As regards covering for the feet and legs, woollen stockings ought to be worn, but the usual method of securing them by garters round the knee is highly injurious. Any garter to be sufficiently tight for this purpose must press on the veins of the surface, and thus impede the circulation in the skin. This obstacle to the free upward flow of blood from the foot and leg causes an accumulation of blood in the wills; the pressure of blood becomes so increased that the walls of the veins are apt to yield, especially in older persons, and varicose veins or a swollen and inflamed condition of'the skin are in time the results. They often lead also to a feeling of weariness and pain, just owing to the interference with the circulation. The stockings ought, therefore, to be secured by suspenders connected with the shoulder-brace or bodice. The form boots and shoes ought to take is considered under HYGIENE.
It cannot be too strongly impressed upon mothers, and those who have the charge of girls, that attention ought to be paid to the clothing of girls, to ensure that the purposes of clothing are carried out, and are not carried out in any way that is inconsistent with the highest degree of health and healthy growth. Many
of the most serious evils of a woman's life, and an innumerable number of the minor ailments that seem little in themselves, but nevertheless among them make the difference between an active, bright, and energetic woman and an ailing and feeble woman, are the result of mis taken notions in clothing of which the woman was the victim during the period of childhood and youth. Grown-up women may dress them selves as they please, and may violate the laws of health, if they choose to sacrifice themselves to foolish notions of what is desirable in female form, but they are not entitled to humour their fancies in the dress of their children, if the methods they adopt are likely to hinder the healthy growth of the children, or tend even indirectly to encourage feebleness.