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I
ALL
AOVLR
Why “COLDS”
and “GRIP”
How They WEAKEN YOUR BODY and Pave die Way for MANY OTHER DISEASES
Are Dangerous
Hv LEONARD KEENE HIRSHBERG,
\.B„ M.l>„ M.A. (Johns Hopkins).
T HERE is only one sure way to avoid colds and the
grippe, und that is by locking yourself in an air-
llgtit caisson somewhere in the vicinity of the
North I’ole, Where no other human being has ever
breathed the air. Everywhere else on earth the influ
enza germ is bound to get you sooner or later, in the
last ten jours every man and woman in the United
States luis suffefed from its diabolic activity.
Influenza spreads and rages like a plague oi old. it
is infectious and contagious, apd it works quickly.
Three or four days after Its bacilli invade your air
passages you are in bed and there, If you are wise,
you will remain at least a week. When the disease
strikes a community few or none escape.
.lust because it Is so common Americans have fallen
into the error of regarding influenza lightly. By the
average layman, in fact, it is looked upon merely as a
sort of exaggerated and persistent cold. But between
an ordinary cold and la grippe a great gulf is-t fixed.
The’ one, broadly speaking, is a local malady, and as
a rule it cures itself within a few days. The other, to
borrow a disused term, is a zymotic disease. In 1904
it killed 7,000 Americans directly, and probably 20,000
indirectly. Therefore, it is apparent that influenza
demands serious consideration
Before the great epidemic of 1889 medical men had
very little definite knowledge of the cause and nature
of "griti." The disease had been epidemic from time
to time for 800 years, but as it seemed, in comparison
to other plagues, to lie a very slight, tiling no heed was
paid to it. When in 1889 it invaded Europe by way of
Russia and then spread to all parts of the earth, the
medical profession in a dozen countries began gN ing
it close attention.
The result was the discovery of the minute organism
which produces the malady. This discovery was made
simultaneously by Pfeiffer, a Germajt, and Kitasato, a
Japanese, and since then the germ' has borne the name
of Pfeiffer's bacillus.
This bacillus is one of the gay motes that dance along
a sunbeam. Under the microscope it appears as a tiny
thin ‘rod, usually straight and with somewhat rounded
ends. It multiplies with a thousand times the rapidity
of a rabbit. Introduce half a dozen influenza germs
into your bronchial tubes to-day and a week hence your
body will be the abiding place of 100,090,000,000.
When a man has the grip ' or a "cold ' his air pas
sage, are fairly alive with bacilli, and every time he
expectorates or takes a long breath he expels million ■*
of them. Thus they get into the air, and other persons
breathe them into theit lungs and get the disease, too.
When they enter the body through tiie nose or mouth
the germs ordinarily lodge iu the intermediate air pas
sages. There they multiply rapidly and begin to send
forth their poisons. These poisons coursing through
the blood incommode and cripple all of the bodily or
gans. The infected person feels tired and stupid, his
temperature rises and pains and aches appear in ai
directions. A man with the “grip,” indeed, is a mai
poisoned, and sometimes there is poison enough in his
veins to kill him.
The eight most cpmmon forms of influenza or “grip"
are briefly as follows:
1— “THE COLD IN THE HEAD” TYPE—Th^s type
produces effects much like those of a deep-seated cold,
hut the prostration is greater and there are severe
pains in the limbs and back. This is a very familiar
form of Influenza.
2— THE BRONCHITIS TYPE—The effects of this
type are much like ttiose of an ordinary attack of bron
chitis, with severe racking coughs and a fairly high
fever. Tliis variety of the disease in itself is not very
dangerous, but it lias a deadly tendency to pave the
way for pneumonia and tuberculosis.
3— THE TYPHOID TYPE—This is frequently mis
taken for a so-called “mild” attack of typhoid fever.
