Of the Salubrity of Warm Rooms. 579 



rooms properly and equally warmed in cold weather 

 cannot be confined and contaminated ; and that inhab- 

 iting warm rooms in winter, so far from rendering per- 

 sons weak and unable to bear the cold on going abroad, 

 is the best preservative against the bad effects of occa- 

 sional exposure to cold. 



If there are any persons who like cold rooms and 

 partial chilling streams of cold air, and prefer them to 

 the genial warmth of a mild and equal temperature, 

 that choice must be considered as a matter of taste, 

 about which there is no disputing. 



There is a simple experiment, easily made and no- 

 wise dangerous, which shows in a sensible and convinc- 

 ing manner that warmth prepares the body to bear 

 occasional cold without pain and without injury. Let 

 a person in health, rising from a warm bed after a good 

 night's rest in cold weather, put on a dry, warm shirt, 

 and dressing himself merely in his drawers, stockings, 

 and slippers, let him go into a room in which there is 

 no fire, and walk leisurely about the room for half an 

 hour, or let him sit down and write or read during that 

 time, he will find himself able to support this trial 

 without the smallest inconvenience. The cold to which 

 he exposes himself will hardly be felt, and no bad con- 

 sequences to his health will result from the experiment. 

 Let him now repeat this experiment under different 

 circumstances. In the evening of a chilly day, and 

 when he is shivering with cold, let him undress himself 

 to his shirt, and see how long he will be able to sup- 

 port exposure to the air in a cold room in that light 

 dress. 



There is another remarkable fact with which I was 

 made acquainted by an eminent physician of London 



