The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1826-04-26
.MentraI.
From the Boston Medical Intellisencer.l
TIGHT DRESSING.


TIGHT DRESSING.
One of the most striking follies Of
mankind in the present day, is the stu
pid homage they pay to fashion. In
one part of the world, bandage is ear
ly bound about the feet of small chill
dren, to preserve their delicacy by
stopping their growth in another, two
boards are placed on the head in infan-
cy, one behind and the other before,
and tied together to fldten, elongate.
and beauty the Uranium. In our own
country, the q human form divine'' is
distorted by the application of splints
and bandages, as though the form of the
body could be improved by being con-
fined in the surgeons apparatus for
dressing broken bones.
Stomach boards sliffen the body and
destroy the easy and graceful motions
for which it is by nature so admirably
fitted; they moreover tend much 10 The
displacement of parts which~in their
natural situation and form add greatly TO
female beauty. Tight lacing, with or
without stomsch boards, prevents the
free motion of the ribs necessary tn ca
sy breathing, confines the lungs. and di-
FINISHES the chamber in which the
neart beats as il ms with blood, and
frequently interrupts its action and pro-
duces fa;nting. From this practice aris-
es difficult breathing, palpiiation, acute
or low infamnatory actions. which are
liable 10 result in adhesions of contigu-
Gus parts, pain in the side, cough aud
consumption. This practice has lis ef-
fects, too, upon the organs in the upper
part of the abdomen, particularly the
stomach and liver. Compression, here
exerted, impedes the delicate processes
going on in these organs, the natural and
easy condition of which is essential TO
health. In this way a foundation is laid
for dyspepsia, with its train Of attend
ants, wind-belching, heartburn, bypo-
chondriasis and dyspeptic consumption.
When tight lacing is adopted, as it
often is, at the age Of II, l9, or 49, its
mischevous effects are in great meas
ure irrema diabie. The capacity of the
chest is permanently diminished, so that,
during the natural growth of those parts
which are confined, the lungs are pre-
vented from evolving to their natural
and necessary extent, thus establishing
a permanent disproportion between the
breathing and circulating systems, or
between the greater and lesser circula-
tions. This disfFepoTtion generates de-
rangement of function in the vital organs,
which tends TO produce a diseased sIuct-
are that medicine cannot remove.
The principal object in employing
the tight dressing apparatus. is to bring
about such an alteration 10 the form of
the body as to throw it out of all natu-
Tal proportion. This alteration, how
ever satisfactory it may be to the indi-
pidual, is violation Of acknowledged
principles of beauty. An inspection nf
the exquisite models of Grecian sculp- |
ture which have come down 10 us, and |
which, because true TO nature, have
stood the test Of criticism for tgUeaty CEN
turtles, and still command the homage of
genius, as combining all that delights in
native symmetry or elegant proportion,
clearly shows the absurdity of that
standard which dstorts the finest forms,
changes them into a resemblance of Ger
tain insect tribes, and revolts and sick
ems at the richest and fairest proper
tions with which the God of nature has
blessed the world.