ELMER: Does alcohol make the body warm? I once heard a man say it was so cold that he must take something to keep him from freezing, as he had a long journey before him. MOTHER: I am sure he did not know the effect of wine or alcohol or he would not have said that. When first taken, these stimulants drive the blood to the skin, and we _feel_ warmer; but soon the blood goes back, after being chilled, and the whole body becomes colder. No, alcohol in any of its forms will not “keep out the cold,” as people sometimes think. Men in frozen countries endure the cold much better when they take no strong drink of any kind. HELEN: I once read of a party of twenty-six men who lost their way as night came on. It was very, very cold, and they had no way of making a fire. Each man had two blankets and plenty of food and whisky. Their leader told them to let the whisky alone; to eat supper, and then wrap up in their blankets and lie closely together. But only two besides himself did as he said, and, though they were cold, they did not suffer or freeze. The others thought the whisky would keep them warm. Three drank a very little, and they did not freeze. Seven others, who drank more, had their toes and fingers frozen. Six, who drank still more, were so badly frozen that they never got over it. Four, who became drunk, were frozen so that they soon died; and three, who drank so much that they became “dead drunk,” were dead in the morning. MOTHER: That was surely a good test, showing how much alcohol can do toward keeping the body warm. PERCY: Why do we need clothes to keep us warm? The birds and animals don’t wear any? [Illustration: “_Birds have a cloak of feathers._”] MOTHER: I think they do. The birds have a cloak of feathers, which they puff out to keep them warm when it is cold. The horse and cow have coats of hair. The sheep has a thick woolen dress. Animals living where it is very cold have warm suits of fur. Our skin is not covered as theirs is, and our bodies would lose much heat if exposed to the air. Food makes heat, and our clothes keep us from losing it. We need clothing to keep us warm. HELEN: But people do not need clothing in warm countries. MOTHER: And they do not wear much; but we would need it if there, to keep the hot sun from scorching the skin. We should never wear heavy clothing, and it should be made so loose that it will not hinder the growth or movements of the body. The shoulders should carry its weight. When the warm days of spring come, it is not best to be in a hurry to leave off our warm under-clothing. Many persons have died because of doing so. AMY: Should our clothes be changed often?