Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, February 1885Various
Religion
Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, February 1885
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals
Some allusion has already been made to the medical theories respecting
clothing that have emanated recently from a celebrated German
professor, Dr. Gustav Jaeger, of the Royal Polytechnic School at
Stuttgart. His investigations into the subject commenced in the year
1872, and appeared to have been fairly exhaustive in the way of
scientific experiment and personal experience, with the result that
Dr. Jaeger considers he has discovered that the health of the world in
general is much prejudiced by the materials, as well as the forms, in
general use. In Germany his views seem to have met with very extensive
acceptance; they have revolutionised the trade of Stuttgart, where Dr.
Jaeger practises his profession; and many of the leading men—such as
Count von Moltke and others—have adopted his clothing; and it seems
probable that his principles will be applied to the German army, with
the view of promoting the health of the troops. In Italy the first
physicians have declared in favor of it, and so universally does the
demand appear to have arisen on the Continent, that the present writer
found Dr. Jaeger’s garments commonly exposed for sale in Switzerland,
at Berne, Lucerne, and Vevey, and other smaller towns.
The stall for Dr. Jaeger’s clothing has formed an attraction at the
“Healtheries” this season, and, by the formation of a limited company,
who have opened a depôt in Fore Street for its sale, those who desire
to look into the subject, and form their own opinions, will be able to
do so in England.
Dr. Jaeger’s reform is not a difficult one, and consists of the
fundamental doctrine that, as we are animals, we should wear
animal clothing. The physical “reasons why” are—first, that their
non-conducting qualities are a guarantee that the temperature of the
body shall be in a great measure preserved, while on the other hand the
shape and arrangement of their constituent hairs provide for the escape
of moisture by capillary attraction; and their adaptation to both these
ends is greater than that of any vegetable fabric.
In England we have for many years acted instinctively on these
conditions, and we have adopted woollen, in the shape of flannel, for
use in cricket, boating, tennis, and in any athletic exercises likely
to cause profuse perspiration, as being the safest covering to ensure
us against cold and the sudden and dangerous chills which are likely to
follow overheating in a climate like ours. Our action has been the
result of observation and experience, which, however, according to Dr.
Jaeger, might have been carried still further and applied more widely
still. For this profuse perspiration is simply an intensification of
the daily action of the skin, which only ceases with life itself. If
this action be imperfect or repressed, fat and water accumulate in
the tissues, lowering their powers, and the flesh, which should feel
elastic and firm, is flabby, causing many disorders in the general
economy of the body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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