574 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



as the ox before the cart or plow. What would even 

 Dr. say if he should find one of these old-fash- 

 ioned agriculturists adjusting a yoke around the middle 

 of his female bovine, because her hips happened to 

 be a little wider than those of her broad-shouldered 

 brother ? 



'^A good deal more might be said in regard to 

 hats, shoes, and stockings. But as I remarked in the 

 beginning, women will settle all the questions of dress 

 for themselves. There is no evidence to show that in 

 this respect men have ever interfered with them; and 

 if they should presume to make the attempt, it is not 

 at all likely that their advice would be heeded. ' ' 



We are able at last to find one sentiment with which 

 we can quite agree. Women are settling this question 

 of dress for themselves, and are perfectly competent 

 to do so, and it is certainly to be hoped that they will 

 not allow fashion-blinded men, even though they may 

 be backed by the prestige of a world-wide reputa- 

 tion in some specialty, to interfere with their attempts 

 to rescue their sisters from the most thralling slavery 

 of modern times,— fashionable dress. 



The influence of dress in producing disease in 

 women is so important and far-reaching in its conse- 

 quences, that we feel it not out of place to devote some 

 additional space to the consideration of this question. 



First of all, attention is invited to the normal posi- 

 tion of the organs of the trunk. By referring to the 

 colored chart, it will be noted that the liver, spleen, 

 pancreas, and stomach are all located above or at the 

 waist. The transverse colon lies at the waist line. 

 The kidneys lie just at the waist. The greater portion 

 of the space below the waist is occupied by the small 

 intestines, the bladder, and the rectum, with the uterus 



