Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/112

104 should, in the strictest manner, abide by his directions. While the cold remains, she should, on no account, go out in damp, chilly weather, nor attend any ball, concert, or public assembly, where the air, necessarily impure from being breathed by so many, must increase, instead of allaying, the irritation of her lungs. Our best advice here, however, is to enjoin a strict adherence to the directions of the family physicians.

Slight colds, in some constitutions, are matters of little moment; but in others they are frequently attended by the most serious consequences, and always increase a natural predisposition to diseases of the throat and chest. The habit of thinking and speaking lightly of colds, among the former, causes the latter too often to regard them as of little account; but in this they commit a dangerous and too often fatal error. Almost every case of confirmed and hopeless disease of the lungs may be traced back to a slight cold.

We dwell upon this subject because of its great importance, beyond the mere fact of the retention of health and preservation of life by the individual. The fearful encroachments of the disease now under consideration is one that is lamented by all. So certainly does it, in most cases, early find its victims, especially among the