224 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of the blood (serum) has to be eliminated internally through the mu- 

 cous membranes. Cooling, i. e., the sudden action of comparatively 

 low temperature on the warm surface of the skin for instance, when 

 one sits in a draught of air may check transpiration, and so cause 

 the fluids to tend inward in such volume as to overtax the capacity 

 of the mucous membrane of the lungs or the intestines, more rarely 

 of the kidneys, the result being catarrh. But catarrh and coughing 

 are two different things : as for " dry cough," it can never arise from 

 cold. That it results from the inhalation of impure, vitiated air, the 

 reader knows already. It is true that obstruction of the breathing- 

 apparatus, as " rattling " in infants, and hawking and hoarseness in 

 grown persons, results from retention of serum ; but that this obstruc- 

 tion is not connected with taking cold must be admitted, at least in 

 all cases where the patient has not quit his chamber, or even his bed. 

 As a matter of fact, no one takes a cough from a cold wall or from 

 an open door. The conclusion to be drawn from all this is, that the 

 coughs, hoarseness, and sore-throats, from which those persons suffer 

 in winter who are ever on their guard against colds, are produced, 

 not at all from cold, but from its contrary, overheating of the skin, 

 whose evaporation is feebler the nearer the external temperature ap- 

 proaches that of the body. In this case there is a suppression of the 

 action of the skin, but it is produced not by cold but by improper 

 warming or, as it is more properly called, by pampering. A hot 

 bath, a cold pack, or a good, lively walk, will work wonders in " loos- 

 ening" a hard cough. At first, it is true, the patient will cough harder 

 than ever ; but this effect is not due to the " cold wind," but to the 

 fact that the accumulated mucus, once started, is expelled en masse. 

 The oftener the patient resorts to the bath, to the pack, and to walk- 

 ing, the less frequent are the fits of coughing, and the freer and easier 

 does he breathe. 



b. Reduction of Temperature. The body's temperature is nor- 

 mal when in the armpit it is about 95 Fahr. Food and drink are 

 stimulants, and the skin is the radiating surface which gives off the 

 surplus heat. If this elimination is not sufficiently active, the body 

 becomes overheated, and this manifests itself by shivering. Over- 

 heating is the result when one eats and drinks much, at the same time 

 parting with but little heat. The chill so produced is usually called 

 " inward cold," but this is an error : it is overheating. That this is so 

 is shown from the fact that when on the morning after a " social even- 

 ing," during which we were overheated, we feel chilly, we have only to 

 take a walk until perspiration is set up ; Ave then feel warm again in 

 spite of a considerable cooling off. And this, by-the-way, is the very 

 best cure for the "Katzenjammer." We live in a climate where it is 

 far easier to heat the body than to cool it. Hence one of my counsels 

 against catching cold is, that the weakly, coughing reader of seden- 

 tary habits should not overheat himself with strengthening food, so 



