weeks or months. Dr. Leonard Williams describes chronic cold-catchers as
"people who wear flannel next their skins, ... who know they are in a
draft because it makes them sneeze; who, in short, live thoroughly
unwholesome, coddling lives." Strong and vigorous individuals may form
enough to last them a year, or even two years.

Now comes the question, "What are we going to do about it?" Obviously,
we cannot "go gunning" for these countless billions of germs, of
fifteen or twenty different species. Nor can we quarantine every one who
has a cold. Fortunately, no such radical methods are necessary. All we
have to do is to take nature's hint of the anti-bodies and improve upon
it. Healthy cells can grow fat on a diet of such germs, and, if we keep
ourselves vigorous, clean, and well ventilated, we can practically defy
the "cold" devil and all his works.

Here is the _leitmotif_ of the whole fascinating drama of infection and
immunity. We can study only one phrasing here. We shall, of course,
catch cold occasionally, but will throw it off quickly, and probably
form anti-bodies enough to last us a year or more. How can this be done?
First and foremost, by living and sleeping as much as possible in the
open air. This helps in several different ways. First, by increasing the
vigor and resisting power of our bodies; second, by helping to burn up,
clean, and rid our tissues of waste products which are poisons if
retained; third, by greatly reducing the risks of infection.

You can't catch cold by sitting in a field exposed to the draft from an
open gate; though I understand that casuists of the old school of the
"chill-and-damp" theory of colds are still discussing the case of the
patient who "caught his death o' cold" by having his gruel served in a
damp basin.

The first thing to do is to get the outdoor habit. This takes time to
acquire, but, once formed, you wouldn't exchange it for anything else on
earth. The next thing is to learn to sit or sleep in a gentle current of
air all the time you are indoors. You ought to feel uncomfortable
unless you can feel air blowing across your face night and day. Then you
are reasonably sure it is fresh, and it is the only way to be sure of
it.

But drafts are so dangerous! As the old rhyme runs,

But when a draft blows through a hole,
Make your will and mend your soul.

Pure superstition! It just shows what's in a name. Call it a gentle
breeze, or a current of fresh air, and n