Rutland Herald

USE OF FLANNEL.--No modern improvement
in dressing has proved so beneficial to health
as the use of a woolen garment next the skin.
This simple expedient has saved many lives,
and would save many more, if adopted to a
greater extent, and better understood. The
object is, to the last degree, commonplace:
as it involves a question of very serious
importance, we hope to be allowed to say a
word or two regarding it. In our variable cli-
mate, we are constantly liable to be chilled or
overwarmed, both within and without doors;
and it is of importance that we should adopt
such clothing as will suit either of these con-
ditions, and prevent us from feeling the change.
Flannel effects this desirable object. It keeps
our persons warm when exposed to the cold,
and in cases of heat relieves us by becoming
absorbent for moisture, which it throws off
sensibly, leaving the skin in a state of com-
parative comfort. Linen utterly fails in accom-
plishing those objects. Flannel is thus equal-
ly useful in summer as in winter. Some per-
sons imagine that it should be employed only
in the winter and cold spring months, and they
consequently throw it off on the approach of
summer. This is a dangerous fallacy. Flan-
nel should be worn all the year round, never
off a single day on any account. If thrown
off, from an idea that the weather is getting
warm, the skin becomes immediately exposed
to the atmospheric influence; the perspiration,
if any, cools on the person; the unprotected
pores shrink and close; catarrh, or some oth-
er disease, under the general name of "a bad
cold," ensues: and the victim of imprudence
perhaps barely escapes with his life. We
strongly recommend all persons whatsoever to
avoid this great error, as they value their health
and their lives. To wear flannel properly, it
should remain upon the person both day and
night and be shifted only once a week, or
thereabouts, according to circumstances. Too
frequent shifting is injurious. When employed
in this careful manner, and when the tepid
bath is also occasionally used, the person is
preserved in that comfortable and proper con-
dition externally, which is the most conducive
to health and longevity.