218 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



fortable as his southern neighbors, whose limbs are more 

 carefully protected. 



523. There is a great difference in the habits of clothing 

 of individuals. One always wears thick clothing, and from 

 the first approach of cold weather in the autumn" till the 

 warmth of spring, he never ventures abroad without a great 

 coat ; and if by chance he is compelled to go out without this 

 protection, he is chilled, and perhaps disordered ; while others 

 dress much lighter, and find few, perhaps no days in winter 

 so cold as to require any such extra covering. 



524. Some men never wear gloves or mittens; others 

 always wear the warmest they can obtain. Some wear flan- 

 nels next to their bodies; others never wear any. Some 

 always put on a tippet to cover the neck in any weather in 

 winter, and suffer if they leave it off before the warm season 

 returns; others wear only low cravats, or even none, and 

 suffer no more. Men wear stout boots and thick stockings 

 through the winter, while most women are kept apparently 

 warm with worsted or cotton hose, and shoes as thin as men 

 wear in the dryest and warmest days of summer. 



525. Thus we see that there is no positive and fixed law 

 for the quantity of protection which we should give to the 

 external surface. There is a very great difference in man- 

 kind in this respect, without a corresponding difference of 

 health and comfort. This is due, in a great measure, to 

 difference of habit of clothing. Men cannot change this 

 habit suddenly without suffering ; yet, if they do this cau- 

 tiously and gradually, they may nearly reverse their habits, 

 and still retain their health. 



526. Those who accustom themselves to wear but light 

 clothing, and exercise actively, in the cold season, acquire 

 and maintain the winter constitution. ( 444, p. 189.) They 

 have more radiation of heat outwardly, but they generate 

 more heat inwardly to sustain it. But those who are always 

 careful to cover themselves heavily, retain partially their 

 summer constitution through the winter. Their radiation is 

 then increased, but their internal fire does not burn more 



