The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-11-06
NEVER MIND THE DRAFT BUT BEWARE
 THE SPRAY

| Why we have laws to curb the boors who spit in public places, yet no restraint on those who cough and sneeze in peoples faces, IS Il mystery to me- But never mind for here's a | more Important observation: The same risk lies in getting sprayed by casual conversation if the speaker hasthe cri.
 What is the cri and why the cYi, you may well ask if you're stickler for personal free dom Before l answer your question, which can do very definitely. beg to ask you an equally impertinent one, which I know you cant answer, and neither can anybody else Whats cold?
 .Cri is any respiratory infection in the stage before a specific diagnosis is made. All health authorities know that the respiratory infec- tions more communicable in the stage of onset or invasion and If you call the trouble cri till you can get more definite name for it you a good sport, for by calling it cri you acknowledge it is probably communicable and you give all within your range fair warning to take care they don't catch whatever you're de- veloping. On the other hand If you insist that your indsposition or illness is just "cold," " well. you're not playing fair with those around you.
 Oh, yeh? So Ole Doctor Cummins. surgeon general of the U. $. public health service says people may catch cold from the breeze of a fan? Maybe he says that but here's some thing he dare not say-he dare not say what a cold is. He can't define cold. because there is no such entity.
 Neither can any other state or municipal health officer or commissioner tell you what the common cold" is They all play foxy on this-they shrewdly refrain from offering a definition of the trouble they pretend to ad- wise about. and instead they say: You tell em, boob, you've got the symptoms Or 1T they very polite they express the same thing differently: Everybody knows what a cold is." Everybody but Ole Doc Brady seems to know yet no one will tell me. These big boys in the public health field know that the moment they attempt to explain what they mean by cold they're lost and I'll show 'em up droll comedians.
 spray has range up to 12 feet; the spray of ordinary conversation. carries less than five feet If you wear suitable mask or keep be- hind suitable screen, you do not give the salesman, customer, teacher, pupil. ticket sell CT patron, partner, companion. associate what you've got
 Even among the ignorant it is quite pvob- able that most of the illness from respiratory infections (which are responsible for three- fourths of the work doctors do) is due. not to open face coughing or sneezing, but to infec- tion carried in polite conversational spray.
 So far public health is concerned there is only position we take. You must either be a sport and call it cri, or be selfish. yellow low. mean scoundrel and insist the right to pretend it is just a cold.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Cyanide
 Is potassium cyanide deadly poison? For four years have used 1t in cleaning jcwelry. After handling it am not able to cat a thing for the taste of cyanide in my throat, which persists for some AS hours. O.. F)
 Answer-Yes 1t is deadly poison. If your trouble Is mild cyanide poisoning 1t is clearly from inhalation of the volatile cyanide. You might arrange suitable electric fan to blow away the vapor while you're using the solution.
 Sensible Question p
 You may think this a silly question. but if all the things the physiology textbook describes are going on inside why doesn't one feel 1t, and how can one send message to the brain that you want to do thing when one does it so quickly? (ViOlct).
 Answer-The question is fair enough, Violet. But it's a hard one to answer. All can tell you is that there is no sensation in the internal or gans The nerves controlling internal organs or regulating their functions are connected with the sympathetic unconscious or auton- omic nervous system and not with the brain or spinal cord. Think how fast radio impulses travel and how fast light and sound travel and then you can comprehend better the speed of nerve impulses
 Cleft Palate
 Daughter born with slight cleft palate. When she was two weeks old doctor who does such operations advised us to wait till she be- gan talking. Now she is IS months old and says Mama" and some other words quite clearly. No one can notice any difference in her voice. wonder if the cleft can he so slight that 1t will not require correction? (Mrs M. P.)
 Answer-Yes. mild cleft in the palate Is tnconseouential.