THE CLOTHING WE WEAR. 



TT7E seldom pass through the thoroughfares of a 

 great city without thinking how much the 

 woolen, cotton, silk, and linen fabrics which the 

 crowd of men, women, and children carry about 

 with them upon their persons have to do with 

 their health, comfort, and success in life. Clothing 

 is used not only for warmth, but to secure coolness, 

 and to adorn the person. It also serves an impor- 

 tant end in keeping the body clean ; for with our 

 ideas of cleanliness, if the whole surface were ex- 

 posed, it would need as frequent washing as do the 

 face and hands, which we leave bare. In our rig- 

 orous northern climate, clothing is worn chiefly for 

 the sake of its warmth ; and this is indeed the most 

 important point which demands consideration. The 

 human body is a singular machine, and no function 

 of its complex organization is more wonderful than 

 that connected with the production of animal heat. 

 We are warmed by the process of combustion as 

 truly as are our workshops and dwellings ; but the 

 furnace within us is a far more perfect apparatus 

 than anything ever constructed through human in- 



