EDUCATION OF YOUTH. 265 



weakness, is still further aggravated by the tight pres- 

 sure of the stays interrupting the play of the muscles, 

 and rendering them in a few months more powerless 

 than ever." 



"In spite, however, of the weariness and mischief 

 which result from it, the same system is persevered in ; 

 and, except during the short time allotted to that nomi- 

 nal exercise, the formal walk, the body is left almost as 

 motionless as before, the lower limbs only being -called 

 into activity. The natural consequences of this treat- 

 ment are debility of the body, curvature of the spine, 

 impaired digestion, and from the diminished tone of all 

 the animal and vital functions, general ill health : and 

 yet, while we thus set Nature and her laws at defiance, 

 we presume to express surprise at the prevalence of fe- 

 male deformity and disease." 



In the " Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine," the same 

 subject occupies the attention of several writers, and suf- 

 ficient proof is there adduced that Dr. Combe has not 

 been mistaken in his apprehensions with respect to the 

 consequences of the course of physical education above 

 described. 



Dr. Forbes, one of the writers above referred to, says 

 that he " lately visited a boarding school in a large town, 

 containing forty girls ; and that he learned on close and 

 accurate inquiry, that there was not one of these girls who 

 had been at the school two years, (and the majority had 

 been there as long,) that were not more or less CROOKED !" 



" Our patient," he continues, " was in this predica- 

 ment ; and \ye could perceive, (what all may perceive 

 who meet that most melancholy of all processions a 

 boarding school of young ladies in their walk,) that all 

 her companions were pallid, sallow, and listless. We 

 can assert, on the same authority of personal observa- 

 tion, and on an extensive scale, that scarcely a single 

 girl, (more especially of the middle classes,) that has 

 been at a boarding school for two or three years, returns 

 home with unimpaired health ; and for the truth of this 

 assertion, we may appeal to every candid fattier, whose 

 daughters have been placed in this situation." 



In the same work, it is stated by Dr. Barlow, that at 

 least in some boarding schools, it is the practice to al- 

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