The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-02-20
HOW COLDS COME
Ailments Due to Chemical Changes
In the Body

New York, Feb. 17.-Dr. Frederick
S. Lee is athority for the statement
that there is no such thing as a cold.
He doesn't mean that people are not
troubled with an ailment that they
call cold, but that 1t is misnomer.
Nobody catches cold, he says. What
happens when one has a cold, calling
1t that for want of another name,- is
a chemical change in the body which
gives the bacteria, which are always
present In the throat, chance to get
nourishment and go to work. The
doctors themselves don't know many
of the causes of It.
One cause is exposure. II may be
due to draught, or to cold room
where there is no draught, or to bad
air, or to an overheated room. An
other is fatigue. The doctors have
discovered a lot of other causes but
these suffice to show that colds do
not come from cold alone. but from
any external influence that the body
is unable to resist.
II puzzles him that even intellectu-
al men know no more about their or
ganic requirements than children. To
representative of the Times yes
terday he said that he knew college
professor who remarked after he had
tainted that his gall was bad and
that the fumes from II got to his
brain and oyercame him." This, said
DR. Lee was preposterous. The learn
ed man, which DR.. Lee knew him to
| h.. 81 h.. 81, IL 70 %
that heart action not strong enough
to give the necessary stimulants to
the muscles to drive the blood to the
brain is the only cause OF fainting.
The man learned in things other than
physiology watched his gall instead
OF his heart, from which DR.. Lee con-
cluded that II the professor had
known little bit about the functions
OF the heart and the gall, to say moth
ing Of his liver and stomach, he prob
ably would have been able to avoid
his fainting spells.
1T is curious" DR. Lee commented,
that the average man who owns an
automobile for instance, will spend
hours and days working over it-and
under II. too-learning its parts and
how to fix them and he will give
scarcely an hour to knowing the ma
chinery OF his own body on the con-
dition Of which the length of his life
depends"
Man being by far the finest piece OF
mechanism there is. Dr. Lee thinks
he ought to study himself If he has
any interest in mechanical subjects al
all, and II he has not, he ought Ia
study himself anyway because II
would do him good. and he is sure
to be entertained.
Nature supplies the body with
everything 1t needs except energy,
: Said DR.. Lee. 1T provides for Ia
organic system, and means OF nourisl
|, ment and distribution Of energy bu
the energy itself must be supplied
through food. All energy comes from
the sun, but II comes to us through
the plants and through the flesh O
animals that eat the plants.
Food is the fuel that keeps hea
In the furnace. Heat is energy. En-
lergy distributes nourishment and tn,
human body is equipped with all tn,
machinery for separating its chemi
cal parts and conveying them L
where they are needed"
IL is a popular impression that II |
necessary to battle In order to b
healthy but It seems that moder
physiology teaches that the physica
I benefit OF bathing does not come frof
the cleanliness due to the bath. A
most everybody believes that the bat
helps medically because Il makes on
y clean. DR. Lee says that this is onl
one more illustration OF how littl
We know about ourselves.
When the body is immersed In h,
10 or cold water" said he, the ner,
endings In the skin are stimulate
a. The nerve endings run to the spin
y. cord. Impulses pass from there
the nerve fibres in the stomach. Il
kidneys, the liver. and the brai
stimulating them. Thus one fee
T. better after bath and one is bette
All his organs are more active m
all the functions OF the body are IN
proved.
when patient afflicted with pne
monia is put into ice water II is n,
re TO lower his temperature directly |
- means of the cold application. but Il
effect comes through the stimulate
D OF the nerves and organs as a resu
OF the immersion.
Were proof needed Il would
found In the not infrequent practl,
"a OF putting the patient In hot wat
IN Instead Of cold water the therapeut
IA effect OF hot or cold water bell
alike. When you have cold Il
physical process OF catching II
II something like what have desert
ed In connection with the bath.
is not question OF temperature
all Something affects the nerve en-
ings in the skin. Il may be heat
ICE one OF the many other influence
'ui which the body does not gratefully
ceive at the time Then follow
ne chemical changes in the system, Il
exact nature OF which We do n
- know. and when these changes tai
IN place the bacteria OF the throat b
Ill come active and multiply. The
bacteria are usually dormant al
- harmless at other times.
lgb I'VE do not know why these bacte
Ia are there. They do not beloi
+, there, but they are IN the air v
breathe, aud they nnd Judgment