40 SUGGESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FIELD-WORK. 



frozen part ; the arrested circulation must be ver}^ gradually 

 reestablished, or inflammation, perhaps mortification, ensues. 

 General precautions against taking cold are almost self-evident, 

 in this light. There is ordinarily little if anj danger to be 

 apprehended from wet clothes, so long as exercise is kept up ; 

 for the "glow" about compensates for the extra cooling by 

 evaporation. Nor is a complete drenching more likely to be 

 injurious than wetting of one part. But never sit still wet ; 

 and in changing, rub the bodj^ dry. . There is a general ten- 

 dencj', springing from fatigue, indolence or indifference, to 

 neglect damp feet ; that is to say, to dry them by the fire ; 

 but this process is tedious and uncertain. I would say es- 

 pecially, off with the muddy boots and sodden socks at once 

 — dry stockings and slippers, after a hunt, may make just the 

 difference of your being able to go out again or never. Take 

 care never to check perspiration ; during this process the body 

 is in a somewhat critical condition, and sudden arrest of the 

 function may result disastrously — even fatall}^ One part of 

 the business of perspiration is to equalize bodily temperature, 

 and it must not be interfered with. The secret of much that is 

 to be said about bathing^ when heated, lies here. A person over- 

 heated, panting it may be, with throbbing temples and a dry 

 skin, is in danger partly because the natural cooling by evapo- 

 ration from the skin is denied, and this condition is sometimes 

 not far from a " sunstroke." Under these circumstances, a per- 

 son of fairl}^ good constitution nia}^ plunge into the water with 

 impunity — even with benefit. But if the iDod}' be already cool- 

 ing by sweating, rapid abstraction of heat from the surface 

 may cause internal congestion, never unattended with danger. 

 Drinking ice-water offers a somewhat parallel case ; even on 

 stooping to drink at the brook, when flushed with heat, it is well 

 to bathe the face and hands first, and to taste the water before 

 a full draught. It is a well known excellent rule, not to bathe 

 immediately after a full meal ; because during digestion the 

 organs concei'ned are comparatively engorged, and an}^ sudden 

 disturbance of the circulation maj- be disastrous. The imper- 

 ative necessity of resisting drowsiness under extreme cold re- 



