Dress, with reference to heat : being a lecture written for, and published by the Australian Health Society / by Walter Balls-Headley.

  • Balls-Headley, Walter.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dress, with reference to heat : being a lecture written for, and published by the Australian Health Society / by Walter Balls-Headley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    many layers in colder weather ; furs, since they exclude wind, are a special protection on board shii). In the trojncs, the non- evaporated perspiration necessitates wool next tlie skin, which the oppression of the heat indicates should be very thin : tlius merino is suitable. Swimmers of long distances, or people in time of shipwreck, when about to trust their chances to a life buoy, or voyage in an 0[)cn boat, should coat their skins with the densest and most adherent oil to be got : oi- some kind of air-tight dress nuiy be worn, affording the protection of a layer of non-conducting air between themselves and the water. There is one thiiig moi-e with reference to dress it is desirable to mention, namely. Corns. The skin is formed of a number of minute papilhe standing up like a bundle of needles, or the to2)S of a bunch of asparagus : when one of these is specially irritated, as by friction or pressiu-e, it is compressed for the time being ; but, presently, on removal of the pressure, as when the boot is taken off, an increased flow of blood to the part occurs, and it grows faster than the adjacent papilla?; the cuticle on the surface also similarly increas- ing. This we call a Corn. The boots, of those, who are subject thereto, should never be tight; but neither should they be too loose; they should tit. The leather, of which they are made, should be soft and jiliable. I have endeavoured to lay before you the question of dress from a scientific point of view ; considering, first, the circumstances under which our Ijodies are placed with reference to external condi- tions ; what nature for the maintenance of health requires to be effected ; how nature herself, as in the aboriginal and unfashion- able tribes, as well as in various kinds of aninuils, effects this end; in what manner their various kinds of non-conductors of heat act; and, finally, how we, as an artificially dressing race, living in a country different in climate from that to which our S3'steni has for generations been accustomed, may best dress for the preservation of our health : for I thought that the intelligent reader would wish rather to know the reason for the advice given, thari only to hear cUi expression of dogmatic opinion.
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