DRESS IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 197 



note from the Rev. B. A. Irving, M. A., head master of the college, 

 Windermere, in which the argument set forth above is fully confirmed. 

 Mr. Irving indicates, from meteorological data, that about the 10th of 

 May and about the 10th of November there is a remarkable fall in the 

 mean temperature. The fall, commencing in November, continues to 

 increase until the end of February. The pinch of cold in May is fol- 

 lowed by- warmth, which continues through the summer. The rule 

 Mr. Irving deduces from these physical facts is, that we should be 

 warmest clothed from the end of January to the end of February, and 

 that summer clothing should on no account be assumed until the cold 

 pinch about the 10th of May is well passed say about the 15th of 

 May. The summer dress may then be continued until the end of Sep- 

 tember ; but winter clothing should be most carefully assumed before 

 the cold pinch of November 10th say by the 1st of November. With 

 this sound advice I entirely agree. 



Need I hesitate to say how dangerously these simple rules are 

 ignored, and that, too, by those to whom it most solemnly applies ! 

 The delicate girl invited to the ball or evening party, in the winter 

 season, goes there with a throat and chest exposed or partly covered, 

 and with all her garments as light as fashion will permit them. She 

 goes into a close room, heated to 05 or it may be 70. She dances 

 herself into a glow, and then, exhausted, excited, and breathless, she 

 passes out of the room, to exchange its warmth for a temperature of 

 35, or lower perhaps below freezing-point. She takes cold, she suf- 

 fers from congestion of the lungs, and, if her tendencies are in that 

 direction, she passes into consumption. And who shall wonder? 



As spring advances, dangers increase to everybody. The weather 

 is treacherous ; a bright day or two in March seems to herald summer, 

 and the warm clothing is cast aside. Suddenly, there is a fall of tem- 

 perature with a bitter east wind, and the unprepared are caught as if 

 in a trap. They have passed the long wintry ordeal before which so 

 many have succumbed, and they are reviving, but have not revived. In 

 this condition they are stricken with disease, often fatal. If you study 

 the Registrar-General's returns through the months of March, April, 

 and the early part of May for a few years, you will see how solemnly 

 correct is the history I am now bringing under your notice. 



You will ask, What kind of clothing is best to meet the varying 

 changes ? I answer, That which combines lightness with warmth, and 

 which absorbs the watery secretion from the body without retaining 

 it. For underclothing I give a decided preference to silk, basing this 

 preference entirely on practical grounds. Knitted or woven silk is at 

 once the material which best maintains warmth, affords lightness, and 

 transmits perspiration. If the expense of it be urged on one side, its 

 extraordinai-y durability may be named as a set-off. The silk should 

 be worn next to the skin. Over the silk, for nine months in the year 

 at least, there should be a woolen covering which should include the 



