578 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



the body at the waist, interferes with the normal activ- 

 ity and development of the muscles which form the 

 anterior wall of the lower trunk, so that they offer little 

 resistance to the displacing force applied at the waist. 



In twenty years of medical practice, we have had 

 to deal almost exclusively with chronic disorders of 

 various sorts, and especially with two classes of chronic 

 disease,— digestive disorders, and maladies peculiar 

 to women. Having under observation from 1,000 to 

 1,500 cases annually, in conditions favorable for care- 

 ful study and comparison, we long ago noticed the 

 remarkable frequency of the association of certain 

 forms of pelvic disorder (especially in women) with a 

 narrow waist and a protruding abdomen. We did not, 

 however, attach so great importance to the matter as 

 we should have done, because we had an erroneous 

 notion respecting the normal contour of the female 

 figure. It was only after careful study of this matter 

 among savage women, and women whose figures had 

 never been modified by the deforming influence of the 

 ordinary civilized dress, that we acquired a basis from 

 which to view this subject in a rational way. We then 

 began careful inquiry into the matter, and for several 

 years back have made, in all cases of pelvic disease of 

 women coming under my observation, a careful study 

 of the condition and relative position of the various 

 abdominal viscera, as well as of the pelvic organs. 



In 250 cases of women suffering from pelvic dis- 

 eases, taken consecutively and without selection, in 

 each of which a careful examination was made with 

 reference to the condition and position of each of the 

 abdominal viscera as well as of the pelvic organs, we 

 observed the following disturbances of the static re- 

 lations of the viscera: 



