Page:HealtBeautyMadameCaplin - 48.png

48 with as little regard to the anatomical structure of the body and the requirements of the vital organs, as if science had made no progress nor art any advancement. This is greatly to be regretted. We have no desire, neither have we the means, to manufacture corsets for all the women in the united kingdom; but common humanity makes us hope that we shall not always have to witness the suffering and deformity that it is our lot to behold at present.

Although we have only spoken of the above, let no one suppose that this comprehends the whole that we have done to improve the corset, or that it in any way represents the special adaptations which we have made for the ever-varying wants that are presented to us. Let any one look upon the first hundred ladies that may be met with, and take notice of the different figures, from the most sylph-like form down to the absolutely deformed, and just think for a moment that we have to meet the wants of everyone of them; to sustain the grace and elegance of one, and repair the deficiencies of another; prop up a dilapidated side, and com­press the protruding shoulder; and to do this in every case without inflicting pain or interfering with the perfect parts of the system, and it will be at once perceived that scores of different adaptations and inven­tions are required to accomplish those various purposes.

The contrast between ours and the ordinary corset may be best seen by looking at Plate I., Figs. 1 and 2. In the first figure all the beauty and symmetry are preserved and displayed; in the second the head is poking forward, the chest is contracted, and all the great organs of life are suffering from the compression to which they are subjected; add to this, that the beauty is destroyed, and you may then, from the homeliness of the person and the failing health of the subject, form an idea of the evils resulting from an ill-fitting corset.

A still further illustration of this is given in Plate II. In Fig. 1 the shoulder is depressed, the side contracted, and the whole body thrown out of proportion; whilst her companion, wearing a corset adapted to the body, displays all the grace and elegance of a finely-­developed figure. Reverse the attire. Let the deformed lady be pro­perly supported, and in six months her figure will be equal to that of her companion.

An example of the ugly gait consequent upon the common style of dress is shown in Plate III., Fig. 1; and the same figure restored to