52 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 



very apt to recur, and it is all important that the throats of persons liable to them 

 should not be rendered delicate by any undue coddling. The throat should be washed 

 with cold water, which should also be used as a gargle. Some good is also got by 

 painting the throat with the glycerine of tannin, or some other astringent. When 

 a sore throat, of the quinsy type, runs through a family, there is always reason to 

 suspect that the patients have been exposed to some foul emanation, usually from 

 the sewers, and the house should undergo a very thorough examination, with a view 

 to the determination of this point. Sore throat is very common among those who 

 work in hospitals, and especially those who are called upon to dress foul wounds, and 

 whenever similar throats occur in private life, it should always arouse the suspicion 

 that miasms of a similar kind have found their way into the dwelling. 



Cold. A cold, or catarrh, is, in our climate, one of the commonest of human 

 ailments, and young and old seem almost equally susceptible to this mild form of 

 disease. The parts affected are the mucous membranes, or soft linings of the air- 

 passages, the mouth, throat, stomach, intestines, and eyes. Sometimes one and some- 

 times another of these mucous membranes is the part seized upon, and we hear of 

 people having a cold in their eyes, nose, throat, windpipe, or bowels. A " cold in 

 the head " is the name given to a catarrh affecting the " frontal sinuses " two air- 

 chambers lined with mucous membrane, which are situated in the thickness of the 

 skull just above the eyebrows, and communicate with the nose. The symptoms of 

 a cold are too well known to need any description. There is often a slight feeling 

 of " creepiness" or chilliness, and a feeling of dislike for cold. There follows a sensa- 

 tion of dryness and fulness of the part affected. The nose gets " stopped up ; " the 

 voice gets husky ; the eyes feel tense ; and the frontal sinuses are the seat of oppres- 

 sion, which often takes the form of headache. With this there is often a feeling of 

 general malaises, and sometimes a rise of temperature, and a slight increase in the 

 frequency of the pulse. The urine also becomes scanty and high coloured, and the 

 patient, in fact, is thrown into a state of mild fever. To this stage, the actual con- 

 dition of catarrh (Anglice, " a flowing down ") quickly succeeds. The mucous mem- 

 branes, which previously were dry and swollen, begin to run with moisture, which 

 at first is clear and limpid, and then becomes thicker and more tenacious, and of a 

 yellow colour. At this time evidence is got as to which way the cold is going to 

 travel. If it is limited to the nose, constant violent sneezing, and an unceasing 

 necessity for the pocket-handkerchief is the chief symptom. Any increase of hoarse- 

 ness, or any tendency to cough, may indicate that the catarrh has reached the wind- 

 pipe and bronchial tubes, while a loss of appetite, a furred tongue, and possibly 

 diarrhoea, may show that the digestive mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels 

 has been attacked. These symptoms subside usually in a few days, and the patient 

 is in his usual health. 



Among the causes of " cold," the chief is exposure. A sudden chill or a pro- 

 longed exposure to a draught of cold air is usually sufficient. The most potent cause, 

 perhaps, is a sudden transition from a hot and foul atmosphere to a cold one ; and 

 probably more colds are caught by coming from an over-crowded church or theatre 

 into the chilly night air than in any other way. People in robust health do not 



