi
crobes vary from 5000 to 1000 while
in certain buildings we may find 3d.
600 in a cubic meter. When a wind
crosses Paris and blows to Montsouris
the number Of germs in the atmosphere
Incl eases at this latter place.
/ will not turn to experiences.
When l go TO South Africa, suscep-
tible as I am to colds, can dip my
head in every bucket of water l can
see or put it under every tap can
find. After that / can put it out in
the biggest draught / can discover
| in front of an electric fan, for prefer
ence-and yet | do not catch cold.
! Colds at sea seem to come from that
which was brought aboard. David Liv-
| ingstone, | am told, never got a cold in
! South Africa, but he got bad one
when he returned to Scotland
hansen and his friend Johansen
| could in the arctic regions tumble into
! cold water, sleep out without change,
and yet keep WELL At st. Kilda, I'M
derstand, a passenger with cold is
expected to remain on board; other
hn inf h
out the island. In Fair Island, and to
a certain extent in Shetland, something
similar happens When the inhabit-
ants Of these Places visit this country
they Gene among strange microbes,
! and their experiences may be unpleas-
ant.
/ All this means two things. First
| it suggests to us that in this world
there are environments where cold
producing" germs are few, which we
know to be true; and second, that
we can put up with homemade ami
mails, but that it is dangerous to oyer
hospitality to menageries from abroad
When an east wind blows in Eng
land people get colds and bronchial
troubles, and the death rate goes up.
Is it the GOODNESS of the east wind, or
! is it the creatures it brings with
it? Is it or is it not the carrier of
undesirabilities which come from Ger
many and other European countries?
Certain troubles like influenza have
! reached us from the East. They came
from Europe and Asia, but | am not
aware that they ever went against
prevailing winds to a country like jap
| an. Do bronchial troubles come from
the Europeon side or the Atlantic side?
! need not give an answer. England
is the dust-bin for European microbes.
A friend of mine had house in
which all the air that came in passed
through cottonwood filters. and then
impinged on plates coated with glycer-
inc, on which the last microbe was
! caught like a fly on piece OF sticky
paper. In this house. meat, butter
and other foodstuffs kept for consid-
! cradle periods of time without change.