sound development, and although artificial warmth is more urgently
required by little children and by old people than it is by young
adults, still, if their bodies are to come to their utmost possible
perfection, they require suitable conditions of temperature. This is
provided in the winter partly by artificial heating of houses and
partly by the wearing of suitable clothing. Ideal clothing is loose of
texture and woven of wool, although a fairly good substitute can be
obtained in materials that are made from cotton treated specially.

This is not the time or place in which to insist on the very grave
dangers that accompany the use of ordinary flannelette, but a caution
must be addressed in passing to those who provide clothing for others.
In providing clothes it is necessary to remember the two reasons for
their existence: (1) to cover the body, and (2) as far as possible to
protect a large area of its surface against undue damp and cold.

Adolescents, as a rule, begin early to take a great interest in their
clothes. From the time that the appreciation of the opposite sex
commences, the child who has hitherto been indifferent or even
slovenly in the matter of clothing takes a very living interest in it;
indeed the adornment of person and the minute care devoted to details
of the toilet by young people of both sexes remind one irresistibly of
the preening of the feathers, the strutting and other antics of birds
before their mates.

Girls especially are apt to forget the primary object of clothing, and
to think of it too much as a means of adornment. This leads to
excesses and follies such as tight waists, high-heeled shoes, to the
ungainly crinoline or to indecent scantiness of skirts. Direct
interference in these matters is badly tolerated, but much may be