THE SKIN. - 217 



colder climates, now need the aid of clothing to protect 

 ourselves from cold during most of the year. 



520. There is a very great difference in the present pro- 

 tective power of different parts of the skin ; and this varies, 

 also, in different persons, according to their various habits. 

 The air is seldom so cold as to compel us to cover the face, 

 or even the upper part of the neck. These parts have 

 always been exposed to the severities of winter, and they 

 have borne them, and do now bear them, without suffering. 

 But the chest and the back would hardly bear the open ex- 

 posure to the weather of the warmest day of the summer, 

 without suffering from chill. 



521. The female costume usually exposes the neck and 

 the upper part of the chest, and even sometimes a portion of 

 the back and shoulders. But women do not complain of 

 suffering materially from this exposure. The dress of men 

 covers the entire chest, shoulders, and back, and most of the 

 neck ; and they seem to be none too warm. But if a man 

 accustomed to dre^ss thus should expose his skin as women 

 do, or even if he were to leave off his cravat, after wearing 

 it, in winter, he would immediately feel uncomfortably cold ; 

 and, if this exposure were continued for any length of time, 

 he would so change the balance and direction of the circula- 

 tion that the blood would be thrown inwardly upon the lungs 

 or throat, and he would take cold, and perhaps severe dis- 

 ease would follow. 



522. The North American Indian wears much less 

 clothing than his civilized neighbors. While we cover our- 

 selves from neck to feet, and leave no part of the surface 

 exposed, the Indian is satisfied and comfortable with his 

 blanket for his back and shoulders, his girdle for his loins, 

 and his moccasons for his feet. His limbs and his breast are 

 bare. In the costume of the Highlander, who lives in the 

 northernmost parts of Scotland, the kilt, or the short petti- 

 coat, scarcely meets the stockings ; and, as he wears no pan- 

 taloons, his flesh about the knees is bare and exposed to the 

 cold of his severe climate ; and yet he seems to be as com- 



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