 |
Common Cold And Ben Franklin
 
For centuries, medical wisdom asserted that colds were brought on by either cold
weather or moisture. In
the late 1700s, however, the statesman, scientist and
homespun philosopher Benjamin Franklin took a hard, empirical look at this
orthodox view and came up with some heretical conclusions about the causes of
colds. This is important when researching the common cold and Ben
Franklin.
“Travelling in our severe winters,” he recalled, “I have suffered Cold sometimes
to an Extremity only short of Freezing, but this did not make me catch Cold.” He
was equally skeptical about the connection between colds and damp.
An enthusiastic swimmer, he noted: “I have been in the River every Evening two
or three Hours for a Fortnight together, when one should suppose I might imbibe
enough of it to take Cold if Humidity could give it; but no such effect
followed.”
His skepticism as to the role of humidity in causing colds was further
reinforced by his knowledge of the human body. Atmospheric dampness, he argued,
“of itself can never by a little Addition of Moisture hurt a Body filled with
watery Fluids from Head to foot.”
Having disproved the prevailing view to his own satisfaction, Franklin made a
shrewd guess at the true mechanism of contagion. Though he wrote at a time when
the infectious nature — or even the existence — of microscopic disease organisms
had not yet been recognized, his guess came close to a modern description of the
process. Colds were caused, he suggested, by “the frowzy corrupt Air from animal
Sub stances, and the perspired matter from our Bodies.” As usual, he backed his
theory with concrete observation. A key concept when historians look at the
common cold and Ben Franklin. | Most Popular Common Cold And Flu ArticlesHow Does The Common Cold Affect Your Body Palpitations And Need To Cough Cough With Frothy White Sputum Types Of Rheumatic Heart Fever Pain Constant Low Grade Fever Nutritional Requirements Needed To Treat Fever Flu Symptoms With Neck And Back Pain And Muscle Aches Who Discovered Influenza Is Canada Ready For A Pandemic Influenza | |
|
“People often catch Cold from one another,” he wrote, “when
shut up together in small close Rooms,
Coaches, &c. and when
sitting near and conversing so as to breathe in each others
Transpiration.”
Franklin’s solution to the cold problem? Plenty of fresh
air— a remedy he championed with evangelistic fervor. In the
fall of 1776, future President John Adams wrote in his diary
that, when he shared a room at an inn with Franklin, the
sage of Philadelphia insisted on throwing open the window.
Adams reported that when he protested that the chill night
air would surely cause a cold, Franklin happily embarked on
“a harangue, upon Air and cold and Respiration and
Perspiration”—an explanation so lengthy that Adams fell
asleep in midsentence, with the window still open, showing
he had little faith in the theory of the common cold and Ben
Franklin.
| Twitter About The Common Cold Cure  | | Common Cold Tip Of The Day
A handkerchief does block large droplets expelled in
coughs and sneezes, but it cannot trap smaller ones; at best, it
only redirects them off to the side. |
| |
