Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/72

 *come retracted and tender. Physicians daily encounter the evil results of such folly, and many a mother has to forego the sweet toil of nursing her own children by having injured her breasts at the behest of fashion.

If something of the kind must be worn to make up the form in obedience to the mode, let it be the hollow hemispheres of vulcanized India-rubber or of woven wire, which are at once firm and elastic, which exert no pressure on the gland itself, yet give a perfect and fascinating outline. They are now manufactured of various sizes to suit, and may be had in this and other cities.

An instrument, which seems to have claims as a promoter of health and beauty, has been invented for improving the shape of the breast. It is a bowl of glass to which is fitted a stopcock. The air is exhausted by means of an air syringe, and a flow of blood to the part follows. It is highly likely that this device would be of considerable service, and that the breasts would be rendered much more shapely, and better adapted to fulfil their functions. The theory of the instrument is philosophical, and if used regularly for a sufficient time must certainly restore the organs in great measure to their proper shape, size, and function. As the breasts are delicate, and liable to various inflammatory diseases, proper caution should be observed not to injure them by too violent applications, and whenever tenderness is produced, the instrument