be strengthened by an immense number of springs and bones, placed without the least regard to the anatomical construction of the body; and that, moreover, in order to give the necessary power of motion to the figure, pieces of elastic are fitted in at the back. Now, by this arrangement, the lady who subjects herself to this machine may for a few days be kept erect by the pressure of the busk. As for grace or comfort, that is totally out of the question, as the busk presses too much upon the chest and abdomen to permit ease to be for one moment a matter of consideration, and in the course of a very short time the busk becomes the whole medium of support; it bends under the weight, and by its inward curvature presses on the very portion of the body whose free action is essential to health. In this case the stays only aggravate the evil; for, if she must stoop, it is better that she should do so without the corset than with it. In the former case, there is only the weight of the body pressing upon itself, in the latter the busk acts as a lever to increase the pressure upon the oppressed organs.
Any person who has the curiosity to examine the figure of a lady who is in the habit of wearing stays that are ill constructed, will observe that at the back the bones with which they are filled stand promi-
