*'WHAT SHALL I NEED?" 181 



outside; a chilly, bracing day requires woolen clothing 

 in addition to the warm under-clothing ; on milder days, 

 and they predominate, wash-dresses for the women and 

 alpaca coats for the men are in order ; then, if there comes 

 a sudden change, it is very easy to replace the heavy outer 

 clothing. The wearing of flannel next to the skin is an 

 important factor for the preservation of health, not alone 

 in Florida, however; it guards the body against sudden 

 changes of temperature as no other clothing can do, because 

 it absorbs moisture from the skin, and so rapidly evaporates 

 it that, when a cool breeze is blowing, even though one's 

 outer clothing may be dripping with perspiration, it never 

 clings damp and wet to the body, chilling it ' ' to the bone," 

 as the saying is. Gauze flannel in summer and heavy flan- 

 nel in winter, these we would advise for Florida as much 

 as for a more variable clime. 



For summer weather one wears just the same as in the 

 North, except that in the evenings a light jacket or other 

 wrap of some kind is desirable, as also very often during 

 the day if sitting out on the porch. 



And now we are going to say something that will aston- 

 ish most of our readers, yet we mean it, and it is true. It 

 is cooler in the summer in Florida than it is in the North- 

 ern States, or in any other of the Southern ; yes, though 

 it is the most southerly of all. 



The Swiss dresses, that ladies frequently find occasion to 

 wear during the Northern summers, are rarely worn on the 

 peninsula of Florida, because of the cool breezes that are 

 constantly sweeping over it from gulf to ocean and from 

 ocean to gulf. It is a breeze that is always at odds with 

 the thermometer — always ''giving it the lie" in the most 

 reckless manner ; for instance, one summer day our 7nater 

 famiUas settled down on the porch to sew, but in a few 

 minutes rose up and departed in-doors, with the remark 



