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CHAP. X.] called into question by intelligent but presuming male relations, arguments are sure to be found to defend it, and, whether justly or unjustly, the rash adviser is generally ignominiously defeated. Thus, a woman whose muscles, as I just now pointed out, have been weakened by tight stays, will declare with some show of reason that she could not sit or stand upright without their support.

No lady under any circumstances will own to lacing tightly, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred she will challenge her accuser to what is apparently a crucial experiment by exclaiming, "I wear tight stays! why, just see, you can put your hand up underneath them." And in point of fact this frequently can be done: but it is really no test at all, for by drawing in the abdominal muscles which act upon the chest end of the ribs, and at the same time raising the diaphragm, and leaning forward, she diminishes the girth of her body, although putting extra pressure on the internal organs.

These arguments, then, are mere sophistry, and a more searching test is required than that above; as such, I would suggest the plan practised by Mr. Bernard Roth, F.R.C.S., when he suspects his patients of tight-lacing. The stays should be opened, all bands of the clothing loosened, and the girl or woman accused of this crime against health should be made to draw breath deeply and slowly several times in succession, holding her arms up above her head with the shoulders well thrown back. Then while standing erect she should try