Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-02
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

dogmatie without running the risk OF
having ones choicest statements rise
up 10 call one anything but blessed.
AZ
Whatever the experts may ultimately
decide upon as the real cause OF colds,
there is one thing that seems to be
sure, and that is that the body Is try
ing TO get rid of something.
Every careful observer of colds. espe-
cially in himself. comes to have a great
sympathy for his sneezing. perspirtng
body. and to feel that this worthy part
OF him is doing its best to get out of
itself certain inimical factors which
do not seem TO be altogether the work
of germs.
those persons who find their colds
accompanied by simple nausea Will be
all the more inclined TO believe that there
Is an accumulation Of something or other
which the body is now making siren
uous efforts to get out of itself. They
discover, after a few of these colds
sometimes. but wrongly, called intes-
final grip, that there Is q regular set
progress Of the disease. In which the
body takes advantage of every possible
way to cleanse itself. The whole affair
does seem to be some sort Of cleansing
of the system. The nose Is only one
factor in it.
IF this view of colds is true in any
degree, II would seem only logical 10
attempt to discover what 1t is which
the system Is making such heroic en-
I deavors to throw out All people eat
and It would seem reasonable to look
to what they eat Tor clue In THIS
matter Here will be met very great
stumbling block One of the most din
cult tasks In the world is the attempt
To isolate a food which one has suSpi-
cions is causing trouble, either in this
or any connection. Some will say that
| it is dangerous to have any such sus-
picions at all that one should do as
/ the old-fashioned mothers advised their
/ children-eat what is placed before
| them and say no more about 1t.
Yet logic is logic, and If one feels
that a cold is merely cleansing
process, and that something In some
| food is what the body Is trying to get
/ rid Of then It is only sensible to try to
| figure out the offender. friend who
recently came down with cold told
us afterward that for month prior
/ he had been unable to flnd coffee
which suited his taste. Very fond of
this beverage, he had tried brand after
brand, declaring of each that 1t was
vile, that the coffee OF the world was
growing poor. 1t never occurred 70
! him. he said afterward, that the trou-
BILE might have been with him, that 1t
was the beginning Of the revolt OF his
system against coffee.
| He did not take the warning; he
persisted. he tried other brands, he
growled every morning that the coffee
was terrible, he never once thought
I that it was his own faster" which
was off.
And why? That was and is the In
teresting question, which is no question
at all, of course, II one feels quite sure
| that he knows all there is to be known
! about colds, their cause and cure. The
rest of us, more reasonable mortals,
we like to think, will not reject clue
in the labyrinth simply because We
have not had the pleasure OF its
acquaintance before. We will be happy
I for any silken thread, however slight,
which gives promise Of leading us into
the light of a cold-free day.