RULES FOR DRESS. 67 



sors, or rather the first stages , of pulmonary con- 

 sumption. All who value health, and have common 

 sense and resolution, will therefore take warning 

 from signs like these, and never rest till equilibrium 

 of action be restored. For this purpose, warm 

 clothing, exercise in the open air, sponging with 

 vinegar and water, the warm bath, regular friction 

 with a flesh-brush or hair-glove, and great cleanli- 

 ness, are excellently adapted. 



But while sufficiency of clothing is attended to, 

 excessive wrapping up must be as carefully avoided. 

 Great differences in the power of generating heat 

 and resisting cold exist in different individuals, and 

 it would be absurd to apply the same rules to those 

 who never feel cold as to those who are peculiarly 

 sensitive. The former may be benefited by cold 

 bathing and degrees of exposure which would be 

 fatal to the latter. The rule is, therefore, not to 

 dress in an invariable way in all cases, but to put on 

 clothing in kind and quantity sufficient in the individ- 

 ual case to protect the body effectually from an abiding 

 sensation of cold, however slight. Warmth, however, 

 ought not to be sought for in clothing alone. The 

 Creator has made exercise essential as a means ; 

 and if we neglect this, and seek it in clothing alone, it 

 is at the risk or rather certainty of weakening the 

 body, relaxing the surface, and rendering the sys- 

 tem extremely susceptible of injury from the slight- 

 est accidental exposures, or variations of tempera- 

 ture and moisture. Many good constitutions are 

 thus ruined, and many nervous and pulmonary com- 

 plaints brought on, to imbitter existence, and to re- 

 duce the sufferer to the level of a hot-house plant. 



Female dress errs in one important particular, 

 even when well suited in material and in quantity. 

 From the tightness with which i{ is made to fit on 

 the upper part of the body, not only is the insensible 

 perspiration injudiciously and hurtfully confined, but 

 that free play between the dress and the skin which 