The fever usually subsides within a week and complete
WHAT A COLD OR GRIP MAY
LEAD TO: A—Abscess of the
Ear; B—Pneumonia; C—Insan
ity; D—Nasal Catarrh; E—
Pleurisy; F—Appendicitis; G—
Bronchitis; H—Heart Disease;
l-Jftu ndice; .1—Rheumatism.
recovery follows soon afterward. In
genuine typhoid the period of illness
is much longer and the condition of
the patient very naturally is far im.fr
grave.
4.—THE PLEURISY TYPE—This
is characterized by pains in the chest
and stomach, in addition to the or
dinary symptoms. It is caused by
the germs lodging in the pleura—
the membrane which encloses the
lungs. This type of influenza, while not very dangerous
in itself, is apt to cause serious complications.
5.—THE PNEUMONIA TYPE—In this the patient
suffers from a real pneumonia, with the difference that
while in the common form of pneumonia the disturb
ances in the lungs are caused by a germ called the
pneumococcus, in this the ‘disturbing factor is ‘Pfeif
fer's bacillus.
6—THE RHEUMATIC TYPE is characterized by the
symptoms of rheumatic fever — a high temperature,
swollen, painful joints and general functional dis
turbances. The wrist, knee, elbow and shoulder are the
joints most commonly affected. This form of the malady
is caused by an invasion of the joints by the influenza
or “cold" germ
7.—THE NERVOUS TYPE is a very severe one. it
may lead to nothing worse than neuralgia, and then
again it may lead to-abscess of the brain or meningitis.
It is caused by the influenza or “cold” germ invading
the jierve tissues, the spinal cord or the brain. Some-
lines the symptoms are much like those of sciatica.
At other times long-continued delirium or insanity re
sults.
8—THE STOMACHIC TYPE is characterized by a
general invasion of the digestive tract by the influenza
germ. The first symptom is vomiting, and this is often
followed by acute pains in the abdomen, diarrhoea and
other disorders of the bowels. When the germ invades
the organs used for the elimination of waste they are
impeded and jaundice appears. When it stops off at
the vermiform appendix the result is appendicitis.
But the chief danger of "grip” and “colds” lies not
in their own direct effects, but in the fact that they
weaken the body and open the way for the entrance
and rapid increase of the organisms of other diseases.
The Wood has a hard time manufacturing enough anti
toxin to counteract the poisons they generate, and when
the work is done and the patient is cured his blood is
vitiated.
These white corpuscles have a great appetite for
germs, and under a high-power microscope you can see
them at work. They appear as transparent bags and
the germs as little dark specks' of various shapes.
Through the walls of each corpuscle you can «fee some
times a dozen dead germs. They eat a lot of them, and
if the germs are not too numerous and the white cor
puscles are in good health every germ in the blood
stream will be gobbled and destroyed.
But In some diseases the germs multiply with such
astonishing rapidity that the white corpuscles are soon
gorged and can eat bo more. Then the germs, being
comparatively free to do as they please, generate their
poisons in immense quantities.
fortunately, the blood, even when the white corpuscles
are unequal to the task of swallowing ail the live
germs, still has a capacity for producing a sort of
antidote for the germ poison. This is called an anti
toxin, and its effect is to make the germ innocuous.
So long as a man’s blood is able to produce enough
antitoxin to neutralize the poison secreted by the
germs in his tissues he is sure to get well.
But even when this is accomplished and the "grip”
or “ctffd" patient begins to feel better, it often hap
pens that the severe work of producing a great amount
of antitoxin leaves the patient exhausted, lie is not
only incapable of producing more influenza antioxin^but
is also incapable of producing any considerable amount
of antitoxin to tight the toxins secreted hy the germk
of any other disease—pneumonia or tuberculosis, for
instance. That is why, when a man is recovering from
influenza or "cold” he is peculiarly susceptible to pneu
monia and tuberculosis.
Efforts are being made to produce an artificial anti
toxin to aid the antitoxins of the blood iu their light
against the poison of the ‘'grip” and “cold” germs, in
addition, bacteriologists are trying to perfect a'vaccine
callable o'' protecting human beings against infection
The familiar smallpox vaccine has robbed smallpox of
its old terrors, and some da$', it iB hoped, "grip" and
"colds” will cease to afflict ns, too.
