Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/56

 There is no great self-denial demanded from our fat friends thus far. But now we are going to be more disagreeable. We are going to criticize a number of delightful little self-indulgences. We shall not, however, be so odious as Dr. Unger, a German physician of renown. A patient once applied to him for some means to shorten his ever increasing waist-band.

"You can't do it with more honor to yourself," replied the surly old doctor, "than by studying algebra all night, and chopping wood all day."

No, we shall not go that far. We shall allow our corpulent client to sleep, but not over six or seven hours, and we stipulate for a hard bed. Pressure is a sovereign disperser of fat. She ought to rise early, and the first thing in the morning wash herself from head to foot with strong brine, of the temperature of the room. A handful of rock-salt to a basin of water is the proportion. She must then rub herself dry with a rough towel, or, still better, a pair of rough flesh gloves. If in a city, a Turkish or Russian bath twice a week is not amiss.

There is to be no nap at all, not a wink, during the daytime. If she feels drowsy, she should take some active exercise. Exercise it is true is not indispensable, but it is a useful assistant. We have explained that much of so-called fat is only water. This may be driven from the system by perspiration, and by the action of the kidneys and the lungs. If, therefore, in