CLOTHING 213 



Clothing. In cold climates, the heat-regulating mech- 

 anism receives great assistance from such further pro- 

 tection of the body as is afforded by clothing. Of the 

 various materials employed for clothing, the skin of 

 animals was probably the first used. With the develop- 

 ment of weaving and the consequent manufacture of 

 fabric, it became possible to utilize the softer fibrous 

 substances such as the various forms of hair from ani- 

 mals, feathers from birds, silk from the cocoons of worms, 

 and cotton and linen from plants. 



Wool. Of these materials, hair or its softer finer 

 form, wool, was developed by nature as an outgrowth 

 from the skin to give added protection to animal life. 

 From an evolutionary standpoint, therefore, we are 

 forced to regard wool as the best material which nature 

 was capable of developing for that purpose. Thousands 

 of years of use by man has proved its undoubted claims 

 to superiority as a protection from wet and cold. This 

 superiority seems to be largely due to the fact that the 

 fibres do not soften and become matted down by 

 moisture, but retain their elasticity. As a result, the 

 fabric never loses its porous quality which enables it to 

 remove by absorption a large amount of moisture. By 

 this absorption and removal of moisture from the body's 

 surface, it prevents the chill so noticeable when cotton 

 and linen are used. Wool is the only material which has 

 proved effective for workmen who when wet from perspi- 

 ration are constantly exposed to cooling drafts, as, for 

 example, iron workers and coal stokers. These men wear 

 wool all the year around. Those among them who have 

 attempted to substitute cotton have almost invariably be- 

 come crippled by rheumatism. Under such trying con- 

 not sufficient food or exercise to generate a proper amount of heat, 

 or clothing enough to retain it. 



