be in the want of adapting the external conditions of the body to the requirements of Nature.
In mentioning the above facts we desire above all things to impress it upon the mind of the reader that we have exaggerated nothing, as many ladies can unfortunately testify. We have, however, only pointed out the evil for the purpose of suggesting the remedy, which is to have the corsets specially adapted to every occasion in life. Any verbal description, however, would, in a great measure, be inadequate to a proper understanding of the matter: to be fully comprehended the thing must be shown, and it is for this purpose that we have added to our ordinary show-room an anatomical gallery, containing the most perfect and beautiful set of preparations ever exhibited. It is here that we are enabled to demonstrate what the real changes are which take place in the figure during the whole period of gestation-to point out the particular parts which have to sustain the burden, and the manner in which our external adaptations give support to the internal organs. It is here that we always take the sufferer, that she may see with her own eyes what it is that afflicts her.
From what has been already advanced, it will naturally follow that the manner of constructing the corset must differ with every individual case. A young, slight-built mother with her first child will require a very different adaptation from a lady who is the mother of several children and been subject to painful labour, and has perhaps met with some accident, or is suffering from some disorder or infirmity, in whom the muscular relaxation is great, the bulk heavy, and the abdomen pendulous. It must be obvious, at first sight, that particular adaptations are necessary to meet her case, and that no rule, except that of giving support where support is needed, can be followed here. And this indeed is the principle we adopt, and hence our invariable success.
Hitherto we have considered Gestation only; it remains now to follow the consequences which result from it. Those ladies who have already passed through the ordeal know by experience what the discomforts are that result from the old routine of bandages; how imperfect, clumsy, heavy, and heating they are: they know the inconvenience of pins, how often they require regulating, and upon the whole how loose, shifting, and disagreeable they are. But if it was only the discomfort of the moment, it might be easily borne, and would be of little consequence.
