rstood.
The construction of their language was simple and easily understood, and
in a short time I was able to read it with ease, and to listen to it
with enjoyment. Yet, before this was accomplished, I had mingled among
them for months, listening to a musical jargon of conversation, that I
could neither participate in, nor understand. All that I could therefore
discover about them during this time, was by observation. This soon
taught me that I was not in a seminary--in our acceptance of the
term--but in a College of Experimental Science. The ladies--girls I had
supposed them to be--were, in fact, women and mothers, and had reached
an age that with us would be associated with decrepitude, wrinkles and
imbecility. They were all practical chemists, and their work was the
preparation of food from the elements. No wonder that they possessed the
suppleness and bloom of eternal youth, when the earthy matter and
impurities that are ever present in our food, were unknown to theirs.

I also discovered that they obtained rain artificially when needed, by
discharging vast quantities of electricity in the air. I discovered that
they kept no cattle, nor animals of any kind for food or labor. I
observed a universal practice of outdoor exercising; the aim seeming to
be to develop the greatest capacity of lung or muscle. It was
astonishing the amount of air a Mizora lady could draw into her lungs.
They called it their brain stimulant, and said that their faculties were
more active after such exercise. In my country, a cup of strong coffee,
or some other agreeable beverage, is usually taken into the stomach to
invigorate or excite the mind.

One thing I remarked as unusual among a people of such cultured taste,
and that was the size of the ladies' waists. Of all that I measured not
one was less than thirty inches in circumference, and it was rare to
meet with one that small. At first I thought a waist that tapered from
the arm pits would be an added beauty, if only these ladies would be
taught how to acquire it. But I lived long enough among them to look
upon a tapering waist as a disgusting deformity. They considered a large
waist a mark of beauty, as it gave a greater capacity of lung power; and
they laid the greatest stress upon the size and health of the lungs. One
little lady, not above five feet in height, I saw draw into her lungs
two hundred and twenty-five cubic inches of air, and smile proudly when
she accomplished it. I mea