SUMMER COLDS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue V, 29 January 1898, Page 142

SUMMER COLDS.

When children catch cold at this time of the year, the trouble is sometimes very difficult to banish. Perhaps it is because, when the sun is shining brightlv, and outdoor attractions are numerous, it is almost impossible to keep them in the warm, as we can do in the winter. It is such a temptation to run out and join their companions in a game of play ; they plead so hard that you grant their" request, wrapping them well np. They get heated with their game : they perspire freely ; and then they stand or sit about, get chilled, and the cold comes back again with redoubled force. As to the origin of a summer cold, * no man knoweth whence it comes or whither it goeth but as soon as the first symptoms appear—sneezing, snuffling (a rather vulgar but expressive word), huskiness in the throat, slight feverishness, and with young children lassitude and peevishness, lose no time in taking the necessary steps to nip the trouble in the bnd. Keep the little patient in a fairly warm, but not hot, room : and when the sun is bright or the air mild, take the child out for a walk, or let it have a game of play outside under your own supervision. Don't let it get over-heated, and insist on a return to the house ere a chill can be caught. Anoint the nose, the forehead, and the neck, lightly, with vaseline; and, even in the house, let a light, loose-fitting cap of some sort be worn ; this safeguards the top of the head—a most susceptible part of the body—from draught. Where there are signs of feverishness, and the skin is hot and dry, give one drop of tincture of aconite in a little water every half hour ; and a little common salt, finely powdered, ‘sniffed’ up the nostrils, like snuff, is beneficial. Let the little patientgo to bed early : give a tumbler of homemade lemonade, as hot as it can be imbibed : and wrap np well to induce perspiration. But watch carefully to see that the bed-clothes are not thrown off; and on the morning after a good rub all over with a towel, making the skin ‘glow,’ put on warm underclothing—not that which was worn on the previous day. If these simple precautions are taken in time, the cold will generally be banished in twenty-four hours or" less, though care must be taken for a day or two to avoid its return.