ON PROPER CLOTHING. 
339 
that it originates independently of external circumstances. It 
is, in fact, produced by the combustion of food in the blood and 
tissues, in contact with the oxygen of the air which is taken in 
during respiration. If a sufficiency of food is taken, and there is 
due exposure to atmospheric air, the temperature of the human 
body is maintained at 98°. It may then be asked, where is 
the necessity of clothing to keep us warm ? If man were a 
mere animal — if, like the beasts of the field, the only objects 
of his existence were a sufficiency of food and the propaga- 
tion of his race, he could live without clothing. There are 
savage races of men all over the world, in both cold and 
temperate regions, who live but with little or no clothing. 
The moment, however, that man rests from the chase, that he 
begins to till the ground, and forms tastes connected with 
comfort and indulgence, then he discovers the necessity of 
protecting himself from that external cold which rapidly 
diminishes the temperature of his body, and which requires 
large supplies of food, as fuel to this internal fire, and active 
exercise, to enable the digestive organs to fit the fuel for 
burning. Just as man is active in his habits, and can digest 
abundance of food, is he independent of the necessity of 
clothing. 
In proportion, however, as we find him devoting himself to 
commerce, and engaged in manufactures, do we find him 
building warm houses and putting on warm clothing. Clothes, 
in fact, act in two ways : they diminish the necessity of con- 
suming large quantities of food, and prevent the tax upon the 
digestive organs which such large quantities of food would 
imply. Just in accordance to the external temperature is the 
demand made upon the system to keep up its temperature by 
supplies of food. Even with our artificial habits of clothing, 
the men who live in the coldest climates consume the largest 
quantity of food, and in this country we eat more in the 
winter than the summer. ISTay more, we consume our own 
substance more in the winter than the summer, and weigh 
least in winter, and most in summer. 
It is one of the great objects of civilized man to adapt 
himself to all external temperatures, so as to maintain his 
temperature at 98°. This he does by consulting his instincts 
and using his reason, and adapts his diet, his house, and his 
clothing, to this necessity of his life. He does it by his 
instincts vaguely and uncertainly, falling into errors which 
are constantly destructive of his health and life. One of the 
most universal of instincts of civilized man is to shut out the 
cold. He huddles himself with his fellows in cots and cabins, 
and the dens of civilized towns, to maintain his warmth and 
spare his food ; but in doing this he contaminates the air 
