[40] Thermometers intended to give the temperature of Rooms, should be so placed as to be equally removed from the radiant heat of the Fire—and from currents of Air from the Door.
Out of Doors they should be in a northern situation, sheltered from Sunshine, or reflected Heat, &c.
[41] The following Observations on Clothing, are copied from the life of John Stewart, the Traveller, printed for Egerton, 1813, p. 9.—“I clothed myself at all times very warm, and by buttoning and unbuttoning I could accommodate to the sudden change of climate and season, and preserved thereby that equilibre of the secretions and excrements on which Health and Life depends; for clothing forms a factitious heat, as a substitute to the muscular heat, declining with age or sickness; on which action of heat vitality and all the other functions of vital organism depend.”
[42] The best Slippers are a pair of old shoes—the worst, those of plaited cloth—which make the feet tender—and are a hotter covering for them in the House—than you give them when you go out.
[43] “Only Fools and Beggars suffer from Cold, the latter not being able to procure sufficient clothes, the former not having the sense to wear them.”—Boerhaave.
[44] “Narrow sleeves are a very great check on the muscular exercise of the Arms—the Waistcoat, in its present fashionable form, may be very properly termed a strait one. The Waistcoat should be long enough to cover the breeches two or three inches all round. The wrists and knees, but more particularly the latter, are braced with ligatures, or tight buttoning; and the Legs, which require the utmost freedom of motion, are secured into leathern cases or Boots—though the wearer perhaps is never mounted on Horseback.
“To complete the whole, as the Head is confined by a tight Hat, but rarely suited to its natural shape, so in regard to shoes the shape of the foot and the easy expansion of the Toes are never consulted—but the shape regulated by the fashion of the Day, however tight and uncomfortable.”—Sinclair’s Code of Health, 4th Edit. p. 357.
[45] “Those who do not take a sufficient quantity of Exercise—soon suffer from a number of Disorders,—want of Appetite—want of Sleep—flatulence, &c. &c. Obstruction—relaxation of the Bowels—and all the diversified symptoms of Nervous Complaints. Men of Letters suffer much, and from neglecting to take Exercise, are often the most unhealthy of human beings—even that Temperance by which many of them are distinguished, is no effectual remedy against the mischiefs of a sedentary life, which can only be counteracted by a proper quantity of Exercise and Air.”
[46] “Stays and stiff Jackets are most pernicious; they disfigure the beautiful and upright shape of a Woman, and injure the Breast and Bowels; obstruct the breathing and digestion; hurt the breast and nipples so much that many Mothers have been prevented by their use from suckling their Children; many hence get Cancers, and at last lose both Health and Life—for they render the delivery of Women very difficult and dangerous both to Mother and Child.”—From Dr. Faust’s Catechism of Health, 12mo. p. 39. Edinburgh, 1797.
[47] “Stagnant air becomes corrupted in the same manner as stagnant water,—opening windows and making currents of air, are the best means of purifying it.”—Struve’s Asthenology, p. 348.