To a great extent sleeping suits of a coat and trousers, which are known by the name of pyjamas, have taken the place of the man's nightshirt. These have the merit of making a man look more presentable if called up on an emergency. We shall see, if we contrast male and female fashions, that it has always been customary for the costume of women to follow that of men, though most ladies draw the line at adopting trousers. We have heard, however, of one young lady at least who does by night what she will not do by day, for she has given up her nightgown in favour of pyjamas. [Illustration: FIG. 160.--The bands that survive on a lady's nightdress.] [Illustration: FIG. 161.--A woman's nightcap, still worn in Wiltshire.] Here and there we find that nightcaps are still worn. That belonging to an old lady, which we figure (see Figure 161), came from the village of Bishopstone in Wiltshire, where no fewer than twelve old ladies, all of them over eighty, still wear such a head-dress at night. Nightcaps were worn by men in the time of the Tudors, and that of Queen Elizabeth, as is shown by the following extract from a bill of 1547: "Pd. for two nyght caps of vellvet for them, 8s. 0d."[47] They were very elaborately embroidered at this time, and in Mary's reign were mentioned in a sumptuary law. Old men still wear nightcaps, and the one we figure was used until lately at South Stoke in Oxfordshire. It is of the familiar style that we associate with such a head-dress, and has a tassel on the top. (See Figure 162.) [Illustration: FIG. 162.--A man's nightcap, from Oxfordshire.] In the time of Queen Anne ladies wore their nightdresses, or night-rails as they were called, in the streets, and the fashion seems to have been in vogue at later times, though every means were taken to try and abolish it. It was not until a murderess was persuaded to appear at her execution in a bedgown that the fad was relinquished. XXXI THE DRESS OF ANIMALS NATURAL REPRESENTATIVES OF CLOTHES--HORSE TRAPPINGS--AMULETS ON HARNESS--DOGS' DISGUISES--FASHIONS IN THE FORM OF ANIMALS Here and there in the animal kingdom we find that creatures protect themselves from injury by building up cases and coverings from extraneous materials, and these may very well be compared with the armour and clothes of mankind. Protection may be gained by merely securing something ready made to take the place of a coat, as is done in the case of the hermit-crab or "soldier," which covers itself with the shell of some dead mollusc. The caddis worm, or larva of the caddis fly, builds its home of sticks and stones or twigs, and thereby not only preserves its soft body from injury, but also harmonizes with its surroundings, in the same way as does the soldier on active service in time of war.