282 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



903. Young people, in feeble health, may exercise 

 themselves in the open air for a considerable time, by 

 way of amusement, or labor, even when the temperature 

 is below zero, not only with impunity, but with advan- 

 tage ; but there is scarcely any constitution so hardy, as 

 not to suffer by repeated confinement in a room so cold 

 as to produce shivering. 



904. In general, young people in full health, and hav- 

 ing the use of their limbs, seldom complain of the cold at 

 any season, provided their clothing is sufficient. We 

 may therefore infer, whenever the complaint is made, 

 either that the clothing is not suitable for the weather, or 

 that some insidious disease is making its approach, and if 

 additional protection still fails to produce the desired 

 warmth, we may be sure that the subject needs medical 

 investigation. 



905. In children of scrofulous habits, the evolution of 

 animal heat is commonly below the healthy standard ; 

 hence their faces are pale, and their hands and feet are 

 habitually cold. In such cases, nothing can tend more 

 directly to induce and develop the disease in full, than 

 confinement in cold rooms, and an insufficient quantity of 

 clothing. Such children should always, in the cold sea- 

 son, be well covered with flannel, and take abundance of 

 invigorating exercise in the open air, care always being 

 taken to prevent shivering in any situation. It is in vain 

 that parents undertake to harden such young and tender 

 ones by exposure ; they require the most sedulous care 

 and protection, until age, and gradually increasing health 

 carries them beyond the ravages of the disease. 



906. Exercise of the Lungs. Judicious exercise of 

 the lungs is undoubtedly one of the most efficacious 

 means which we can employ for warding off disease, and 

 promoting their development. In this respect, the organs 

 of respiration closely resemble the muscles, or organs of 

 motion ; they are both rendered more vigorous and healthy 

 by proper action, while by inactivity, both become weak- 

 ened, and impaired in their functions. 



907. It is true that the lungs, being composed of ex- 

 ceedingly attenuated vessels, require more discretion in 

 their exercise, than the muscles, especially when the for- 

 mer are predisposed to disease, but when this is the case, 



