Omaha daily bee., 1884-11-14
A NEW DRESS REFORM.
thousands Of People Wearing Only
WOOllGD Clothing,
An Advanced German Idea - DIR.
JnCger's Theories-PrCCautious
Taken { o Preserve the Health
Day AVID Night.

N N "
should wear animal clothing. The 40
sorption by vegetable life of poisonous
emanstions from animal life 10 a process
not limited, it would appear, to Twin,
plants, but continued by vegetable fibre
such as cotton, linen, ote. with the differ
ence that, while the living plant assimi,
lates these carnations, the dead fibre
cannot do so, butexhales themagain wher
wetted or warmed. Thus u clothes, in
consequence of their vegetable character
attract and retain those noxious princi
pies which should, on the contrary, b,
thrown off with the greatest possible
promptitude. On the other hand, ami
NAL material, such as wool, Is made BY
nature to protect animal life, and willnot
prevent, but assist the evaporation OF the
carnations coming from the body. This
can readily be proved by tho sense OF
smell. 1t sutlices to wear clothes of pure
wool throughout, and there is at once al
end to the unpleasantness noticed In the
linen underclothing, the cotton Innings OF
the coat, etc. From these facts DIR. Gus,
tav Jaeger, professor of zoology and ply.
siology at Stuttgart, deduces his medical
theory, which has won innumerable dis.
ciples in an incredible short time.
DIR. Jaeger points out that the human
body is most susceptible to disease when
it contains too largea quantity of water
or fat. The presence In excess of these
substances can be tested by the specific
weight and the rspidity of the nervous
action. But the specific weight must be
given in proportion with the cubic meas
urment of the person and thia latter ia
not easy to ascertain. BY tho immersion
of the body in a measured tank we have
a rough.and-ready method of g~auging its
cubic capacity, which must correspond
with the displacement of the water. DIR.
Jaeger, however, has constructed an air
tight chamber where q column of mercury
records the amount of compression
brought to bear upon the air by the in.
PRODUCTION of a foreign body or person.
Out of sixty five men thus measured
DR.. Jaeger found that the litre weight
varied from 764 to 1,060 grammes, a diff
ference of almost 40 per cent. To test
the nervous activity a stop watch is em-
ployed which can record the two-thou-
sandth part of a second. The operator
sets the index hand in motion, which has
then to be Immediately stopped by the
person undergoing the test. The differ
ence between the two readings records
the time needed for the excitation, pro.
duced by the sight of the moving handle,
to u it's course through the eye, the
optic nerves, the brain, the nerves of the
arm, and finally to reach the muscles
which actuate the finger that stops the
watch. Experimenting conducted in this
manner showed in one instance that the
rapidity of action after n Turkish bath
increased to the extent of 13 per cent.
What is now known as DIR. Jaeger's
sanitary wooden clothing is so contrived
as to obviate these evils. The clothing
consists, for men, of tight. fitting stock
ingette undergraduates made of pure I'M
dyed wool, fastened over the shoulder,
and of double thickness over the breast.
The coat or jacket is double breasted,
buttoned well up to the throat, contains
no lining or padding unless of pure wool,
and is either undyed or treated only with
uninjurious fast dyes. the same rule
applies to the trousers, while the waist
coat is either dispensed with altogether
or it forms an inner flap affixed to the
side of the coat. Inside the sleeves and
the trousers legs there is a continuance,
which, fastening tight round the limbs,
prevents up.draughts; for cold, rheuma-
tism, lumbago, ETC., are caught by the
rush of cold air to n particular
part of the body, and not by the gradual
cooling of the entire system. The feet
are clad in pure wohlen socks with divis-
ions for each toe, while the upper part
of the boot is made of felt, the lower
part also of felt or of porous leather. and
the inner soles consist of perforated
and layers of felt. Thus the
boot is thoroughly porous, and the feet
ire consequently kept as clean and pure
as the hands.
BY doubly protecting the front of the
body, where the blood vessels converge, |
,hepe are stimulated; and as an oven
temperature throughout, is maintained,
he necessity for great-coats is obviated,
or damp having little or no effect,
or in every case gradual and even evapo'
alton is insured. While they are the
,est protection against cold, these clothes
re also the coolest in aummer. Little
n n o change need DO made between
winter or summer, at leaEt in the tenn
,erate region; and means have been
ound by which this system can with
,qual facility be adopted by women
Nor can a "woollenite" be easily distin-
from the ''woodenites" as the
Vearers of vegetable fibre may be called.
The substitution of collar made of I'M
Itarched while cashmere for the custom
Try starched linen collar Is the most con
feature in the dress; otherwise it
would be difficult to detect the disciples
IF this systeni. The cashmere collar, |
however, Is not only most comfortable,
but is a preventive of throat disorders.
All these precautions taken during the
day must be continued at night. The
bed must also be free from vegetable
fibre. The linen sheet must DO replaced
by wooden blankets or camel-hair rugs,
or with white cashmere sheets, if PREFER.
cd. The mattress and the pillow should
also be stuffed and covered with wool,
but when thus protected the sleeper
need fear neither cold nor change OF
and is therefore, urged to
keep his window we'll open at night. In
deed the possibility of thus securing
pure air in the bedroom without risk Is
one of the most important advantages of
the system. In reward for this great
in the mode of living the action
Of the skin is 80 stimulated that the nox-
Ious principles, the 'bad humors" our
30 often spoke about, are
given off and evaporated. Corpul-
snce is reduced, the flesh becomes firm
md thoroughly 'hsrdened," while the
lcceleration of nervous action and q gem
ri HUMANITARIAN In the nhYsical and |