MANY people fear the approach of winter. It is often a hard time for the poor and if war prevails the condition make their lot still more distressing. Moreover, the aged and infirm know that they will need to harbour their strength to meet the inclemency of the weather.
But cold are a common heritage. Some of us can recall the picture we often in our younger days-that of an invade with his feet in hot water drinking at the same time some decoction to hasten perspiration which was taken as a sign of deliverance from the threat of a severe cold.
A sudden change of atmosphere is often causative. An allopathic doctor who did not believe in drugs was note for his success in treating catarrh and bronchitis. He told me that he required his patients to remain and sleep in the same room for two or three days and in most cases the cold broken during cure hastened. To remain in a warm room during the day and sleep in cold one during the night, he maintained was not aiding.
The stuffy cold however, appears to be the most prevalent from of catarrh. Even when other symptoms disappear patients complain of the stoppage of the nostrils and the unpleasant congestion that changes the the voice and spoils all animate conversation.
Recently, a repertory gave no less then 200 remedies listed for cold. Perhaps, a chemical analysis might reduce the number considerable by grouping those that contain the same constituents. Even then there would remain sufficient to puzzle a sufficient seeking deliverance from “snuffles”.
Of course, same remedies are highly commended. An old lady, of our acquaintance, was fully persuaded that elderberry syrup could the most inveterate cold, and t was her delight to tell of the benefit her recipe had brought to her many friends. Nor must we ignore the testimonies of those given in the newspapers. In most cases they are written by those who sincerely believe that some decoction has proved effective and that others would be speedily restored if they availed themselves of their much-praised remedy.
But there is no specific. Every thoughtful practitioner knows that the same symptom may appear under different medicine. Hence, the biochemist dose not select a tissue-salt specific for the disease but by a keynote that sums up in a sentence the whole range of its applicability. When a patient speaks of having a “stuffy cold” he is questioned on order to ascertain the keynote that will prove decisive.
An inspector of a day-schools was much annoyed that the doctors he consulted could not rid him of “snuffles”. He said they suppressed the complained for a short time and then it would return with increased violence. He thought it strange that with all their boasted progress in medical science they could not discover an antidote. We told him that even though they might be clever they could not find what did not exist-that allopathic system was a fault. This he was slow to believe. Yet after taking for a short time the tissue-salt he became an enthusiastic biochemist.
A popular Yorkshire lecture-noted for his racy humour-often complained of a “stuffy cold”. He said, “It is the one thing that beast me.” Whatever he tried brought not lasting benefit. Some pastilles he bought at the chemist were soothing, yet he thought there must be something better. Fortunately, he came in contact with one of my patients who recommended biochemistry-and was truly grateful with Ferrum phos. alternated with Kali mur.
outdoor workers seldom complain of could. Indeed, they have few ailments. But there are exceptions. A gardener spend his times in the open air-his glasshouses being left to a skilled florist. Yet he (the head of the firm) was subject to catarrh. In summer he blamed the efforescence of certain plants which he had to handle, but in winter he had a “stuffy cold”. We gathered from interrogation that he usually felt “run down” at the end of the year and noting that he lacked nasal tone gave him Ferrum phos. alternated with Calc. phos., excellent in such cases.
Another townsman had nasal trouble. He was engaged in the fur trade. Since his iris revealed the white flakes of Arsenic we enquired if he used the drug in dressing skins-a frequent practice. This he denied. We presumed, however, that some of the furs he received from abroad might have been “drugged” and that he had been in some measure poisoned by them. Anyhow, we gave him Kali phos. (excellent for blood impurities) alternated with Sulphur, and the effect of these remedies induced him to send us three more patients.
A nonconformist minister had catarrh from youth-as early as he could remember. Sometimes it took the form od a coryza and several handkerchiefs were necessary to deal with the discharge. Then the flow would cease and the nostrils became dry, swollen and stopped, and breathing difficult. His doctor gave him Ferrum (iron which upset his stomach and caused constipation.
In view of this he consulted a chemist a Bradford who gave him pills that relieved the constipation and caused bleeding piles. As a last resort he betook himself to biochemistry. We prescribed Kali phos.-difficult breathing being one of its keynotes-and Hydrastis to cure constipation aggravated by purgatives. Even now he has an occasional return of his od complaint, but generally he is free from the “stuffy cold” that for years caused him much discomfort.
