148 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



person, precisely as a large or small head is becoming to a 

 frame proportionally large or small. 



336, This is the plainly established principle of Nature. 

 We see it in all her works. If we examine the little child, 

 who has never worn any close dress, we find the circumfer- 

 ence of its chest about as great as that of the body at the 

 hips, and a line from the arm-pit to the hip would be nearly 

 straight. If the waist is never subjected to the pressure of 

 clothing, which would interfere with the motions of the ribs, 

 the chest will be continued through life in nearly the same 

 shape as that of the child, (Fig. XXIII.,) or of the Indian 

 female, whose garments have never been bound about the 

 chest. We see the same in many laborers, more especially 

 those from the middle and the north of the continent of Eu- 

 rope. The ancient statues show the full chest, the expanded 

 waist, and the broad freedom of the lungs for motion. 



FIG. XXII. 



FIG. XXIII. 



337. But the chests of many who are incased in a close 

 costume are small, and taper downwards from the shoulder 



