indeed, carefully studied every form of uterine disorder and deformity, and have special adaptations for EVERY PERIOD AND FOR EVERY COMPLAINT that woman is peculiarly liable to. The pathology of those stages in her life belongs to the physician; but the special insight into what should give her relief or restore the figure is our business, and where medicine either fails or is useless our work begins.
There is one other matter connected with this subject that we intend to mention, and that is Abortion—a thing which may be reckoned amongst the accidents of life, since it generally arises from some external cause. Among the numerous causes, however, of this accident, related in the works dedicated to this special subject, there is one which, although common, is unnoticed—the tendency of the corset to press downwards! This fact we will briefly explain. Abortion generally takes place between the eighth and twelfth week, which is the time when the fœtus is increased so as to rise above the edge of the pelvic cavity, and begins to elevate itself in the abdomen, and is then liable to meet with external obstacles created by the corset, which as a consequence compresses the body more closely. The wisdom displayed during these changes is manifest. For as the development progresses there is an extraordinary action by which the increasing bulk goes on, moving in every direction the abdominal organs, which yield under the pressure. The natural weight of the intestines is overcome, the habitual connection is destroyed, and the locality of the viscera changed; while at the same time the muscles are elongated, and the integuments distended. It is unwise to tamper with, or to attempt to interpose or interrupt these sanatory proceedings; for in the operations of Nature, as well as in the productions of man, there are limits to the special power applied for a given purpose. In the marvellous arrangements of fœtal gestation there is no waste of power, but every process is calculated with unerring certainty, and definite proportions regulate the amount of strength required; therefore any foreign agent which would prevent the abdomen from expanding must be a cause of pain, suffering, and disappointment to the incipient mother; and if she survives the trial, she may be left the remainder of her life permanently injured. It is a very simple problem to comprehend why these results are induced; for if the resisting agent is greater than the organic power supplied by Nature, the latter succumbs, and the consequences we have indicated