Meanwhile there is no specific remedy for influenza,
and all the physician can do is to keep the body of the
patient as vigorous as possible and try fo counteract
the effects of some of the symptoms, such, for instance,
as fever. Good feeding and proper nursing are essen
tial, particularly in the nervous forms of the disease.
Warm bath§ and hot drinks aid in the cure and ice
packs on the head reduce the fever. It is best not. to
take home meilh ines of any sort, but rely entirely oil
a good doctor’s prescriptions.
Why RED Is a Poor DANGER SIGNAL
Musi We Be DRIVEN FROM THIS EARTH?
JL
'HE red danger signal is more apt to cause acci
dents than to prevent them. Science has just
discovered that red is about the very worst
color that could possibly be selected for danger signal
purposi s, although 1* has been universally used ever
since the earliest times.
its ineffectiveness is equalled only by green mid
green, strangely enough, is tin only other color gener-
illy used for signal purpose- Red and green are the
standard signal colors on all railroads and the port
ad starboard tights on vessels have been red
grt ■ l, respectively, front time.immemorial.
and
lust- two colors are the worst that could he chosen
• i In* pin pose hei ause tin-’ cannot be distinguished
fr u each <. her bj those who suffer from the most
common form of color blindness, and color blindness is
constantly on the increase. One male in every
i .. nt••live suffers from it. These two colors are said
to he' tin most confusing tfi the human retina, even
a en it is normal.
According to Dr. Francis 1). etterson. who lias made
, study of tiie danger signal question. Industrial acci-
(U : will continue to increase in number as long as
red is used for danger signal purposes. He suggests
the use of blue and yellow in tlie place of red and
green and presents scientific reasons in support of his
contention.
Dr. Patterson points out tiiat the use df red as a
danger signal not only debars numerous color blind
individuals front employment in occupations in which
ii color perception is necessary, but subjects many
more to dangers against which red signals are sup
posed to afford sufficient warning.
His experiments witli spectrum and with color blind
persons, as well as with various colors at different dis
tances, led him to conclude that tiie best colors for
danger signal purposes are blue and yellow. He says
they are the most luminous colors of the spectrum, are
permanent and fast, are the only colors which give rise
A
to normal color sensation as soon as they strike the
eye and even color blind persons react to them.
For practical reasons fop. lie declares, blue and yel
low might profitably he adopted in the place of red and
green. They do not fade so quickly as a result of ex
posure to sunlight and consequently they require less
frequent repainting
How ADVERTISING LOWERS PRICES
y— oks he 0* nstimer pay the advertising bills'
I ^ Many economist have maintained that he does.
J--’’ in,! in t mi I arm sums which mauufactur
and that in tiie large sums which
ers. wholesale houses and retail dealers are spending
for advertising lies one of the chief reasons for tiie
present high cost of living. There is, however, much
convincing evidence to show that the right kind o[
advertising produces exactly the opposite effect and
that, instonm of raising prices, it lowers them and im
proves the quality of the goods into the bargain. In
other words, you get a better article at a lower price
when it is intelligently advertised than when it is not
To understand why this is so. consider the two
functions of ail advertising- first, to individualize tiie
product: and, second, to increase tiie demand for it
The Hfiportance of the first function is apparent to at)
who have even a superficial knowledge of modern trade
conditions. A nationally known and nationally ndver
tlsed trademark Is an asset that market fluctuation
cannot dissipate. It lias at all times a fixed, market
able value.
Whether advertising raise the selling price or
cheapens the quality is a matter concerned entirely
with the second function. Fan the demand be in
creased without the consumer having to foot the bills
That is the question.
