UNCHASTITY 229 



All these causes combined, operating almost con- 

 stantly,— with others that might be mentioned,— pro- 

 duce permanent local congestion, with ovarian and 

 uterine derangements. The latter affections have long 

 been recognized as the chief pathological condition in 

 hysteria, and especially in that peculiar form of disease 

 known as nymphomania, under the excitement of 

 which a young woman, naturally chaste and modest, 

 may be impelled to the commission of the most wanton 

 acts. The pernicious influence of fashionable dress 

 in occasioning this disorder cannot be doubted. 



Reform in Dress Needed.— The remedy for these 

 evils, the only way to escape them, is reformation. The 

 dress must be so adjusted to the body that every organ 

 will be allowed free movement. No corset, band, belt, 

 or other means of constriction, should im>oede the cir- 

 culation. Garments should be suspended from the 

 shoulders by means of a waist, or by proper suspend- 

 ers. The limbs should be as warmly clad as any other 

 portion of the body. How best to secure these require- 

 ments of health may be learned from several excellent 

 works on dress reform, any of which can be readily 

 obtained of the publishers of this work or their agents. 



Fashionable Dissipation.— The influence of so 

 important an agent for evil in this direction as fash- 

 ionable dissipation cannot be ignored. By fashionable 

 dissipation we mean that class of excesses in the indul- 

 gence in which certain classes, usually the more wealthy 

 or aristocratic, pride themselves. Among this class of 

 persons a man who is known to be a common drunkard 

 would not be recognized ; such a person would be care- 

 fully shunned; yet a total abstainer would be avoided 

 with almost equal care, and would be regarded as a 

 fanatic or an extremist, at least. AVith this class, wine- 



