Catarrh, Colds and Grippe, Including Prevention and Cure, Homeopathy on Nasal Polyps, Hay Fever and Influenza.

THERE is a German saying to this effect: "A clever physician will cure a cold in a fortnight; it will get well of itself in fourteen days." The proverb does not venture to say how long a cold will go on under the ministrations of a physician who is not clever, or to what length it will run when under amateur treatment. I cannot answer for what may happen in Germany, but I have known colds run on to portentious length under amateur or non-skilful medical guidance in this country. And even physicians of repute sometimes experience no small difficulty in getting rid of a severe catarrh in their own persons. But this proverb was no doubt invented before Hahnemann and his system saw the light. Armed with his therapeutic weapons and a sound judgment, the physician of to-day can bid even colds defiance, and can shorten their fortnight's right of duration by many days.

MY subject is discussed under three main heads,—Cold-Catching, Cold-Preventing, and Cold-Curing. The prevention and cure of colds are partly medicinal and partly general. It is possible to cure colds or prevent them by general measures, and these will be referred to in detail. But medicines are the most powerful agents we possess both in dealing with colds when taken, and in fortifying the constitution against their recurrence. The last portion of my work will be devoted to this section; and I shall add a short Materia Medica, in which the Medicines most suitable for colds will be arranged in alphabetical order, and their particular properties and indications for use described.