It lias been proved again and again that the saving
in manufacturing costs per unit between a maximum
sale tier thousand on an unadvertised brand and a like
sale on an advertised brand is far greater than the
cost of advertising. Those who do not advertise do
not get either the reduced cost of manufacture that
comes from a large volume of sales or the decreased
selling costs which come -with trademarking and adver
tising. Advertising, then, b> reducing the cost of pro
duction, and also tiie cost of selling makes it possible
to give the consumer either a lower price or a better
product or both without lessening the manufacturers’
profit.
Certain ilk manufacturers inaugurated some time
ago an advertising campaign in the
Interest of a trade marked line of
silks. Within a fixed period $60,000
was spent in this campaign. Tiie sales
made in • this period amounted to
$:s,000.000; or $50 in sales for every
dollar iu advertising. Because of the
volume of business the manufacturers
were able to produce their goods at
the lowest possible ratio of cost, and
to sell on the same basis. The con
sumers. therefore, were a direct ben
eficiary.
Anothef manufacturer was selling
his-line tlirough salesmen on a 10 per
cent, commission basis. He began a
country-wide advertising campaign,
and soon after found that the demand
for the line was so great that he was
able to cm his 'salesmen's commission
to 5 per cent. To-day the salesmen
are making more money at 5 per
rent, than they formerly made at 10
per cent. Not only that, but the
manufacturer has sliced 3 per cent,
from selling costs, as the advertising
averages only 2 per cent, of the sales.
GLOOMY prospect for the human race is
pictured by Professor John Rennie, of
the University of Aberdeen, Scotland,
who declares that man is destined to be driven
from this earth just as, ages ago, the .mastodons
and other mammoth creatures which now exist
only in fossil remains were forced into extinc
tion. Man’s fate, Professor Rennie maintains,
will be due to the constant battle which is in
progress on land and water between the larger
creatures and the smaller ones—with the latter
always in the end victorious.
It is a law of nature that all living things
must wage relentless war upon those of greater
brain power and greater size. This the tiny ones
are able td do only by increase in numbers.
It was by the extension and multitudinous in
crease of stone and cocoanut throwing monkeys
as well as missile and javelin throwing missing
links that the human race was gradually evolved
at the expense of winged dragons, flying ana
condas, ptereodactyls, dinosaurs, mammoths
and other great beasts now extinct. It is
through the operation of the same law that great
fish of the sea serpent, octopus and whale type
are either completely destroyed or fa^t dytyg
out. The whale, like the buffalo, is doomed.
The discovery of the North Pole by Peary and
the South Pole by Amundsen makes its extihe-
tion only a question of a few^ years.
Man himself, who prides himself in his vanity
as the lord of all creation, must eventually fol
low the buffalo, the whale and the mastodon.
The human tribe, smaller than any of the crea
tures already extinct, is destined now to fall the
victim of even tinier living things.
Mankind drove the bigger beasts from tiie
face of the earth, just as the codfish are crowd
ing the whales from the oceans. In similar way
the pneumonia microbe, the ultra-microsc-opic
virus of rabies, the bacillus of tuberculosis and
the infiinitesimally minute poison of cancer are
gradually, insidiously, pushing man into extinc
tion.
Even the fly, the mosquito, the flea, the bed
bug, the caterpillar, the worm and other small
predatory insects are aiding and abetting the
gigantic task of driving the human race from
the globe. Indeed, almost all the tiny living
creatures partake of the character of enemies
to mankind.
Just as certain large animals, such as moose.
buffalo, elephants and the like instinctively fear,
the ‘microcosmos, man, so many off us shudder
at tiie very mention of “bugs," “worms,”
“snakes.” AVe know intuitively that there is
eternal strife between us and them, and that
they are all seeking our extermination.
All of our discoveries for the preservation of
health, the destruction of germ life, the immu
nization against bacteria,^ poisons and the like
may postpone the day of mankind’;; doom, out
only for a moment, geologically speaking. TJi.-re
is no escape from the sent* nee Nature 1. - in
posed. The fact is tiiat in etesnal nature all
great things give way sooner or later to the dis
integrating force exerted by virtue of thei' stir
face mass and numbers by multiple little filing;
FAN Your DISHES to Save Time
A
YOU MIGHT TRY-
DD one more to the long list, of ways
in which electricity is saving us time
labor and expense—the electric dish
dryer.
