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bracing mornings ; but if I did not get up I could not have either the 

 exercise or the sport. 



There is nothing worse for a man's health than to take a ^'night- 

 cap," in the shape of a glass of grog, shortly before going to bed. If he 

 took instead a mouthful of fresh open air for five or ten minutes it 

 would do him a great deal more good. 



Men should wear warm but not heavy clothing; th2 former can be got 

 light in weight if of good quality, and very often the latter with all its 

 weight may not be nearly as warm. Texture of an absorbent nature 

 should be worn next the skin when taking exercise of any sort, whether 

 it be in summer or in winter ; in fact, it is the more requisite in summer 

 when one perspires so much more. When I was "young and foolish " 

 I never wore anything but linen shirts, not even calico, and well do 

 I remember the icy feeling they gave me on a mountain in August, 

 when wringing wet with perspiration with a breeze blowing. It 

 was enough to give anyone rheumatism for life, but I escaped. At the 

 same time I soon learned that to do work comfortably in hot weather, 

 inside clothing of woollen texture is the thing. The sailor says of 

 flannel, " When you are cold and wet, it keeps you warm and dry "— 

 and so it does. 



I may be wrong, but I have a notion that a great many people bundle 

 into their beds at night without any previous preparation beyond 

 undressing. If su'-h should be a practice it is undeniably a very bad 

 one. That partial ablution before going to bed is essential to good 

 health, there can be no manner of doubt. To those who live sedentary 

 or inactive lives such observance is requisite, while to those who take 

 strong or even moderate exercise it is manifestly more so. Apart from 

 cleanliness, nothing tends more to peaceful and undisturbed sleep than 

 a nocturnal sponge over, while nothing causes the teeth to decay 

 more than particles of food remaining in them during the night ; 

 it is therefore necessary that they should be brushed before going to 

 bed as well as in the morning. A most excellent stimulant to the 

 nerves of the eye is to bathe with cold water behind the ears before 

 going to bed. 



It is infinitely better for a man to keep down weight than to have to 

 reduce it, and proper regulation of diet somew^hat on the principles of 

 Banting is the only safe way to prevent a man throwing up flesh. I am 

 quite sure doing so by means of medicine — patent or otherwise— will 

 reduce the stock of a man's good health and chance of long life equally 

 with his weight. From the age of "sw^eet two-and-twenty" till I was 

 over forty I kept myself at or about 12st. Tibs, by means of the follow- 

 ing dietary. I adopted it for ten months of each year, and no man 

 need wish for better health than I enjoyed all the time. During the 

 two midsummer months I indulged plentifully in cream, fruit, and 

 vegetables, which always put me up some pounds, but I soon returned 

 to my normal weight after knocking them off. Physic of any kind I 

 never took. 



