Health and Temperance by American Agriculturist

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Dec 9, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 47.

Health and Temperance.

By American Agriculturist

HOW TO AVOID A COLD.

CURING a cold is not always easy. The great thing is to avoid it. An almost infallible preventive of a cold is a daily cold morning bath, but everyone cannot take this. There are some people who cannot endure the shock of a cold bath; and it certainly takes a strong constitution to get out of bed and take a cold bath in a cold room. A warm bath should only be taken at night, or when one can avoid exposure to the open air for an hour or two afterwards. A young friend of ours laid the foundation of a cold from which she never recovered, by taking a warm bath and going out immediately after on a chill October day.

Another cause of colds is overclothing. If you are going to take a long drive on a cold day there is not much danger of this; but, in exercising or walking, depend on the exercise to keep you warm and wear fewer wraps. It is a bad fashion to accustom one's self to the use of a muffler. The least exposure without it is sure to be followed by a sore throat, and children, at least, seldom remember to don this superfluous garment with more than fitful regularity. If you are subject to colds never sit and toast yourself over the fire, be it ever so tempting.

Remember that it is not in really cold weather that the severest colds are taken. It is during the treacherous days of a thaw, and during the autumn days, which open so brightly, with a warm sun shining until the middle of the afternoon, when a chill, raw wind arises, which we never seem to learn to prepare for.

Cold feet is a serious reason for the colds of children from babies up. Babies are too young, and most children too thoughtless, to know why they are uncomfortable, and so, unless some wiser head orders an occasional toasting of the little feet, colds are the result. Always see that the children go to bed with warm feet.