679. _The clothing should be kept clean._ No article of apparel is entirely free from absorption; even wool and cotton possess it in a small degree. They take up a portion of the transpired fluids which contain saline and animal matter, and thus the fibres of the garments become covered with the cutaneous excretions. We are practically aware of the retention of these secretions from the soiled appearance of those garments worn next the skin, which are so covered as to preclude the particles of dust from lodging upon them. 680. The porosity of the clothing is lessened when soiled, and its power of conducting heat from the system in consequence, is increased. The residual matter with which the clothing is coated is brought in contact with the skin, which causes irritation, and not unfrequently re-absorption of the elements, thrown off from the system through this avenue. Hence warmth, cleanliness, and health require that the clothing, particularly the garments worn next to the skin, should be frequently and thoroughly washed. This should not be forgotten in regard to children, for their blood circulates with greater rapidity than that of adults, and a proportionably greater amount of waste matter is thrown off from their systems. 681. _The under-garments worn during the day should not be worn at night, or the reverse._ When under-garments are worn several successive days or nights, they should not be put in drawers, or hung up in a close closet, as soon as taken from the body, but should be exposed to a current of air. 682. _Occupied beds should be thoroughly aired in the morning._ The excretions from the skin are most abundant during the hours of sleep; and if the sheets and blankets, together with the bed, are not aired every morning, by being so arranged that both surfaces may be exposed to the air, the materials eliminated from the skin will be retained in the meshes of the bed-clothing, and may be conveyed into the system of the next occupant, by absorption. Oftentimes diseases of a disagreeable nature are contracted in this way. This fact should be instilled into every mother's and daughter's mind. _Observation._ Bed-linen should not be put on a bed when it is not sufficiently dried, or contains moisture from the excretions of the skin, nor should beds or bedding be slept in, that have remained in a damp room that has not been occupied for many weeks, unless the dampness is removed from the bed-linen by a warming-pan, or in some other way.