I3i8 



The Cornell Reading-Courses 



Fig. ii 



Bend from the hips, not from the back. — The right poise of the body is 

 the first great essential in physical economy. After that, nothing is more 



important to housekeepers than to know how to 

 bend and stoop with the least strain, the least expen- 

 diture of nervous energy, and the least interference 

 with the vital functions. Every woman will recog- 

 nize the too familiar bend and stoop from the 

 shoulders and back — with an accompanying break 

 at the waistline in front — seen in the woman 

 washing dishes (Fig. n), in the woman washing 

 clothes (Fig. 12), and in the woman picking up some- 

 thing from the floor (Fig. 13). 



Nature's bending places are the hip joints and 

 the knees. When we ignore the hip joints and the 

 knees and put their legitimate 

 work on the back, Nature 

 resents our failure to cooperate with her. She " gets 

 even " with us by enfeebling the digestion, by 

 making the back bowed, old, and weak and the 

 body heavy and set, and by otherwise " stealing 

 away our youth and health unawares." The office 

 of the muscles of the back is primarily to keep the 

 trunk of the body normally erect. In leaning some- 

 what forward, as in sweeping (Fig. 14), in washing 

 (Fig. 15), in all kitchen-table work — such as 

 kneading bread, rolling pie crusts, preparing vege- 

 tables, and washing dishes (Fig. 16) — let the move- 

 ment be from the hips, keeping 



the back in nearly the same position that it has when 

 one stands easily erect (Figs. 5 and 8). In stooping 

 to pick up something from the floor, the knees should 

 bend and the large muscles of the legs should carry 

 the body and arms down within reach of the object 

 desired. The ugly and fatiguing way to pick up an 

 object is to strain the back and cramp the pelvic 

 organs, as in Fig. 13. 



In order that there may not be some undue strain, 

 even when one bends forward from the hips in the 

 right way, kitchen tables, ironing boards, sinks, and 

 washtub stands should be made considerably higher 

 than they usually are. A table too low for a woman's height causes her, 

 almost unavoidably, to sin against her health and comfort. Tables 



Fig. 12 



Fig. 13 