Every housewife and not a few husbands
will be glad to know of this newest time and *
labor saving appliance which, the electrical
experts assure us, does away forever with
the old method of drying dishes by labot-
iously wiping each one with a piece of tow
elling.
And the beauty of the new method is that
there is no expensive or complicated mechan
ism to buy and operate. The electric dish
dryer is so simple that any clever woman
can easily make one at home. A small elec- '
trie fan, a wire basket, a kettle of hot water
and, of course, the necessary current—that's
everything that's required.
Its method of operation is as simple as the
apparatus itself. Having duly washed tne
dishes in the usual way, place them on end*
in the wire basket. The dishes should stand
as nearly erect as possible with a little space
separating them from one another Then
pour very hot water over the basketful of
dishes and bring in the electric fan
The fan should be placed so that when the
current is turned on the. breeze wjll hit the
edges of the plates as they stand upright in
the basket. The dishes need no attention
while the fan is drying them and the house
wife can find a wide variety of pleasant and
profitable tasks to fill the time she would
otherwise have had to spend wielding a dish
towel.
The same happy result can be obtained
with record breaking speed by using the hot
air blast from a hair dryer, but an ordinary
electric fan answers all practical purposes,
although the operation takes a trifle longer.
For Rheumatism.
THIE acids found in practical)}' all fruits are a simple but very effective
remedy for relieving a rheumatic condition of the system.
For Aching Feet.
JF your feet ache after dancing or a long walk, there is nothing better for
them than a soaking in very hot salt and water. After the bath they
Bright Colors Make Babies Grow?
D
0 bright colors—the shades in the
“warm” end of the spectrum—have a
stimulating effect on the organisms
should be rubbed briskly, especially about the ankles, with a rough towel. 0 f young children? Would babies grow faster
To Heal Chapped Skins.
KINS tliai have been chapped and made rough by exposure can be re
lieved by applying with a bit of old linen a lotion consisting of one
ounce of rose water, half an ounce of glycerine, half a teaspoonfu! of borax
and three drops of benzoin.
To Clean Black Satin.
DEEL and slice two large raw potatoes, and put in a pint of water with
L a pinch of salt, and let stand all night. Next morning sponge the
satin on the right side with, this mixture and wipe Tightly with a cloth.
Then iron on wrong side, and it will be a,s glossy as new.
The TRUTH About Your STOMACH Revealed by the X-RAYS
T
HE X-rays have given surgeons a more complete
knowledge of what the stomach looks like and
how it does its work than they had ever been
able to learn from their experiments on the operating
and dissecting tables.
ill the first place the X-rays show that tiie stomata is
never, as pictured in the anatomies, in a nearly hori
zontal position with the opening from the esophagus al
most on a level with the outlet into the intestine. It is.
on the contrary, nearly vertical, or, sometimes, tilted
at an angle of 45 degrees.
In shape the stomach .resembles a fish hook or a
cow's horn. Just which ot these two shapes is the
organ's normal one is a matter of dispute. Some au
Ithorities say that the cow horn form is the normal
'type, because it is- best suited for rapid emptying.
Others declare for the fish hook or letter .1 form, sa>-
itig tiiat this shape is more suitable for digestion be
cause it allows the food to remain longer in the lower
part where it becomes more intimately mixed with the
gastric juice and better ground up before passing into
the intestine.
The X-rays have also taught us that the normal
stomach, when empty, is in a state of collapse. Its
.v.alls close up so that they touch, and only when food
2 )
Four Different Types of Stomachs and the Time
Required to Empty Each.
is called, is always present when there is food in tire
stomach.
When a stomach is widely (filated by disease or some
other cause, the food at once falls to the bottbm.
As more food is swallowed the lower pole of the
stomach ’stretches and sinks. No matter how large a
meal is eaten such a stomach wall never squeezes its
contents and faulty digestion is the result.
