Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    401/430 (page 367)
    Garments that constrict the neck should l^e avoided, as tliey may imjiair the normal circulation of the blood to the head. The dictates of fashion unfortunately often favour tight-fitting collars for women’s apparel ; and certain excessively high collars worn by men are not much better. The free exposure of the throat and of the upper ])art of the chest may become cpiite as harmful. Experience teaches that it is of great importance to kec}) the abdomen warm. Offences against this rule are often accentuated by disturbances of the digestive organs. Here, too, the susceptibility of different ])ersons varies considerably, and for some ])eople it may be advisable to wear an abdominal bandage during the cooler seasons. In temperate climates the limbs, no less than the other parts of the body, recjuire the protection of garments. In a certain respect they reciuire it still more, as they are situated at greater distances from the heart, and may occasionally suffer from a diminished blood supply. This is not the case so long as the limbs are vigorously exercised ; but if the mode of living is such that the body is often at rest, the circulation of the blood sometimes becomes impaired, and the heating of the extremities insufficient. Wdiile an incomplete cover- ing of the arms and legs is not often encountered in adults, it is frequently customary to allow children to be about with naked arms and with partly uncoyered legs. In cold weather this is not adyisable. The use of gloves appears to be appropriate only under certain condi- tions ; especially during the cold season to preyent affections of the hands or of the tips of the fingers by frost-bites. It is well known, howeyer, that in a great number of cases the winter-gloye accomplishes the opposite of that for which it is intended, and by constriction of the'blood supply more than fayours the numbing of the fingers. In order to be actually warming, gloyes must be yery wide, and should preferably be mittens. The thicker the gloyes are, and the more airy and loosely woyen their texture, the warmer they will keep the hands. Whereas the hands are kept coyered only exceptionally, the constant coyering of the feet during the day is customary. The clothing of the feet is intended for a twofold purpose. It should preyent the pronounced loss of warmth which arises when the foot touches the cold earth , and it should protect the foot from injuries, wet, and dirt, and impait to it a ccitain firmness. Stockings protect the feet against oyerheating, and form a kind of yielding bolster during walking. As shoes and stockings togethei aie only slightly porous, diminution of eyaporation occurs, and in consequence there is usually excessiye sweating. In cases of insufficient cleanliness the latter, together with the cast-off particles of the skin, decomposes, and gives rise to the notorious disagreeable odour of perspiring feet. This abnormal sweat formation occurs to a very annoying degree in some persons who appear to be predisposed in this direction. This affection can best be