20 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 



and I should think almost any one could get a *' cold" with a spoonful of water on the wrist 

 held to a key-hole. Singular as it may seem, sudden warming when cold is more dangerous 

 than the reverse ; every one has noticed how soon the handkerchief is required on entering a 

 heated room on a cold day. Frost-bite is an extreme illustration of this. As the Irishman 

 said on picking himself up, it was not the fall, but stopping so quickly that hurt him ; it is 

 not the lowering of the temperature to the freezing point, but its subsequent elevation, that 

 devitalizes the tissue. This is why rubbing with snow, or bathing in cold water, is required 

 to restore safely a frozen part ; the arrested circulation must be very gradually re-established, 

 or inflammation, perhaps mortification, ensues. General precautions against taking cold are 

 almost self-evident, in this light. There is ordinarily little if any 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 body dry. There is a 

 general tendency, 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 

 especially, 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 condi- 

 tion, and sudden arrest of the function may result disastrously, even fatally. One part of the 

 business of perspiration is to equalize bodily temperature, and it must not be interfered with. 

 The secret of much that might 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 coohng by evaporation from the skin is denied, and this condition is sometimes not 

 far from a " sunstroke." Under these circumstances, a person of fairly good constitution may 

 plunge into the water with impunity, even with benefit. But if the body be already cooling 

 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 stoop- 

 ing 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 fuU draught. It is a weU-known excellent rule, not to bathe 

 immediately after a full meal ; because during digestion the organs concerned are compara- 

 tively engorged, and any sudden disturbance of the circulation may be disastrous. The 

 imperative necessity of resisting drowsiness under extreme cold requires no comment. In 

 walking under a hot sun, the head may be sensibly protected by green leaves or grass in the 

 hat ; they may be advantageously moistened, but not enough to drip about the ears. Under 

 such circumstances the slightest giddiness, dimness of sight, or confusion of ideas, should be 

 taken as a warning of possible sunstroke, instantly demanding rest and shelter. 



Hunger and Fatigue are more closely related than they might seem to be ; one is a sign 

 that the fuel is out, and the other asks for it. Extreme fatigue, indeed, destroys appetite ; 

 this simply means, temporary incapacity for digestion. But even far short of this, food is more 

 easUy digested and better relished after a little preparation of the furnace. On coming home 

 tired, it is much better to make a leisurely and reasonably nice toilet than to eat at once, or to 

 lie still thinking how tired you are ; after a change and a wash you will feel hke a " new 

 man," and go to table in capital state. Whatever dietetic irregularities a high state of civili- 

 zation may demand or render practicable, a normally healthy person is inconvenienced almost 

 as soon as his regular meal-time passes without food ; a few can work comfortably or profit- 

 ably fasting over six or eight hours. Eat before starting ; if for a day's tramp, take a lunch ; 

 the most frugal meal wUl appease if it do not satisfy hunger, and so postpone its urgency. As 

 a small scrap of practical wisdom, I would add, keep the remnants of the lunch, if there are 

 any ; for you cannot always be sure of getting in to supper. 



