CHAPTER XXXI. 



GENERAL HYGIENIC REMARKS 



'The first physicians by debauch were made; 

 Excess began, and sloth sustains, the trade. 

 By chase our long-lived fathers earned their food ; 

 Toil strung the nerves and purified the blood; 

 But we, their sons, a pampered race of men, 

 Are dwindled down to threescore years and ten. 

 Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, 

 Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught 

 The wise for cure on exercise depend : 

 God never made his work for man to mend." 



ATMOSPHERIC VICISSITUDES. 



PORTSMEN should guard as far as pos- 

 sible against the ill effects arising froir 

 exposure to the various atmospheric vicissi- 

 tudes inseparable from their pursuits. 



The clothing should be adapted to the 

 season in which they hunt and the par 

 ticular sport in which they are engaged; 

 if the weather be warm, a heavy coat is a 

 great encumbrance, and occasions much unnecessary fatigue; on 



the contrary, if the weather be cold and boisterous, a light coat 



523 



