Saving Strength. 



637 



\i 



Fig. 5. 



of greatest strength and flexibility. It is also the "line of beauty." 

 Upon the maintenance of this double-curve in the spine, the attitude of 

 the body as a whole, and the right positions of all the 

 vital organs primarily depend. Although this double- 

 curved line is the right line for the backbone always to 

 keep when the body is simply erect — either in a stand- 

 ing or sitting posture — deviations from this true line are 

 continually occurring during the manifold movements of 

 the body. 



The adjustability of the spine to the movement desired 

 is of great service to us in the tise of our bodily machine, 

 but we must be sure to bring the spine back to its natural 

 position — that of the double curve — -after every act that 

 causes it to bend or twist. The failure to do this is one of 

 the chief causes of the "aging" of the body, of undue 

 fatigue from work and of the ills that fiesh is not "heir to." 

 Healthful and injurious ways of using the body. — A tall, 

 thin woman is represented in Fig. 8 in what is a very com- 

 mon standing position — the back bowed outward in a single 

 curve, the chest and abdominal muscles collapsed. The same general 

 bad use of the body is seen in a sitting position. Fig. 12 (a). These 



positions compress the ribs and disastrously 

 interfere with the three indispensable vital 

 functions of life — respiration, circulation and 

 digestion. The chest is cramped and sunken, 

 making full, invigorating breathing impossi- 

 ble; the circulation is impeded by pressure 

 on the veins and arteries, caused by the 

 sagging of the hea\'y upper trunk ; while the 

 stomach, as a well-known physician has said, 

 "is literally crowded out of house and home." 

 A woman of medium height, inclined to be 

 stout, is represented in Fig. 10 in another 

 bad position. Here the upper part of the 

 trunk is thrust too far back, the lower part 

 too far forward. This position protrudes the 

 abdomen and flattens the lower part of the 

 spine. Women who so stand complain of 

 having "a flat back" and of "needing a little 

 bustle to give them any shape." And what is worse, in both of these 

 bad positions all of the supporting muscles of the trunk are incorrectly 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. 7. 



