LIGHT, THE ORIGIN OF HEALTH. 741 
and bedrooms, especially for children and invalids, would 
be best with these, and perhaps a red blind to draw down 
when absolutely necessary. 
Clothing.--When we fully recognise the value of light as 
a health-giver, we shall pay much more attention than 
we do now to the colour and texture of our clothing. 
Nature clothes the most delicate of animals in wool; and 
Nature is wiser than we are. The same amount of cotton as 
the sheep has wool, would certainly not save its life in a 
cold, wet, wintry night as its fleece does; and as a clothing 
for us there is no comparison between the value of wool 
and any arrangement of cotton. But the colour of the 
clothing is what interests us just now, especially as it 
affects the transmission of light to our bodies. The 
delicate sheep, clothed in its fleece of wool, will be all mght 
beneath the snow and be all right in the morning. Again. 
we have often seen it exposed all day to our bright sunshine 
at a temperature of 150°, and yet it seems to be none the 
worse for the heat; indeed, it seems to flourish most in hot 
weather. The colour of its clothing is white, or a yellowish 
white, which allows all the rays of light to readily pass 
through, and. at the same time prevents heat escaping too 
readily from the body. Science and Nature thus teach us 
that our bodies will get the greatest benefit from the sun 
if clothed in white. 
The next best colour is undoubtedly red, which allows the 
healthy red rays to pass through readily; or perhaps a 
combination of red and white would be best. And these 
colours I would especially advise for children and invalids. 
The worst colours for health are the various shades of blue 
and violet. 
How can we induce people to come out into this beautiful 
health-giving light? This is the most serious question of 
all. We get 2200 hours of sunshine in a year, and 
hundreds—yes, thousands—of our women and children are 
not out in it 200 hours in the whole year. Mothers of 
families tell me that they cannot get out; their servants 
tell me the same tale. Workmen in factories and hotels 
talk of long hours and no sunshine, and poor little white 
children are met with who are not Jet out into the sunshine 
because of their complexions, or perhaps from fear of sun- 
stroke; and then society sits up through a great part of 
the night, and lies in bed while the beautiful sun is shining. 
This is all wrong, and very much of the suffering now 
endured would be prevented if everybody took a few hours 
sunshine every day; and if we could educate our women to 
