Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1863-08-26
A Word About Dress,

ONE of the gravest mistakes in our
dress is the very thin covering of our
arms and legs. No Psychologist can
doubt that the extremities require as
much covering as the body. A fruitful
source of disease, of congestion in the
head, chest, and abdomen, is found in
the nakedness of the arms and legs, which
prevents fair distribution of the blood.
A young lady has just asked me what
she should do for her very thin arms.
She says she is ashamed of them. I felt
them through the thin lace covering, and
found them freezing cold I asked her
what she supposed would make muscles
grow? Exercise, she replied Certain
by, but exercise makes them grow only
by giving them more blood. Six months
would do less to give those naked, cold
arms circulation, than would single
month if they were warmly clad
The value Of exercise depends upon
the temperature of the muscles. A cold
gymnasium is improbable. It's temper
ature should be between sixty or seventy,
or the limbs should be warmly clothed. I
know that our servant girls and black
smiths, by constant and vigorous exer-
else, acquire large, fine arms, in spite of
their nakedness. And if young ladies
will labor as hard from morning till
night, as do these useful classes, they
may have as fine arms, but even then it
is doubtful if they would get rid of their
congestiOns in the head, lungs, and stom-
ache, without more dress upon the arms
and legs.
Perfect health depends upon the per-
feet circulation. Every living thing that
has the latter has the former.
Put your hand under your dra8s upon
your body. Now put your hand upon
your arm. If you find that the body is
warmer than the arm, you have lost the
of circulation. The head has
too much blood, pro lucing headache or
sense of fullness; or the chest has too
much blood, producing cough, rapid
breathing, pain in the side, palpitssion
Of the heart; or the stomache has too
much blood, producing indigestion; or
the liver has too much blood, producing
some disturbance; or the bowels have too
much blood, producing constipation or
liarrhea. Any or all of these difficult
ties are temporarily relieved by INNER
sion of the feet or hands in warm water, I
md they are permanently relieved by
such dress and exercise of the extremi-
les as viii make the derivation perma-
lent.
Again I say, the eztremitios require as
much clothing as the body. Women
should dress their arms or legs with one
)r two thicknesses of knit woslen garm-
snts which fit them. The absurdity of
oose-fowing sleeves and wide spread
skirts I viii not discuss.
Do you ask why the arms and legs may
lOt become accustomed to exposure like
he face? I answer God has provided
IN immense circulation for the face, be-
'ause it must be exposed. il
A distinguished physician of Paris de-
'lared just before his death, "I believe
hat during the twonty-six years that I
lave practiced my profession in this city,
wenty thousand children have been
oOrne to the cemeteries a sacrifice to the
ibsurd custom of naked arms" When
n Harvard, many years ago, I heard the
distinguished DR.. J. G. Warren say,
Boston sacrifices five thousand babies
very year by not having their arms clo- ,
he'd" Those little arms should have
hick, knit, wooden, warm sleeves, exten-
ling from the shoulder to the hand
Dr.. Dio Le,ois, IN Ladspendent.