This was one of the subjects of discussion at one of the meetings of
the New York State Medical Association.
One physician thought that cold was only a predisposing factor in
these cases, microbes being the chief element in the affection. At the
beginning of an ordinary cold in the head the serous flow was an effort
of nature to relieve the congestion and eliminate the infection, hence
it should not be interfered with at this stage.
Another doctor said that while cold was a separate disease in the minds
of the laity, to physicians it always meant a condition secondary to
something else. A person with nasal polypi, for example, would complain
of almost constant stuffiness of the nose; one with an enlarged lingual
tonsil became hoarse after very slight use of the voice in singing.
Dr. —— —— ——, of New York, took up the treatment of colds. He thought
some colds in the head are communicable, and that isolation might
sometimes be a useful protective measure. Cod-liver oil was a good
preventive for those who were in the habit of constantly catching
cold. If the temperature was over 100° F., he insisted on the patient
staying in bed, or at least in the house. A moderate dose of quinin and
Dover’s powder at night, followed in the morning by a laxative, would
cut short some colds. A hot mustard foot-bath increased the comfort
of the patient. Rhinitis tablets were effectual if taken early, but
persons susceptible to belladonna should be careful in using them. The
alkaline treatment was often satisfactory—one dram of bicarbonate of
soda in half a glass of water, with a few drops of lemon juice. Camphor
internally and by inhalation often yielded good results. He was not a
great believer in local treatment, though admitting that irrigation
with saline solution was often useful. It was, however, dangerous
except in skilful hands. When colds showed a tendency to recur, he
advocated tincture chlorid of iron in large doses for two or three
days, also cod-liver oil, quinin, or the vegetable bitters. Sometimes
change of climate was the only cure.
=Cold a Germ Disease.=—Walsh, in the _Medical News_, says a very
striking indication that cold is due to _microbic invasion_ is to
be found in the fact that the process is nearly always accompanied
by _fever_. A distinct period of incubation can be traced, and the
efficient cause of the illness is commonly farther off than the patient
imagines. The treatment advised when fever and chilliness occur is the
use of calomel and hot drinks, especially cream-of-tartar lemonade,
which acts as a diuretic as well as a laxative. A diaphoretic at the
beginning of the affection will always give the patient comfort and may
unload the system of enough depressed toxic material to enable it to
react and bring about the abortion of a cold.
Other medical men objected to calling everything an infection. A common
cold, they thought, was nothing else than the effect of the lowered
temperature on the human system. The dry air of houses caused a chronic
postnasal catarrh, which at times increased. To overcome susceptibility
to catching cold, overdressing should be avoided and cold baths taken.