MORE CLOTHES AND LESS FOOD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 460, 3 June 1909, Page 3

MORE CLOTHES AND LESS FOOD.

The need for clothing and the need for food vary inversely. Such is the philosophy o£ Dr. Saleeby. “ Since clothing,” he says, serves to retain the heat which is created by the burning of the food or fuel which we take in, it follows that, other things more equal, the more fuel taken, the more rapidly can heat be lost from the body without lowering its temperature, and therefore the less clothing—that is, obstruction to the outflow of the heat necessary. On the other hand, if abundant means are provided for retarding the outflow of health at is, if we clothe ourselves heavily—then so much less heat will require to be consumed.” We ought then to clothe ourselves as warmly as possible, as it is much cheaper, as well as much easier to wear an extra amount of clothing, than to gorge ourselves with superabundant food day after day.

Bu there are other considerations in this matter of clothes, he goes on to say:—‘ ‘ A given amount of a given material and texture is warmer as a loose garment than as a tight one, simply because it imprisons, as a loose garment, a certain amount of air, and air is relatively a very bad conductor of heat, and therefore ‘ warm,' just as clothes are ‘ warm.’

“ This is one reason why there is something to be said for clothing ourselves in more layers than one. We thus imprison more layers than one of air—broken layers, no doubt, but none the less more valuable, so long as the air is imprisoned in some degree. Indeed, other things being equal, the warmest clothing will be air tight clothing, but it is hardly necessary to say that the imprisonment of the air by clothing for purposes of warmth must only be partial and imperfect. Let us observe the golden mean, and while, on £the one hand, we clothe ourselves with air, let us insure, on the other hand, that the air is ventilated.”