Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-09-07
HOT WEATHER HINTS,
Philosophy of Dress for n Climate Whio II
Il, Uuires Loss Clothing Than the Tropics
TO BE CONTINUED.

X, Uuires Loss Clothing Than the Tropics.
The renewal of hot weather after a
brief respite. though less severe than 1t
was last week. is to many people a cause
of extreme discomfort, which rises in
some cases to absolute danger, says the
London Standard. The daily list of per-
sons overcome by the heat" or euccumb-
ing to ''sunstroke" is significant of a vast
amount of minor, but very apprecia bile,
suffering Yet the temperature, as meas
ured by the thermometer. has been MOTH
ing to speak Of after all. Only once or
twice has 1t touched 20 degrees in the
shade, which, in most countries. would be
a low maximum. Putting the South. In
dia and the tropics aside, in Central Eu-
rope. Asia, Australia. and even Canada.
higher temperatures are of regular occur
renee. and that not only for day or two,
but often for weeks together. Yet the
people who live there are not Overcome
by the heat" or smitten down by sun
stroke half so easily as the Inhabitants
of these Islands are by such a compare
lively moderate sun as that which has set
US gasping and grumbling for some days
past. Why this extreme susceptibility?
1t Is partly our own fault and partly
not. The mischief arises from overhead
ing of the blood, which Is largely mat
ter within our own control. The direct
action of the sun is probably never strong
enough in England to cause sunstroke
proper.
The cases one reads of as taken to the
hospital are the victims of "heat stroke -
and are properly spoken of as overcome
by the heat" but the heat IS partly Of
their own making. To put 1t In the
simplest forms We wear too many clothes.
The human body is naturally provided
with most efficient mechanism for pre-
venting overheating If the blood Ey
means Of this physiological arrangement
the Blood vessels in the skin are opened
when The internal temperature rises and
the evaporation Of moisture from the sur
face is proportionate'y increased But
evaporatlon-that is, the change of any
substance from a liquid into "A gaseous
state--is always attended by a lowering of
temperature. and therefore the hea ting
of the blood is in this way promptly fol-
lowed by cooling process. That Is why
one porspires when one is hot. In order.
however. that the natural apparatus may
work effectively ii is obvious that there
must be not only free perspration, but
also free evaporation. This of course
requires plentiful current of air Too
many clothes prevent II. and that is where
the trouble begins. The surface is not
cooled, the temperature Of the blood rises.
and in weakly persons, a "strokc" or
syncoqe follows. The general excess in
the matter of clothes is due to the fear OF
taking chill" but it is vicious circle
for the more people overload themselves
with clothes, the more susceptible to chills
they become. 1t Is astonishing how many
layers of wastcoats and flannel shirts and
undertaking an ordinary workman vii,
peel of, even in summer time.
If the inhabitants Of really hot coun-
tries dressed in the same way. they could
not live AT all They naturally wear light
and loose clothing of cotton or linen not
wool. The conventional dictum about
wearing flannel next to the skin" which
Is forever in the mouths Of some medical
men, Is largely responsible for the mis-
| take. 1t is we'll enough In cold and wet
easons though by no means so indispen-
sable as is supposed; but in hot weather
1t is oppressive and injurious Over and
above this, however. there Is no doubt
that in our moist climate the same degree
OF heat has a far more powerful effect
than In drier atmospheres, and, after all
the point Is how the temperature affects
our own bodies. not how It affects the
thermometer There is no mystery about
this; evaporation. with consequent cool
Ing, goes on moro rapidly in dry than a
moist air. This we cannot help-it is the
defect of our island climate The moral
Is that In hot weather, we should wear
not heavier clothes. as we do; but, II any.
thing. lighter ones than the inhabitants
OF what we call hot countries.