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82 thing, or it would have been banished out of the world long ago.

Now, we hope to reverse the dictum of Mr. Whitfield and other medical men, who contend that stays and corsets are bad things, and in the course of this chapter show that, properly constructed, cor­sets are, as articles of dress, the most useful and in every sense the most beneficial that can be con­structed—that is, of course, when they are properly adapted to the body; for if, either through igno­rance or a mistaken idea of fashion, the construction be faulty, and a compression of the chest ensue, why, then, undoubtedly it is far better to be without them altogether. It is a matter of little consequence for us to inquire here why the female figure needs support more than that of the male. In a purely natural, or rather savage state, perhaps it does not; but in all times when beauty and comfort are studied, cor­sets will undoubtedly be worn, and there are many reasons why they should be. The delicacy of the intercostal muscles, the falling of the breasts, the spreading of the frame at a certain period of life, all call for support, and call for it too in a manner that must be attended to. And to what purpose are the resources of art, if they are not to supply the