Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-03-15

the moisture passes through it, and, evap
Grating, still produces cold. Flannel, oil
the contrary, absorbs the moisture anc
gives out heat. Its non-condGcting powe
is clearly useful on the cold winter day
The wearing of flannel shirts, or those o
merino, which contains about one-third o
cotton, during winter or summer, is so un
usual in England as to realize B Boerhaave'i
maxim, that winter clothing should be tax
en- off at the end of midsummer's day only
to put it on the following morning. Wool
lens, however, should be more frequently
washed, as they absorb so much perspira-
tion.
Since the more general adoption of fan
mel underclothing the number of deaths by
bronchial complaints is very much lessened
j ohm Hunters receipts for rearing healthy
children was plenty of milk, plenty of
flannel 1t has been stated on reliable
authority that wooden clothing is prevent
i've Of malaria. Flannel drawers reaching
high on the abdomen, and long flannel
shirt, so that two layers may cover that
region, are regarded as great safeguard
against cholera.
The color of dress is important. This
was demonstrated by Benjamin Frank
lin. He placed pieces of various colored
cloths on the surface of snow, and found in
a given time that the snow under the black
was most melted, that under the white the
least. From this can be Judged the prop
er shades for winter and summer wear.
Water proof clothing, made, for instance,
of India rubber, should be avoided as
checking perspiration. This is illustrated
by Breshet's experiment. He shaved rab-
bits and coated them with impermeable
varnish. and found that they perished in an
hour or two of cold and suffocation.
Competent authorities have suggested
that the reason gout so often attacks the
feet is that their natural cutaneous action
is impeded by the boot or shoe now in use,
stating also that among the Romans these
parts were less often affected, as the san
dals only partly covered them. Such
covering for the foot, though not permis-
sible by the fashion Of the day, is undoubt-
edly the most natural, as it will allow a
free perspiration for the foot, and render
frequent washing needtul.
The Countess de Noailles has lately
written an able Apology for Bare Feet
in which she contends that if the wretched
boots the poorer children wear were cast
away, the feet and ankles would become
much stronger, would be kept cleaner, and
there would be much less liability to colds
and TO illness among girls.
DR.. John Brown, the well-known author,
remarks that it is amazing the misery the
people Of civilization endure in and from
their shoes. Nobody is ever, as they
should be, comfortable at once in them !;
they hope in the long run, and after much
agony, and when they are nearly done, to
make them fit, especially if they can get
them once well wet. Frederick the Great
kept an aide-de-camp to wear his shoes till
he could put them on, but he sometimes
wore them too long, and got a kicking for
his pains.
The square-toed boot and those with the
inner edge straight, not curved inwards, are
the most natural, as they allow the expan-
sion Of the toes-a matter seldom allowed
for by bootmakers, especially as they meas
ure the foot when lifted from the ground.
Great comfort is often obtained by having
a last carefully shaped for oneself 1t is
said that the Duke of Wellington, being
questioned as to the most essential requi-
site for a soldiers clothing. replied, A
good pair of shoes What next? a
spare pair of good shoes; and even third
", \ spare pair of soles.' Most men can
speak with bitter recollection Of tight
and ill-ftting boot how completely it has
destroyed their pleasure in the brightest
scenes Of enjoyment, and how it has IN
hinged them both mentally and bodily.
We remark in conclusion, that in both
the extremes of life, when heat-producing
power is most feeble, additional warm
clothing is clearly demanded. 1t is the
same with the young as with the old, and
it is pleasant to see this truth more recog-
nised than formerly in the fact that chill
dren are not now left half dressed from
the erroneous notion of making them
hardy, or to follow the dictates Of an ar
bitrary fashion.-The Protector.