Evening star., 1937-01-15

simply because they chill the skin sur
faces.
Advice to avoid getting the feet wet
is centuries old and has never been
improved upon. Rubbers and galoshes
are nuisances. true enough. but they do
the work of keeping the feet dry.
Overheated vehicles and other too
warm places may put one into a sweat,
and II one then proceeds to dry off in
the cold afterward trouble may arise.
The person who must wage ceaseless
warfare against colds will do well to
remember that dry cold is not as bad
as wet cold with subsequent drying.
Perspiration should be kept up, if posi-
BILE, until one can take a cool bath and
have clean linen.
Advice to minimize starches and sug-
ars, the carbohydrate foods, in other
words, is always met with a great wall
Of derision from many.
But the cold sufferer from experience
usually may prove that stufiing on
these particular foods often precedes a
cold.
Whatever part nutrition may play in
the common cold, there can be little
doubt that many a person who at any
time catches" one will feel that some
thing he ate" had something to do
with 1t.
This is such a common belief that
many will suspect there is something
to it" and act accordingly. The whole
matter Is so wound up with the subject
Of relative alkalinity and acidity of the
system that the average person can do
little besides give respectful attention to
the scientists. He will have his own
ideas. however, and If he feels that any
particular thing in his diet has been
eaten freely every time he catches"
cold, he will be doing only the part Of
wisdom to discontinue that thing If he
is SO unfortunate to come down i'll.
- ~
The use Of concentrated vitamin A
extracts in one form or another is
another subject about which there is
dispute. But some who have used them,
and for the first time in their lives got
along without colds, will not be diverted
from what seems to be the truth to
them. No doubt there are some persons
who get special benefits, as such prod
ucts supply special need.
The use of artificial sunshine. the So
called ultraviolet light. is another pro-
cedure not without criticism, but here
again there are to be found persons who
are willing to swear by such lights and
who believe that they have received great
benefit.
The use Of citrus fruits, especially the
orange. seems common sense to many.
If it is good for babies, it is good for
their elders and is commonly so found.
1t is with this fruit as with cod liver
oil. For many score years physicians
gave their patients cod liver oil with
out knowing just why 1t was good"
for them. The vitamins in orange
juice do the trick, too.
The good cold fighter will avoid the
sneezer as he would the devil The
sneezer is, in truth, the modern devil
He ought to keep himself at home and
shut up, both for his own sake and that
Of others, but he will not. Hence the
universal spread of colds.
The cold susceptible who carries out
these measures, or at least some of them.
as best he can. will find that he gets
real benefits. Not that he will never
have cold. Who can promise him.
self that? But the chances are that II
he catches cold he will not have as bad
a one as he might have had, or as he
used to have, which is the only real
standard OF comparison.