THE DIGESTION 233 



organs had been growing, but the waist had not. The 

 organs had been growing out of place. The muscles of 

 the trunk had not been growing, because their exercise was 

 prevented by tight skirt-bands or corsets. The weak 

 abdominal muscles become distended by the weight of 

 the organs, and the abdomen sags downward and extends 

 too far forward. The proper support being removed, the 

 stomach, liver, kidneys, and other organs sag downward 

 and drag and pull upon their points of attachment and 

 cause pain and distress in all parts of the trunk, especially 

 in the back, because of the pulling and stretching of the 

 nerves leading from these organs to the spine. 



413. Having worked perseveringly to get the organs 

 down out of the waist and make it small, the woman would 

 now give treasures to get them back again. The contor- 

 tions such as the " straight front " and " Grecian bend " 

 are attempts to conceal deformities of waist and abdomen. 

 The cause of the trouble dates back to the year the grow- 

 ing girl began to wear her skirts tied around the waist in- 

 stead of sewed to the upper part of the dress. Growth at 

 the waist immediately ceased. If she had only waited, the 

 chest and hips would have developed and the waist would 

 have become rightly proportioned soon enough. It is said 

 that a majority of women are sufferers from headache, 

 backache, and other weakness which could have been obvi- 

 ated by comfortable and therefore graceful clothing. This 

 want of foresight has made invalids and nervous wrecks of 

 thousands of women, who try one surgeon and physician 

 after another, seeking relief. Such a woman is unsuited for 

 the proud position of presiding over the household, her 

 diseases cast a gloom over the family life. The world is 

 not so bright to her, and life is not so joyous as it should 

 be. Yet many a delicate woman would have been able 

 to retain her health if she had not had a dissipated and 

 drunken, or a nervous, tobacco-soaked, husband. It is 



