FURNITURE, AND ITS USES. 237 



cessary to spoil the lungs, and thus induce dis- 

 ease and shorten life, in order to teach their 

 children, pupils, or cadets, the art of putting 

 back their shoulders and walking erect. 



TIGHT LACING. Our health is always in- 

 jured by all sorts of lacing, as well as by stays, 

 braces, corsets, tight vests, &c. We are not 

 only the more exposed to colds, pleurisies, fe- 

 vers and consumptions, but also to diseases of 

 the very bones themselves the breast bone, 

 the ribs and the spine. I say again, therefore, 

 beware of anything tight about the breast. 

 The Prussian physicians recommend to peo- 

 ple to- wear no cravat or stock, and to leave 

 their bosoms unbuttoned and bare ; and no 

 people in the same climate, and under similar 

 circumstances in other respects, are more free 

 from consumptions and all sorts of diseases of 

 the lungs, than those who observe this rule. 



It is very strange that so many people and 

 some too who think themselves very wise 

 teachers should still hold to the idea that 

 moderately tight lacing of the lungs strength- 

 ens them. Mrs. Phelps, in her " Lectures to 

 Young Ladies," inculcates this erroneous idea. 



