The Virginia enterprise., 1909-03-12


precipitating rheumatism, If the sys
tenn is predisposed TO rheumatism BY
improper food and sluggish circulation
or, If the vitality is very low, as in
the aged or the inebriate, pneumonia
may result, even without any record
Of Z distinct chill, or, If there is an
hereditary: predisposition to consump-
tion, that dread. disease may gain =
foothold.
The blood. thus leaving the surface
of the body, the pores Of the skin are
more or less closed ind the work Of
the skin, which is to throw of large
part Of the waste Of the body, is i'm
posed upon the lungs and the kidneys.
The functioning of the nervous system
Is also unbalanced, which contributes
to the same result. The action of the
interior skin, that is, the mucous lin
ing of the air cavities, and of the ALI
mentary tract, is disturbed, on account
of sympathy with the outer skin; it is
congested. The lining of the interior
of the body is but a continuation of
the outer skin. It is for these reasons
that there is an extraordinary dis
charge of mucus, often general, when
one is suffering from cold, and, with
the extraordinary congestion, closing
the pores of the skin, to large ex-
tent, and the increased waste of tissue,
due to fever, the urine contains more
waste.
The purpose of the fever is ts burn
up the waste matter in the system; it
Is a natural curative process, and to
"cure" the fever except by doing the
same thing that nature is doing by
the fever and thus render the fever
unnecessary-to stop or lower the
fever by quelling 1t with anti-febrile
drugs is always to combat the cure,
and is sometimes extremely danger
Gus, as in pneumonia in a vigorous,
full-blooded man. Blood-letting, a
therapeutic agent now relegated to a
barbarous age, though often "indi-
Gated is far more scientific than that
but lack of space forbids an interest
ing explanation here.
To stop cough by drugging is
equally irrational, as rule. The
cough is a curative measure.
II the vitality is low, the blood in
bad condition, and the general system
much congested by waste from the
f001 70 IN nto1
lished, or one of the lung diseases, as
above indicated. Repeated slight cold
taking tends in certain conditions of
the nutritive system to make catarrh
chronic; hence We find it very general
In our changeable climate The cure
s1r catarrh is manifestly not in killing
the germ by spraying the membrane
but in removing the prime cause.
If the fire bell were to sound on a
cold night in hotel where every
guest knew that quick run down a
long, cold hall, would bring him to a
safe place-not warm, but safe-few
or none would take cold" by making
the run and back Immediately, bare
robe, (even though they might en-
counter millions of influenza and pneu-
monia germs on the way), but let a
dozen of the same people discover on
awakening quietly, that they must
walk through that same long hall,
barefoot, and protected only by night
robe and many of them will contract
cold, one tonsilitis, another, influenza
and perhaps one "a senile inebriate)
even pneumonia. Almost every reader
must have seen the proof of this, so 1
shall pass at once to the conclusions:
Don't fear that every draft will give
you cold; set your mind against taking
cold, but don't choose to sit in a draft.
Keep moving when you are exposed to
an unusual degree of cold; tense mind
and muscles, walk fast. The atmos-
phere in ill-ventilated rooms is poi
soned and the system is far more like
ly to be overpowered then by even
slight draft than it would be in cold
but pure air in the open. No poison,
no "cold,' no pneumonia, even at 20
below zero, with the ears and fingers
freezing. Grip, or common influenza
is catching" in a poisoned, "close"
atmosphere, and where it finds lodging
in body laden with poisonous matter
from unexcreted waste of superfluous
food, it may become firmly established
and lead to serious consequences The
germs of influenza, consumption, or
pneumonia are always at hand, like
yermin, ready to perform their Office
Those who hold to the theory that
the germ is the prime cause of cold,
say that draft or wet feet or a
drenching cold rain, may be ignored,
If we can only avoid the germs, but it
is physiological fact that extreme
heat and cold affect every living Or
ganism, even when conditions are
otherwise normal. l formerly suffered
much from tonsilitis, but not since l
understood and applied the theory of
osteopathy, that disease is due to in
terference with free circulation of the
nerve energy and the cure, take of
the pressure, that is, relieve the con-
gestion-a theory that finds useful ap-
plication often, even though it is only
part of the truth. Osteopathic treat
ment is especially indicated in pneu-
monia even where there are no "bones
to set" and aside from massage, which
is also beneficial, but it is no more
wise to treat pneumonia by osteopathy
alone than to treat it by drugs alone
or by science" alone.
An old physician says that he has
noticed, for many years, that pneu-
monia sets in more frequently at the