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To preserve the system in a cool and healthy state during the extreme hot weather of summer, the diet should consist as much as possible of fruits, vegetables, and farinaceous food, and the lighter kinds of meats. The fruit should be perfectly ripe and fresh from its parent stem, and should be eaten in the earlier and middle part of the day. Its nutritive properties are not very great, but it serves to neutralize the acids in the stomach, and acts as a general corrective to the system. In the warmer climates of South America, Spain, and Italy, where fruit abbriKrne inhabitants freej--pTtej_f J an hour or two before breakfast, and during the middle of the day, but never after ; they holding to the Spanish maxim that fresh and ripe fruit is gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night. The people of the tropical climates perform very little active labor during the extreme heat of the day, but generally remain inactive and under cover, in -habitations constructed with a view to coolness. The .best mode of keeping buildings cool and free from flies during the " dog days" is to open all the windows and doors for an hour or two before sunrise, so as to fill every accessible portion of the building with the cool fresh air of the morning, and then to close them sufficiently to keep out the sun and light. The cold air within will serve as a barrier to the entrance of the heat during f the day, and the darkness to the entrance of J the flies and other insects.
