because we not only took a scientific view of the body, but a geometrical measurement of it. It would be of no interest to the general reader to give the method by which we proceeded; it is enough for us to say, that by an elaborate calculation we succeeded in meeting all the requirements of the case, and hence the perfection of our inventions. Corset-making with us becomes an art which requires a scientific education to pursue it.
The result of all this care and study was the formation of a figure, in some measure ideal, but still true to life, on which our corsets might be tried, and to which they might be adapted. The figure which we give in another part of this work is one of our first designs. It is a copy from nature, but such a copy as enables one to form a conception of the beauty of the human race when the end of nature has been attained, in giving the proper development to the body. This was our first triumph: we had succeeded in inventing an artificial envelope, which, whilst it gave freedom to the motions, afforded ample support to the yielding parts. All the rest of our adaptations are only modifications of this, rendered necessary
