CLOTHING.
73
The size and figure of the shoe ought certainly to be adapted to thefoot. In children the feet are as well shaped as the hands, andthe motion of the toes as free and easy as that of the fingers ; yetfew persons in the advanced period of life are able to make anyuse of their toes ; they are generally, by narrow shoes, squeezedall of a heap, and often laid over one another in such a manner asto be rendered altogether incapable of motion. Nor is the highheel less hurtful than the narrow toe. A lady may seem taller forwalking on her tiptoes, but she will never walk well in this man-ner. It strains her joints, distorts her limbs, makes her stoop, andutterly destroys all her ease and gracefulness of motion ; it is en-tirely owing to shoes with high heels and narrow toes, that not onefemale in ten can be said to walk well.
Infixing on the clothes, due care should be taken to avoid all tightbandages. Garters, buckles, &c. when drawn too tight, not onlyprevent the free motion and use of the parts about which they arebound, but likewise obstruct the circulation of the blood, whichprevents the equal nourishment and growth of these parts, and oc-casions various diseases? Tight bandages about the neck, as stocks,cravats, necklaces, &c. are extremely dangerous. They obstructthe blood in its course from the brain, by which means head-achs,vertigoes, apoplexies, and other fatal diseases, are often occa-sioned.
The perfection of dress is to be easy and clean. Nothing can bemore ridiculous, than for an/ one to make himself a slave to fineclothes. Such a one, and many such there are, would rather re-main as fixed as a statue from morning till night, tiian discomposea single hair, or alter the position of a pin. Were we to recom-mend any particular pattern for dress, it would be that which isworn by the people called quakers. They are always neat, clean,and often elegant, without any thing superfluous. What otherslay out upon tawdry laces, ruffles, and ribands, they bestow uponsuperior cleanliness. Finery is only the affectation of dress, andvery often covers a great deal of dirt.
We shall only add, with regard to clothing, that it ought notonly to be suited to the climate, the season of the year, and the pe-riod of life, but likewise to the temperature and constitution. Ro-bust persons are able to endure either cold or heat better than thedelicate, consequently may be less attentive to their clothing. Butthe precise quantity of clothes necessary for any person cannot bedetermined by reasoning. It is entirely a matter of experience,and every man is the best judge for himself what quantity of clothes: -ííssary to keep him warm.*
¡ng grown into tlie flesh, and frequently hear of mortifications proceeding from thiscause. All these, and many other inconveniences attending the feet, must be impu-ted solely to the use of short and tight shoes.
Though we hear frequently of plasters, salves, ointments, &c. for eradicating corns,yet they are nover known to produce that effect. The only rational mode of proceed-ing is to soften the corn a little by immersion in warm water, and then to cut it care-fully, and to renew this operation every week, till the scarf skin is reduced to its origi-nal or natural thinness, after which it must be preserved from the irritating pressureof"strait shoes, which had at first occasioned the painful callosity.
* The celebrated Boerhaave used to say, that nobody suffered by cold, save foolsand beggars ; the latter not being able to procure clothes, and the former not havingEense to wear them. Be this as it may, I can with the strictest truth declare, that in
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