370 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a current of air blowing directly on my head and shoulders ; sitting 

 entirely naked in a draught, on a very cold, damp night in the fall, for 

 fifteen minutes before getting into bed ; wearing cotton night-shirt 

 and sleeping under light bed-covers on the night following the use of 

 flannel gown and heavy-weight bedclothes ; rising from bed on a cold, 

 rainy morning, and sitting naked for an hour, writing, and then put- 

 ting on shirt and trousers only, the shirt almost saturated with rain 

 and the trousers quite damp, from hanging by the window — ^these and 

 similar experiments I have tried repeatedly, but without catching cold : 

 I become cold, and become warm again, that is all,* 



On the other hand, changing the nature of my experiments, go- 

 ing back to my old habits as to diet — the indulgence of what we call 

 a " generous " diet — the universal mixed diet of the people, viz., fish, 

 flesh, fowl, with the hot, stimulating, and greasy condiments almost 

 invariably associated with this class of food, together with pastry, pud- 

 dings, and sauces, coffee, etc. — I have found no difficulty in accumulat- 

 ing a " cold," and within a reasonable length of time — the time de- 

 pending upon the degree of my over-indulgence as to frequency and 

 amount^ — although, now, a part of the programme consisted in taking 

 the most extreme care to avoid everything in the way of " exposures," 

 as this term is commonly applied — keeping the feet dry and warm, 

 paying the utmost attention to wraps, etc., etc. Indeed, my own ex- 

 perience and observation satisfy me of the truth, and furnish ample 

 explanation for it, of the oft-expressed opinion that those people who 

 wrap the most and take the most care in such respects are the greatest 

 sufferers from " colds " ; and, theoretically, this would be the logical 

 deduction from a consideration of the simple facts taught even in the 

 primary text-books on physiology : certainly, the less clothing one 

 wears and the more he is exposed to cold, the nearer he is carried, 

 metaphorically speaking, to the polar regions, where surfeit-fever is 

 unknown ! Said an observing friend to me, " I am apt to catch cold 

 when I put on my winter flannels — why is it ? " My explanation was 

 satisfactory to him, for he was a bright man; but, in general, it is difficult 

 for people to comprehend the fact or the principle involved therein. f 



* Accidents often cause worse exposures than any I have enumerated above, without 

 exciting this disorder: for example, upon the occasion of a shipwreck on a bleak, Northern 

 coast, in winter, not one of the stranded mariners or passengers would have " a cold " in 

 consequence. Indeed, a sufiBcient degree of exposure to hunger and cold would tend to 

 " cure " every case of this disorder that previously existed on shipboard ; and if the ex- 

 posure should not extend beyond measure — beyond the power of endurance of an indi- 

 vidual or the entire group — no sickness of any sort would result. 



f For the past two winters the writer has worn no under-flannels. He removed them 

 in midwinter (1881-82) as a part of the treatment for " a cold!" The balance of the 

 curative regimen consisted in a quick sponge-bath, succeeded by an air-bath with friction 

 for fifteen minutes in a cool room, abstaining from food for the entire day, though the 

 appetite was craving, engaging in active exercise in the open air. By night the feverish 

 symptoms had disappeared, the oppressed lungs were relieved, hoarseness scarcely notice- 

 able — in a word, convalescence eitablished. 



