hat the corset reduced the breathing capacity
one-fifth.

"Let me read you another little item:

"'Dr. Dickenson has been studying the pressure of the corset. He says
that in the ordinary breathing we have to overcome in the resistance and
elasticity of chest and lungs a force of 170 pounds. If the woman whose
waist measure is 27 inches wears a corset of the same size, so that her
waist is not compressed at all, there is added a force of 40 pounds. If
her natural waist measure is 27 inches and is reduced by the corset to
25-1/2 inches, the pressure is 73 pounds.'

"When Dr. Lucy Hall was physician at Vassar College, she made some
observations as to the mental powers manifested by those who wore and
those who did not wear corsets. In a graduating class in which there
were thirty-five girls, nineteen wore no corsets; eighteen members of
the class took honors, and of these thirteen wore no corsets; seven of
the class were appointed to take part in public on Commencement Day, and
six of these wore no corsets. All who took prizes for essays wore no
corsets; five girls were class-day orators, and four of these wore no
corsets; five had not missed a day in four years, and one had not missed
a day in six years. That speaks pretty loudly in favor of doing without
corsets, doesn't it?"

"Yes, indeed; but some of the girls care more for looks than for class
honors. They say a girl looks so queer without a corset."

"That is because we have set up false standards of beauty. If we examine
the finest statuary of all ages, we shall not find a single figure that
has been accustomed to tight clothing. The artist copies God's ideal
figure of the woman, not that of the fashion plate. You see, we have
become so accustomed to the deformed figure that we call it beautiful,
just as the Chinese woman thinks her deformed foot is beautiful."

"O, isn't it dreadful that the Chinese bind up the feet of the little
girls as they do?"

"It certainly is; but not as dreadful as that Christian women bind up
the vital parts of the body and prevent their working as they should.
One can live without feet, but one could not live without heart and
lungs and other vital organs, and can only half live when these organs
are cramped and crowded together so they cannot work properly. If we
were all truly artistic we would be pained at the sight of the small
waist, for we should know that it was procured at the expense of the
vital organs. You have heard o