r that will
enable you to walk with the same freedom that you can enjoy when
barefooted, you will then have attained perfection in foot covering.
Sandals and moccasins allow the feet the same freedom as one enjoys
when barefooted. The sole of these forms of footwear has the same
freedom in gripping the ground and adapting itself to the
requirements of every step as the bare foot, and it is a curious and yet
significant fact that whereas more or less foot trouble is the rule
rather than the exception among civilized peoples, yet those races who
wear moccasins or sandals, or go barefooted, never have flatfoot,
broken arches, bunions or other defects of this type.

Passing to the other extreme of the body, our tight hats should be
condemned. Hats should be as light as possible and should not be so
tight as to interfere with the circulation of the scalp. Many bald
headed men owe their loss of hair to tight hats. The stiff collars worn
everywhere at the present time mar the natural contour of the neck,
make an erect position more difficult, and are one cause of the round
shoulders that are so common everywhere to-day. The suspenders worn by
men have also an influence of this sort. They are inclined to pull the
shoulders forward and make it more difficult to maintain an erect
position. The flat-chested man will not feel his suspenders, but the man
with a full round chest, properly carried, is under continuous
pressure from his suspenders.

If I were to select an ideal costume for men I am inclined to think that
I would go back to the Roman toga, to the flowing drapery of the
Greeks, or to the Scottish kilt. The kilt is undoubtedly better suited
than the robe to the colder weather of Northern Europe and America.
These costumes not only allow a reasonable amount of freedom for all
bodily movements, encouraging rather than discouraging the correct
position of the body, but they also allow free circulation of air to
the central portions of the body. As a hygienic feature this is of
tremendous value. The air coming in contact with the skin is of value
at all times, but it is especially required in these important parts of
the bodily organism. Many weaknesses are brought about through the
unhealthful covering and restriction of these parts. Trousers are not
by any means an ideal garment. To be sure, they are a vast
improvement over the long skirt, but they are not by any means equal in
healt