me to be a frequent and
pitiably significant one on the lips of the middle-aged. They have a
terror of the frost and snow which they once enjoyed so keenly, and
they really suffer much more than they will allow themselves to
confess.

The most invigorating and inspiriting of all climates is 64 deg., but if
the glass fall to 50 deg., chilly people are miserable; they feel
draughts everywhere, especially on the face, and very likely the first
symptoms of a neuralgic attack. At 40 deg.--which must have been the
in-door winter temperature of our forefathers--they become irritable
and shivery, and lose all energy. If the temperature fall below 30 deg.,
they "take cold," and exhibit all the mental inertia and many of the
physical symptoms of influenza, which nevertheless has not attacked
them.

Let us at once admit a truth: the young and robust despise the chilly
for their chilliness, for there is such a thing as physical pride, and
a very unpleasant thing it is in families. These physical Pharisees
are always recommending the "roughing" and "hardening" process, and
they would gladly revive for the poor invalid the cold-water torture
of the past.

Without being conscious of it, they are cruel. Chilly people are not
made better by the unsympathetic remarks of those of quicker blood.
There is no good in assuring them that the cold is healthy and
seasonable. They feel keenly the half-joking imputation of
"cosseting," though perhaps they are too inert and miserable to defend
themselves.

Strong walking exercise is the remedy always proposed. Many cannot
take it. Others make a laudable effort to follow the prescription, and
perhaps during it feel a glow of warmth to which in the house--though
the house is thoroughly warmed--they are strangers. But half an hour
after their return home the tide of life has receded again, and they
are as chilly and nervous as before.

Nevertheless, they have passed through an experience which, if they
would consider it, indicates their relief, if not their cure. While
out-of-doors they thought it necessary to cover their feet with warm
hosiery and thick boots, the head with a bonnet and veil, their hands
with gloves and a fur muff, their body with some fur or wadded garment
half an inch thick. In short, when they went out they imitated Nature,
and protected themselves as she does animals.

But just as soon as they return home they uncover their head and
hands, replace the warm, heavy clothin