flannel shirts, tends much to preserve their health, under the circumstance of the profuse perspiration caused by the excessive labour they are called upon to undergo, or the extreme heat of their places of work, alternated as this must be with the much colder atmosphere out of doors, amounting it may be to a difference of temperature of no less than 60 or 70 degrees. Dr. Kilgour says, "that the use of flannel was found to be beneficial in the prevention of cholera, by maintaining the equilibrium of the temperature and functions of the skin,” and thereby preventing that derangement of the bowels which is so general a sequence of cold applied to the surface; and Major Denham (vide Denham and Clapperton's Travels) says,-"On the 23rd of April, the heat was insufferable; for several hours in the middle of the day, the thermometer was as high as 113°. Covering myself up with all the blankets I could find, afforded me the greatest relief,—these defended me from the power of the sun, as well as from the flies:" evidently on the same principle that the ice in our ice-houses is surrounded with old carpets, or blankets, or other woollen or badly conducting materials! For the following valuable observations on this very important hygienic question, we are indebted to the late Dr. James Johnson's excellent and standard work, on "The Influence of Tropical Climates." "We observe both Hindoo * Lectures on Therapeutics and Hygiene. By Alexander Kilgour, M.D., &c. INTER-TROPICAL COSTUMES. 185 and Mahomedan guarding most cautiously against solar heat, as well as cold. The turban and cummerbund meet our eyes at every step:-the former, to defend the head from the direct rays of the sun; the latter, apparently for the purpose of preserving the important viscera of the abdomen from the deleterious impressions of cold. The cummerbund is certainly a most valuable part of their dress; and one that is highly deserving of imitation. Such are the essential articles of native dress; the light, flowing robes of cotton, silk, calico, &c., varying according to the taste or circumstances of the wearer, and being more for ornament than use. A very good substitute for the turban is a large cotton handkerchief, folded up in the hat; and where we are exposed to the direct influence of solar heat, it may, with much advantage, be kept moistened with water. In situations where atmospherical vicissitudes are sudden, a fine shawl round the waist forms an excellent cummerbund, and should never be neglected, especially by those who have been some time in the country, or whose bowels are in any degree tender. When we enter the tropics, we must bid adieu to the luxury of linen—if what is both uncomfortable and unsafe in those climates, can be called a luxury. substantial reasons for doing so. slowness as a conductor of heat, is admirably adapted for the tropics. It must be recollected, that the temperature of the atmosphere, sub dio, in the hot season, exceeds that of the blood by many degrees ; and, even in the shade, it too often equals, or rises There are many above, the heat of the body's surface, which is always, during health, some degrees below 97°. Here, then, we have a covering which is cooler than linen; inasmuch as it conducts more slowly the excess of external heat to our bodies. But this is not the only advantage, though a great one. When a vicissitude takes place, and the atmospherical temperature sinks suddenly far below that of the body, the cotton, still faithful to its trust, abstracts more slowly the heat from our bodies, and thus preserves a more steady equilibrium there. To all these must be added the facility with which it absorbs the perspiration; while linen would feel quite wet, and, during the exposure to a breeze under such circumstances, would often occasion a shiver, and be followed by dangerous consequences. That woollen and cotton should be warmer than linen in low temperatures, will be readily granted; but that they should be cooler in high temperatures, will probably be much doubted. If the following easy experiment be tried, the result will decide the point in question. Let two beds be placed in the same room at Madras, we will say, when the thermometer stands at 90°; and let one be covered with a pair of blankets, the other with a pair of linen sheets, during the day. On removing both coverings in the evening, the bed on which were placed the blankets will be found cool and pleasant; the other uncomfortably warm. The reason is obvious. The linen readily transmitted the heat of the atmosphere to all parts of the subjacent bed; the woollen, on the contrary, as a non-conductor, prevented the INTER-TROPICAL COSTUMES. 187 bed from acquiring the atmospherical range of temperature, simply by obstructing the transmission of heat from without. This experiment not only proves the position, but furnishes us with a grateful and salutary luxury, free of trouble or expense. The musical ladies of India are not unacquainted with this secret, since they take care to keep their pianos well covered with blankets in the hot season, to defend them from the heat, and prevent their warping. From this view of the subject, flannel might be supposed superior to cotton; and, indeed, at certain seasons, in particular places-for instance, Ceylon, Bombay, and Canton, where the mercury often takes a wider range, in a very short space of time, the former is a safer covering than the latter, and is adopted by many experienced and seasoned Europeans. But, in general, flannel is inconvenient, for three reasons. First, it is too heavy; an insuperable objection. Secondly, when the temperature of the atmosphere ranges pretty steadily a little below that of the skin, the flannel is much too slow a conductor of heat from the body. Thirdly, the spiculæ of flannel prove too irritating, and increase the action of the perspiratory vessels on the surface, when our great object is to moderate that process. From the second and third objections, indeed, even cotton or calico is not quite free, unless of a fine fabric, when its good qualities far counterbalance any inconvenience in the above respects. In some of the upper provinces of Bengal, where the summer is intensely hot, and the winter sharp, the dress of the native shepherds, who are exposed to all weather, consists in a blanket, gathered in at one end, which goes over the head, the rest hanging down on all sides like a cloak. This answers the triple purpose of a chattah in the summer, to keep out the heat— of a tent in the rainy season to throw off the wet— and of a coat in the winter, to defend the body from the piercing cold. Hence our ridicule of the Portuguese and Spaniards, in various parts of the world, for wearing their long black cloaks in summer, 'to keep them cool,' is founded on prejudice rather than considerate observation." The plaid worn by the shepherds and peasantry of Scotland, one of the best and most useful of all outer-garments, is a curious illustration of the same sort of garment being made use of in these latitudes, as that adopted by the shepherds of Bengal. There is, in all cases, some risk, that the nonconducting character, and the amount, of the clothing that is worn, may be too great for the mere purposes of protection to the surface of the body, and the maintenance of the temperature and functions of the skin. This objection is strongly applicable to the use of fur worn next to the skin; and may be applied to the local or general use of so much of a thick fleecy hosiery, as would keep the surface of the skin covered by it in a constantly damp and relaxed condition. But, of all parts of the body, there is not one, the clothing of which ought to be so carefully attended to, as the feet. The most dependent part of the |