PROPER DIET FOR HOT WEATHER. 371 



system, and therefore its activity should "be stimulated in every 

 way, and it is most desirable by frequent baths to keep the pores 

 open. The perspiration drying on the skin leaves a deposit of its 

 salts and other waste constituents, and these should be washed off 

 as a matter of health. A very useful appliance for this purpose is 

 the " massage rubber/' patented by Mr. Crutchloe. This consists 

 of a serrated India-rubber surface, and when used it cleans the 

 skin of all scurf as a Turkish bath does, rapidly brings the blood to 

 the surface, and has the conditioning effect that grooming has on 

 a horse. The India rubber seems to act on the skin much as it 

 does in erasing lead-pencil marks from paper, and acts in a way 

 that no towel or brush can equal. All the old loose scurf of the 

 skin is cleared off, and a soft and smooth surface results. After 

 the brisk use of this dry rubber, a tepid bath is a great adjunct to 

 health in hot weather, to say nothing of its cooling and refreshing 

 results. I see a well-known man in the Hospital Gazette says the 

 massage rubber acts like a charm in rheumatism. 



It would be no use advising those who take stimulants for the 

 sake of their stimulating qualities, that spirits and beers, and cer- 

 tain wines, are too heating in the summer ; and that, however 

 suitable port, sherry, spirits, and beer may be in the colder months 

 of the year, the most suitable beverages containing alcohol, for 

 this reason, are those known as the light, dry Moselle wines. 

 Even claret and Burgundy contain a large quantity of tannin, 

 and taken in excess are therefore apt to disagree and derange the 

 stomach. Where a nice dry Moselle is drunk in fairly moderate 

 quantity no harm can accrue. Of course, the quantity that would 

 apply to one person does not apply to another, and a free drinker 

 would certainly not be satisfied with less than two bottles. 



The man who lives to eat, drinks after his soup a glass of pale 

 sherry ; after his fish, Rhine wine ; with his joint, Burgundy and 

 champagne ; with the entrees, Bordeaux or Burgundy ; with the 

 ice, champagne or liqueur, and with his dessert probably some old 

 crusted port. But the man who eats to live would be satisfied 

 with one pint of dry and delicate white wine, such as I have pre- 

 viously indicated, to cover the whole of this menu. 



It is a well-known physiological fact that the system can not 

 assimilate more alcohol than is contained in a pint of dry Moselle 

 or claret, or in a half -pint of sherry or three pints and a half of 

 table beer, supposing it to be in that form ; or, if taken in the 

 form of whisky, about a wineglassful of pure whisky per day. 

 I do not mean to say that an excess of any of these quantities 

 would be absolutely injurious to health, and many might and do 

 exceed them considerably for very many years with impunity ; 

 but still, in ordinary individuals, this is the quantity that can be 

 taken with no harm whatever. In some houses people seem to 



