CLOTHING COSTUME. 



of the surrounding bodies, that whenever she was 

 but slightly insulated by a carpet, or other feebly 

 conducting medium, sparks passed between her 

 person and any object which she approached. 

 From the pain which accompanied the passage of 

 the sparks, her condition was a source of much 

 discomfort to her ; when most favourably circum- 

 stanced, four sparks per minute would pass from 

 her finger to the brass ball of the stove, at the 

 distance of one and a half inch. The circum- 

 stances which appeared most favourable to the 

 generation of electricity, were an atmosphere of 

 about eighty degrees, tranquillity of mind, and 

 social enjoyment; while a low temperature and 

 depressing emotions diminished it in a correspond- 

 ing degree. The phenomenon was first noticed 

 during the occurrence of an aurora borealis ; and 

 though its first appearance was sudden, its de- 

 parture was gradual. Various experiments were 

 made, with the view of ascertaining if the electricity 

 was generated by the friction of the articles of 

 dress ; but no change in these seemed to modify 

 its intensity. It was no doubt generated, or the 

 electrical equilibrium was disturbed in an undue 

 and very extraordinary degree, by the condition of 

 the nervous system, probably influenced by some 

 deranged condition of certain of the organic 

 functions. It seems to have been proved that 

 electrical manifestations are the invariable con- 

 sequence of the action of the nerves in producing 

 muscular action ; and it is probable that this 

 powerful agency of electricity exercises an import- 

 ant influence on the digestive processes, and per- 

 haps especially in facilitating the decomposition 

 of the food, and so far preparing it to enter into 

 new combinations for the nutrition of the body. 

 But however this may be, and however large, or 

 little important, the influence of electricity may 

 be in carrying on the vital and organic processes 

 of the system, there is no doubt that a certain 

 amount of electrical matter is constantly being given 

 off from the surface of the living body ; that the 

 amount of this varies according to the dryness or 

 dampness, the coldness or warmth, of the atmos- 

 phere ; and that the degree to which it is per- 

 mitted to escape may be influenced by the nature 

 of the clothes, and particularly according to the 

 nature of the fabric which is worn next the skin ; 

 and that the escape of this electricity is so far 

 attended with diminished power and energy of the 

 general economy, and in the same degree to which 

 such escape may be prevented, is the system 

 maintained in a state of more vigorous vitality. 

 The depressing influence of wet and cold weather 

 may be largely referred to the effect of such an 

 atmosphere in carrying off rapidly the free electric- 

 ity of the system ; and the colder and more damp 

 the climate man lives in, the more important is it 

 that he surround the body with such articles of 

 clothing as will check, as far as may be, the escape 

 of this extraordinary agent ; and the greater the 

 habitual depression and debility of the economy, 

 the less the degree of its vital energy, the more 

 important does this consideration become. 



' Silk, as a remarkable non-conductor of elec- 

 tricity, deserves to be made use of more generally 

 than it is in this country, as an article of under- 

 clothing. For this purpose, it should be woven 

 entirely of what is called bright or -wrought silk, in 

 contradistinction to what is called spun or spurious 

 silk ; and the under-garment is to be manufactured 



in a similar way, and of a similar material, to 

 stockings, but woven with much thicker thread 

 into a very thick and heavy fabric.' 



Furs and down are by far the warmest materials, 

 but in Britain they can scarcely be considered as 

 articles of general clothing. Soft, light, elastic, 

 they constitute excellent adjuncts during the 

 winter months, while their fine colours and mark- 

 ings add greatly to their appearance. When worn 

 as furs usually are, with the skin attached, they 

 are rather impermeable to exhalations, and are not 

 in this light to be considered as equal to the finer 

 fabrics woven or knitted from wool Leather, 

 unless peculiarly prepared (as chamois), is by no 

 means fit to be worn as an inner garment, and 

 even then its use is not to be commended. In 

 fact, the common application of this material is 

 for boots and shoes, for which it is admirably 

 suited by its strength and durability. When well 

 manufactured, leather should be soft and pliable ; 

 and when fashioned into shoes, these should be 

 rather large and easy. There is, in general, no 

 member of. the body more sinned against the 

 chests of stay-wearing ladies scarcely cxcepted 

 than the foot ; and the certain penalty is corns, 

 callosities, and deformities, an unspeakable amount 

 of pain, and in the long-run, a partial destruction 

 of the powers and functions of one of the most 

 essential of the bodily organs. The feet, with proper 

 treatment, ought to be as free from disease and 

 pain as the hands, their structure and adaptation 

 to the wants and comforts of man being naturally 

 perfect. 'Thirty-six bones and thirty-six joints,' 

 says a writer on the Foot, ' have been given bv the 

 Creator to form one of these members, and yet 

 man cramps, cabins, and confines this beautiful 

 arrangement of 144 bones and joints together 

 with muscles, elastic cartilage, lubricating oily 

 fluid, veins, and arteries into a pair of boots or 

 shoes, which, instead of forming a protection, pro- 

 duces the most painful and permanent injuries.' 

 These objections as to room cannot be urged with 

 the same force against the numerous elastic fabrics 

 now coming into use, as these, to a certain degree, 

 expand and contract according to the requirements 

 of the foot ; but then there is this objection all 

 of them are impermeable to perspiration. The 

 foot while heated perspires, the moisture is not 

 allowed to exhale, and on resuming a state of rest, 

 cold and damp is the result This objection, 

 indeed, is fatal to all the elastic waUrbrooj fabrics 

 now so much in vogue : the insensible perspira- 

 tion must be absorbed or exhaled, and if not, 

 discomfort and disease are the inevitable con- 

 sequences. Numerous ingenious attempts h.ive 

 been made to remedy these defects, so as to retain 

 the other valuable properties of elastic and water- 

 proof clothing; but as yet we have seen none 

 completely successful ; and for our own parts, we 

 would rather undergo a drenching, which can be 

 laid aside with the garment which sustains it, than 

 sit for hours enveloped in ottensive exhalations. 



AMOUNT OF CLOTHING. 



I. Although it is proper to adapt our clothing 

 to the temperature, change must be made with 

 caution. The animal constitution is no doubt 

 endowed with considerable plasticity ; but that 

 plasticity must be operated upon by insensible 

 gradations. A well-fed man has a source of heat 



