Now in the ordinary condition every inch of space is occupied by the various organs, and the compression can only be exercised at their expense. The stomach, bowels, and liver will be directly affected, pressed together to some extent, and also to some degree forced upwards or downwards. This undue pressure tends to prevent full growth of the parts, and, even if they have previously been fully developed, some degree of wasting (atrophy) or shrinking After death the liver on examination has been seen to bear permanent marks of the ribs pressed on it by tight lacing. For even though the pressure is relaxed every time the corsets are removed, the continuous daily recurrence of the compression gradually establishes a per manent state of constriction, so that the parts do not return to their normal size on removal of the pressing force. It is undoubted that indigestion, disturbances of the liver and bowels —even ulceration of the stomach--have been the results of the persistent practice of wearing tight stays. Besides being themselves directly affected in this way, these organs, according to the amount of displacement they are bound to experience, alter the relations of others.
Pressed upwards, they encroach on the space that ought to belong to heart and lungs, breathing is disturbed, and the natural action of the heart interfered with. Palpitation, faintness, and many other heart symptoms may be the direct consequences. Then the pressure exerted downwards inconveniences the bladder, and is a very frequent cause of altered positions and disordered functions of the special female organs. Displacements of the womb, with all the manifold influences they may have on the monthly illness, are recog nized as often produced by such a cause as this. While such evils as these result from the practice, what benefits, it may be asked, are supposed to be derived from it? It can hardly now be maintained that the "taper waist" is desirable from its beauty. Any standard of beauty as regards human form is derived rather from that which appears to be most perfect in its development and most natural in its outlines. Greek statuary shows with perfect distinctness the views held by the ancients on the subject. The Venus of Melos shows the natural outline of the waist, and is a model of what its sculptor must have esteemed an ideal of beauty. The wood-cut in the text, taken from a photograph, while it sufficiently indicates the outline, cannot suggest the dig nity and grace which the statue itself so won derfully exhibits. Let anyone compare this outline with that given to the female form in any fashion-plate, and there ought not to be much difficulty in admitting that the " taper waist" is, strictly speaking, a deformity arti ficially produced. It is urged, however, that stays are necessary to distribute the weight of the clothes and to give some support to the back. As to distributing the weight of the clothes, it has been already indicated that the suspension of so many clothes from the waist, which is supposed to necessitate the use of the corset, is itself a grave mistake, and there can be no doubt that the clothes can be so adjusted from the shoulders as to render any such artifice as stays unneces sary. As to the need of support ing the back, that is rather the effect than the cause of stays. For the fashion in which, even from infancy, children are hedged in, from the hips to the arm-pits, by a more or less stiff wall, is un doubtedly productive of feeble development and deficient vigour of the great muscles which run right down the back on each side of the back-bone. It is one of the first laws of growth that moderate and regular exercise of a part of the body strengthens that part; in short, that its strength is in pro portion to the use that is made of it, and that, on the other hand, disuse of a part inevitably tends to weakness and wasting. Now the swathing to which infants and young children are subjected so restrains the activities of the muscles of the trunk that proper exercise of them is impossible, and the corsets of later years even more effectually impede their ac tivities. It is therefore the stays that render
the back weak, not the weakness of the back that renders the stays necessary.
Suggestions as to Healthy Clothing. These are some general criticisms, meant to point out the errors, from a point of view of health, in the general character of woman's dress. It is only women themselves, however, who can successfully carry out any reform in this direction. Fashion is too imperious to bow to the authority even of health, and, probably, the necessary reforms will not al' be carried out till the time arrives when health becomes fashionable. But even though the outward appearance of woman's clothing must be regu lated, not by a question of comfort and physical well-being, but mainly by the whim and caprice of the rulers of fashion, every woman has it in her power, while submitting to the fashion makers, to adapt her clothing in order that it may fulfil more thoroughly than it usually does its obvious purposes. That is to say, if a woman must conform to what other people wear in the matter of a cloak or a jacket,'a bodice and skirt, and if she must cut her bodice in accordance with the mood of the times, and adorn her skirt with furbelows or frills as the newest style directs, she can at least exercise her own will as to the nature of that portion of her cloth ing which is not meant to be visible. Under clothing consistent with health is not a very elaborate affair. There ought to be a garment next the skin, made of wool or flannel, shaped to fit easily. A knitted "suit" would probably be the most useful. It should reach up to the neck, fitting it as close as is comfortable, and ought to be provided with sleeves down past the elbow, also easy fitting. The lower part of this combination garment would extend below the knee. Over this, linen garments might be put on according to the pleasure of the wearer, but they ought not to be made with that exuberance of material, both in length and breadth, which is customary, and which necessi tates so many creases and folds and doublings. Thus a chemise might be made with some respect to the length and circumference of the body it was designed to clothe. Any petticoat ought not to be simply fastened round the waist, but ought to be suspended by something like braces from the shoulders, or by buttoning on to a light bodice. But if any additional heavy underclothing is required, for more warmth, it ought to approach as nearly as possible to a divided garment that will cover each leg sepa rately. Such light petticoats as are worn for ap pearance need, of course, no such division. Now it cannot be said that underclothing of such description as this demands anything in the nature of stays, for there is no great weight in it, and what weight there is is borne from the shoulder. Stays, therefore, ought to be entirely discarded as an article of dress, of whatever description they may lie, for children, girls, and young women. It may be admitted, however, that nursing mothers require more support to the breasts than ordinary clothing supplies, and that for them some form of corset is required. But this ought rather to be in the shape of a bodice made of stouter material than usual, and such a bodice could be readily made without the steel bands and other stiff structures of which ordinary corsets chiefly con sist. Women who have naturally more largely developed breasts than usual could adopt such a form of support as would easily meet the re quirements of comfort and appearance. This healthy form of underclothing that has been suggested, if it were adopted, need not inter fere with the wearing of a dress and its bodice made according to the requirements of the times, and thus health and fashion would each have a due amount of regard paid to them.