The Requisites of Clothing
By Lillian Eshelman
Health has been defined as perfect circulation in a sound organism. The blood, besides being the great healer which constantly bathes every cell of the body, bringing nutrition and oxygen and gathering up the waste products to be eliminated, fulfills another important function as a distributor of heat. No matter what the temperature of the external world, the human body must be kept at a uniform temperature of about 98.4 degrees. This is accomplished, first, by the stimulation of nerves ending in the skin, which carry the impression to nerve centers when more heat is needed; second, by impressions sent from the nerve centers to the tissues to increase oxidation and the generation of heat; third, by the elimination of surplus heat through the skin by means of perspiration and evaporation; fourth, by means of the blood the heat is carried from the thermogenic, or heat-producing, tissues to the external surface. In health, the external temperature of the body is ten or twelve degrees below that of the internal organs; and as the blood makes the circuit of the body twice every minute, it has much to do with maintaining the balance of the heat produced by the oxidation of the nutritious substances and the elimination of heat by evaporation from the skin. In the mild tropical countries, the body is capable of maintaining the normal temperature without the aid of clothing, and it is among the savage tribes that we find the most perfectly developed physiques. The children of the frigid zone carefully conserve the heat, normally thrown off by the skin, by muffling themselves in impervious hides. In the temperate zone, that great belt of civilization, clothing is a necessity, and should be thoughtfully and intelligently selected, that being chosen which will best permit and promote the vital processes of the organism with the least incumbrances and inconveniences of the vital economy, a department of the subject of dress to which fashion and custom have long failed to give prominence, but which is of vital importance to those who wish to maintain health, especially during the cold season. The primary factor in the study of the requisites of clothing is the needs of the body; this includes several considerations. The Capacity of the Body for Heat Production and Heat Elimination
The smaller the body, the greater is the proportion of eliminating surface as compared to the amount of heat-producing tissue; hence the smaller the individual, the warmer proportionately should be the clothing. Nature makes this provision in the finer and closer feathers and furs with which she clothes the smaller animals. Those who are ill, whose vital forces are weakened, and the aged, have not as large a capacity for heat production as those in health or middle age, and hence cannot bear as long-continued exposure to cold. The occupation, active or sedentary, also influences the amount of heat elimination and heat production. A man of sedentary habits needs to dress more carefully than an active laborer. The Functions of the Skin
Such materials should be selected as will least interfere with the normal function of the skin. Evaporation of the insensible perspiration must be favored, and not enough clothing worn to induce sensible perspiration; the material should be porous and of light weight. A thin mesh of linen, silk, or cotton worn next to the body allows evaporation, and is easily washed and renewed daily; over this may be worn soft flannel of sufficient weight to maintain warmth. The Distribution of the Blood Supply
The extremities, being remote from the vital organs, and having a large blood supply with a large eliminating surface, need to be clothed even more warmly than the trunk of the body, in order that an undue amount of heat may not be lost, or that the blood vessels of the extremities, being contracted by reason of the cold, do not offer such an amount of resistance as to throw undue labor upon the heart. The feet are one of the most important reflex areas of the body. They are connected and intimately related by reflex nerve routes with various portions of the sympathetic nervous system which influence the brain, the throat, lungs, kidneys, stomach, bowels, and other abdominal organs. If the feet feel the impression of cold and dampness through thin-soled shoes sufficiently to contract the blood vessels supplying them, the same impression is carried to the organs reflexly related to them. The blood vessels of these organs, especially the arterioles, contract, and if the exposure to cold is long continued, venous blood collects, until a state of passive congestion results, hindering the function of the organ thus affected, and if many times repeated, this condition becomes chronic. Thus colds, indigestion, “kidney troubles,” and the like are fostered. Absolute Freedom of Every Organ Must Be Insured
If the feet are cramped and irritated by ill-fitting shoes or boots, the whole body suffers through the reflex irritation of the sympathetic nervous system. Hot, high, tight, stiff collars are destroying the beautiful curves of the neck for our whole civilized race, and are also contributing largely to the cause of husky voices. If we would but turn an anatomist’s eye upon a corseted figure, or even upon a person who likes to feel a snug adjustment of her clothing, we should see visions of floating kidneys suspended by delicate nerves and blood vessels, seeking a resting place; a liver indented and misshapen, sometimes a portion nearly constricted off from the rest; a stomach from two to seven inches below its normal position; a transverse colon sagging and relaxed, the small bowel crowded down; the chest walls contracted, the breath of life excluded from the lower part of the lungs; the whole internal anatomy distorted, displaced, deformed. The picture is not overdrawn; for we can find it all, and more, in the “beautifully formed” (?) figure so smoothly incased in its silken draperies which seek to cover a multitude of evils. Unless an organ has absolute freedom, its vital activities are lessened, its blood supply hindered, its displacement assured, and its function impaired. Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation in a sound organism. The requisites of clothing demand an observance of natural law in the life of the organism. Think first of this. Right dressing is an art, but every true art is founded upon science.—Good Health.