more substantial character, will be
required. The number of meals in the day should then be increased,
rather than the quantity taken at each meal.

CLOTHING.

The dress during pregnancy should be loose and comfortable, nowhere
pressing tightly or unequally. The word _enceinte_, by which a pregnant
woman is designated, meant, originally, without a cincture,--that is,
unbound. The Roman matrons, so soon as they conceived, were obliged to
remove their girdles. Lycurgus caused the enactment of the Spartan law,
that pregnant women should wear large dresses, so as not to prejudice
the free development of the precious charges of which nature had
rendered them the momentary depositaries. Stays or corsets may be used,
in a proper manner, during the first five or six months of pregnancy,
but after that they should either be laid aside, or worn very loosely.
Any attempt at concealing pregnancy, by tight lacing and the application
of a stronger busk, cannot be too severely condemned. By this false
delicacy the mother is subjected to great suffering, and the child
placed in jeopardy. The shape of the stays should be moulded to that of
the changing figure, and great care should be taken that they do not
depress the nipple or irritate the enlarging breasts.

The amount of clothing should be suited to the season, but rather
increased than diminished, owing to the great susceptibility of the
system to the vicissitudes of the weather. It is especially important
that flannel drawers should be worn during advanced pregnancy, as the
loose dress favors the admission of cold air to the unprotected parts of
the body. A neglect of this precaution sometimes leads to the
establishment of the painful disease known as rheumatism of the womb.

Pressure upon the lower limbs, in the neighborhood of the knee or the
ankle joint, should be avoided, more particularly towards the last
months. It is apt to produce enlargement and knotting of the vein,
swelling and ulcers of the legs, by which many women are crippled during
their pregnancies, and sometimes through life. Therefore the garters
should not be tightly drawn, and gaiters should not be too closely
fitted, while yet they should firmly support the ankle.

EXERCISE.

Moderate exercise in the open air is proper and conducive to health
during the whole period of pregnancy. It should never be so active nor
so prolonged as to induce fatigue. Walking is the best form of exercise.
Riding in a b