8 
Underclothing.—-Flannel forms the best material for under- 
clothing. In some cases flannel irritates the skin, and cannot 
be worn without great discomfort ; merino may be tolerated in 
such cases. If merino also is too irritating, then, as pure silk is 
too expensive a material for the majority of us to wear, we must 
choose between flax and cotton. Both cotton and flax, in the 
form of closely-woven materials, as calico and linen, are cold 
things to wear, and they do not allow the sweat to pass readily 
away through them, and so are unsuitable for underclothing. A 
very good material for this purpose can, however, be made from 
cotton. This is done by weaving the cotton in a loose cellular 
manner, so as to leave air spaces between the fibres, a good cheap 
example of such material is sold under the name of oatmeal cloth 
or canvas cloth. This conducts heat slowly from the skin, and 
absorbs moisture fairly well and does not irritate the skin. 
At night underclothing of healthy people should be made of 
smooth calico or linen. Woollen underclothing is in some cases 
a cause of restless nights. At night a healthy person does not, 
or ought not to sweat much. Night sweating indicates too much 
clothing or disease. 
Patients troubled with chest complaints or rheumatism may 
require to wear flannel or oatmeal cloth night-dresses, especially 
if they sweat much at night. 
Overcoats and outside clothing for cold windy weather 
should be made of material through which the wind does not 
easily blow. Woollen goods, as a rule, are easily blown 
through; cotton is less porous to the wind. Wool cloth 
overcoat, lined with smooth stout cotton, is often worn, but as 
a warm covering against cold winds it should be worn with the 
cotton outside. Mackintosh is impervious to the wind, but is 
bad to wear when we are walking or doing much exercise, as it 
keeps the sweat moisture from passing out. For driving in 
cold winds mackintosh forms one of the best overclothing. 
It is a mistake to wear too much clothing. The over- 
loading, over-coddling of the body with a lot of clothing 
destroys the natural powers possessed by the body of resisting 
cold, and the least exposure is followed by ill-results. Some 
parts of the body that are liable to be exposed to accidental 
chill and cold—for example, the feet—should be trained by a 
judicious hardening process to withstand such exposure. Many 
people, even with good sound organs of circulation, suffer from 
cold feet, and even slight exposure with wet feet results in a 
bad cold. The feet habitually swaddled up in wool and 
leather get tender, the natural protection against cold (partly a 
muscular mechanism) wastes away from disuse, and becomes 
useless in times of exposure. Healthy people need not catch 
cold from wet feet any more than from wet hands, The train- 

