Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-07-02
Health and Dress.

DR.. Richardson delivered lecture
at the London Institute on Health
and Dress" The object of the lecture
was to show what reforms were most
required in order that dress might
minister to health. What was wanted
IN the reform Of dress was good fashion
for both sexes and for everyday life in
social intercourse. Faulty as the male
attire might be in artistic point. of
view, it was, in relation to health, per-
lection as compared with the dress
worn by woman. 1t kept all parts of
the body equally warm; it was carried
by the shoulders; it allowed free move
ment of the limbs, and it provided for
ready change to meet the vicissitudes
OF season. The reform he suggested
in the dress Of women was that it
should in all practical details have the
same advantages, and should be in fact.
the same, with the exception of the ex-
terror robe or gown. The long dress
for women, which even trespassed
slightly on the ground, was the most
becoming for them. This should play
the same part as the outer coat of the
man, the rest of the dress being the
same, except that it might be made of
rather lighter materials. The great
Surgeon Cline, when once consulted
by an anxious mother what she should
do to prevent girl from becoming de-
formed, answered, Let her have no
stays, and let her run about like the
boys" He woull indorse this wise
rule, and would add, "Lst the mothers
of England clothe the girls precisely
as they clothe the boys, permitting
knickerbockers if they like, and let
them add the one distinguished mark
of q light, loose h)wing gown, and the
girls will grow into women as vigorous,
as healthy, and as well formed in body
as their companions Of the sterner SEX"
In the next part OF the lecture the
quality of clothing was considered, and
the amount at various seasons. The
necessity of special care in adapting
clothing to season WAS illustrated from
the physiological rule first discovered
by the late Mr.. Miluer, that the body,
independently of any will of its own,
underwent two pou ads of waste and of
increase of weight, the waste CON-
mencing toward the close of September
and the increase in the first weeks of
April. Warm clothing ought to begin
in September or early in October, and
ought not to be left of until tho close
of April. For underclothing next
the skin he strongly recommended silk,
and with that, light feecy flannel.
Thick, heavy flannel, and every ma
terial that absorbed and held the
watery excretions from the skin, were
at all times bad. Heavy clothes were
at all times bad, and had really no
necessary connection with warmth.
For outer garments in cold weather,
those that were light and fcecy were
best, and furs were excellent. He criti.
cised severely the permanent water
proof which shuts up the rain that dis
tils from the body at the Same time
that it keeps out the rain which falls
from the clonds-a distinction with q
difference not in favor of tho wearer of
the permanent waterproof. Then no
dwelt on the color of dress, contendipg
that the Lancet was quite right in
stating that white color was the best
even in cold weather, while it was ad-
mittedly the best in the summer season.
The objection to white was, of course,
the readiness with which it shows the
dirt, an objection which was strictly an
advantage in q healthy point Of view,
but which would be met practically
by modifying the color to gray. For
all ordinary occasions light gray ought
to take the place of black for outer
coverings of the body. Black was, in
fact, of all colors the very worst, and
those poor ladies who thought it neces-
sary after bereavement to immerse
themselves for months in Grape were
indeed to be pitied. After the suttee.
it was almost the saddest of miseries
inflicted by society on the already
miserable. telegraph.