ON THE SCIENCE OF EASY CHAIRS. 



(Reprinted from Nature, October 17, 1878.) 



There is a reason for everything, if we can only find it out, but 

 it is sometimes very hard to discover the reasons of even the 

 very simplest things. Every one who has travelled much, and 

 even tliose who have merely looked through books of travels, 

 must have been struck by the variety of attitudes assumed by 

 the people of different countries. The Hindoo sits down on the 

 ground with his knees drawn up close to his body, so that his 

 chin will almost rest upon them ; the Turk squats down cross- 

 legged ; the European sits on a chair ; while the American 

 often raises his legs to a level with his head. Nor are the pos- 

 tures assumed by the same people under varying circumstances 

 less diverse. Climate or season, for example, will cause con- 

 siderable alteration in the posture assumed, as w^as well shown 

 by Alma Tadema, in his pictures of the four seasons exhibited 

 in the Academy a year ago. In his representation of Summer 

 he painted a woman leaning backwards on a ledge, with one leg 

 loosely hanging down, while the other was drawn up so 

 that the foot was on a level with the body. In the picture 

 of Winter, on the other hand, we saw a figure with tlie legs 

 drawn up in front of the belly. The reason for these different 

 postures has been explained by Rosenthal. The temperature of 

 the body, as is well known, is kept up and regulated by the 

 circulation of the blood through it, and a great proportion of 

 the blood contained in the whole body circulates in the vessels 

 of the intestines. Now the intestines are only separated from 

 the external air by the thin abdominal walls, and therefore any 

 change of temperature in the atmosphere will readily act upon 

 them unless they be guarded by some additional protection. 

 The Hindoos are well aware of this, and theyJiabituaJly protect 

 the belly by means of a thick shawl or camarband, thus 

 guarding themselves against any sudden change of temperature. 

 This precaution is also frequently adopted by Europeans resi- 



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