Of the Salubrity of Warm Rooms. 575 



customs and manner of living, to which they evidently 

 have a decided aversion ? 



To such questions and observations as these I should 

 make no reply, but should still feel anxious to promote 

 by every means in my power all such improvements as 

 tend to increase the comforts and innocent enjoyments 

 of life, from whatever quarter they might come. 



If it be wisdom to choose what is good, it must be 

 folly to refuse what is advantageous to us ; and, if 

 liberality be an ornament to a respectable character, 

 it is weakness to be ashamed of adopting the useful 

 inventions of our neighbours. 



I am not without hopes that at some future period 

 houses in England will become as celebrated for 

 warmth and comfort as they are now for neatness, and 

 for the richness and elegance of their furniture. 



However habit may have reconciled us to it, or ren- 

 dered us insensible to its effects, cold is undoubtedly a 

 very great physical evil. It may be, and no doubt is, 

 productive of good in some way or other, but that is 

 not a sufHcient reason why we should not endeavour 

 to guard ourselves against its painful and disagreeable 

 effects. Their being painful is a proof of their being 

 hurtful, and it is moreover a kind intimxation to us of 

 the presence of an enemy to be avoided. 



We may no doubt by habit inure ourselves to cold 

 in such a manner as to render our bodies in some 

 degree insensible to it ; but does it necessarily follow 

 that by these means its pernicious effects on us are 

 prevented, or even diminished t I see no reason for 

 supposing this to be the case. 



If inuring to cold were a sufficient preservative 

 against its bad effects, this method, which certainly 



