That young men with abundance of hair should wear heavy head coverings is extremely unreasonable. It would be a far more healthy custom to go without a hat, and thus preserve for a much longer period this natural ornament to the head. At the same time we would perspire less in the head and thus be less liable to take cold. By continuing this practice, as is customary among the boys of a certain English school (The Blue Coat School), the scalp of the head will become so much hardened against climatic influences that we should be able to go out with uncovered head even in cold weather. As, however, not all our neighbors and acquaintance are keenly interested in the postulates of health and long life they may laugh at first, but afterward they will themselves be converted by the advantages of such a custom and will follow our example. Those whose scalp has become bald or only scantily covered with hair, by excluding from the same too much air or by reason of disease, may not so readily stand the effect of the cold, and for such a head gear may be necessary, in which case the preference should be given to soft and very light felt hats, and not to those made of hard material, which prevent the circulation of the blood through the scalp and thus kill the roots of the hair. Those who are slaves to the prejudices of their short-sighted brethren may wear their hat when in their company or in the streets, but by all means take it off at other times, and especially when in the woods or in the fields. It is a singular anomaly that the English, who in many questions of hygiene, as by conducting their sports in the open air, stand at the head of all nations, yet obstinately stick to their tall hats and long black coats in the warmest summer weather, sacrificing health and comfort to social prejudices. How long will Bacon’s nation persist in such a custom?[236] Footnote 236: Latterly city men wear straw hats in summer and also the coachmen and servants of the upper class. Other parts of the body richly provided with sudorific glands are the feet. This must logically make it obligatory for all who wish strictly to follow the rules of health and long life not to prevent the free access of air by impermeable rubbers or heavy high boots. Leather, of course, is not a porous material, like certain kinds of cloth, and hinders the free passage of air and the evaporation from the surface of the feet. The most suitable footwear, and that best adapted to the demands of rational hygiene, would be sandals, similar to those worn by the Greeks and the Romans. Such, however, could only, in present days, be worn in villages, at the seaside, or in the country generally, if we do not want to be criticized as queer or eccentric by our neighbors, who have less knowledge of the hygienic methods of living.