THE SKIN. 227 



of a single man, or having any sick on board." The same 

 commander had, at another time, the charge of the gun-brig 

 Recruit, which lay about nine weeks at Vera Cruz, and used 

 the same precautions in the clothing of his crew, and thus 

 preserved the health of his men, while the other ships of war, 

 which were anchored in the same harbor, and exposed to the 

 same influence of climate and labor, lost two fifths of their 

 men.* 



546. It should be stated, that this wearing of flannel was 

 not the only precaution taken by this provident officer for the 

 health of his crew. Every kind of pains was taker* to secure 

 a dry and pure atmosphere in the seamen's sleeping apart- 

 ments; and every means of cleanliness used, so that they 

 should neither breathe foul air nor be exposed to foul exhala- 

 tions from the walls and floors of their roonas. 



547. A commander of a merchantman, who had sailed 

 much to St. Petersburg, in Russia, and to the West Indies, 

 East Indies, and Brazil, from Boston, informed me that he 

 provided flannels as carefully for his southern as for his 

 northern voyages, and he found them as effectual a safeguard 

 against the diseases of the warm climates as against the 

 chills, colds, catarrhs, and rheumatisms of the north. 



548. Those who practise the cold water system in the 

 treatment of disease, and who seem to bear exposure to cold 

 water and cold air with remarkable ease, discard flannels as 

 injurious. But their experiment has not been sufficiently 

 tried to establish a universal law. It is therefore safe, at 

 least for the old and the delicate, to adhere to their custom 

 of wearing flannels next to the skin. 



O 



549. The cutaneous excretions are first received upon 

 the clothing, and then a part of them are carried away by 

 the atmosphere, and a part of them are retained upon the 

 garments. It is easy to perceive this, by seeing the dark 

 and dingy color of the white cotton or linen which has been 

 worn next to the skin, and so closely covered by the outer 

 clothing,. that no dust nor dirt could come to it from abroad. 



* Combe's Physiology, Chap. III. 