Tiie position of the stomach depends somewhat upon
the position of the body, it is best observed with the
X-rays when the body is in a standing position. When
the body is reclining the stomach appears more hori
zontal, although even then not so much so as the pic
tures in the anatomies would have us believe. Res
and belter if dressed in bright yellow, kept
in white rooms and rocked to sleep in cribs
of red, pink arid other of the brightest hues?
These are questions which Britisli scien
tists are debating with interest as a result
of some curious experiments which’ Profes
sor Charles W. Valentine has lately been
making with the color perceptions and pref
erences of infant children.
The babies used for the professor's tests
were ai! three months old and selected from
a wide variety of homes. At frequent inter
vals covering periods of two weeks bits of
w ! ool of different colors were held before ■
them for two minutes at a time, and the
length of time a child gazed at each of them
was carefully recorded. Nine colors were
used, and each color was presented at least
once with each of the other colors. At the
close of the tests the total scores of each
color were added together.
Very wide differences were noted in the
effect of the different colors on the children.
Yellow, white, red and pink, in the order
named, invariably aroused their greatest, in
terest and held their attention longest.
Brown and black came next, while green,
violet and blue proved to have the least at
traction.
The brightest colors were obviously liked
best, but why yellow should have been pre
ferred to white’and .red to pink remains to
be explained. Professor Valentine suggests
that possibly the infants instinctively recog
nized those colors which at tiiat age hnvo
the most stimulating effect on their muscular
strength.
How Alcohol Gels into Your Spine
T
r WO German investigators have recently
found the toxin of tetanus (lockjaw),
also aceton and aceto-acetic acid
produced by diabetes in the spinal fluid of
persons suffering from these diseases. Follow
ing up this suggestion, they sought to deter
mine whether the spinal fluid in alcoholics
piration. drawing in of the abdominal walls, pressure of \ contained alcohol.
is admitted does a cavity become visible., When a mix
lure of bismuth and water is introduced into the
stomach the X-rays show first a narrow streak along
the left wall and extending to the very lowest part.
If more of the mixture he swallowed, the streak be
comes wider and wider as the walls expand to admit
it but there is little if any descent. As the stomach's
muscles contract they cause its walls to hug the food
firmly. A space along the upper part of the base of
the cavity, however, remains clear of food, and is
filled with gas. This gas or "stomach bubble." as it
other organs within the abdomen—all may change the,
form and location of the stomach.
The waves of muscular action which grind and mix
the food and ultimately force it from the stomach
begin as soon as the food reaches the organ. As the
X-rays clearly show, they start about the middle of the
stomach and move in the direction of the intestine.
The length of time required for digestion depends
upon the size and shape of the stomach and the fre*
quency of these muscular waves. It ranges from two
to six hours. All the greatest students of the subject
agree tha* a diseased condition exists when food re
mains in the stomach longer than six hours.
It is known that few substances pass from
the blood to the cerebral spinal fluid. It has
been surmised that alcohol having a definite
affinity with cerebral substances would natur
ally be found 1n quantities in the cord. They
found that the pressure of the fluid in the cord
was increased and that they were able to take
out large quantities of fluid, particularly in
alcoholics.
This fluid was found to be unchanged in
many ways. It was found that after removal
of the fluid, or some quantity of it, the patient
became more quiet and the headaches .vhich
preceded this condition disappeared. The fluid
removed was replaced by sterile saline solu
tion.
Ten cases were investigated. The results
were that alcohol was found in all of them.
In some instances it was aldehyde, au
oxidation product from alcohol. In lOight
of the ten cases alcohol was present in con
siderable amount.
Several of the cases showed the presence
of alcohol four and five days after its use had
been discontinued, showing that elimination
was a very slow process. The investigators
did not go into the history of the case.s to
determine the amount of alcohol taken by the
persons experimented on. They make the sug
gestion that possibly persons suffering from
delirium tremens might show a high blood
Yes sure irr the cord and a large quantity cv
alcohol and its products fie present.
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