Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1856-06-07
How to Preserve Women.

There is nothing in the world that we think
SO much of as we do of women. Our mother is
woman-wife, sisters, pretty cousens, are all
women and the daughters will be if (Heaven
spare them y they live long enough And then
there is a love of women in general, which we do
not deny. A fine, magnificent specimen of the
sex, full of life and health ripe red cheek and
lip, and flashing eye, is something that does one
good to look at, as she Eliminates the humdrum
sidewalks of everyday streets. A North River
Steamboat under full headway, with colors fly
ing is rather pretty sight-rather stirring and
inspiring; and we pull up our tired nag on the
shore to see her pass, and admire the swell she
cuts. Comparatively, however, the steamer
sinks into insigni6cance, or some other very deep
water, by the side of well kept, well dressed
the ornament, charm, blessing, beauty and bliss
of life, (man's life we mean, of course Any
means that can be devised for preserving them
should be publicly made known. They are diff
ferent from any other kind of fruit You cannot
pickle them. You cannot do them up in sugar
and set them in cold room, with paper soaked
in brandy over their mouths. You cannot put
them in cans and seal them up air tight, without
injuring their form and favor. Now, as men
are so dependent upon women for life's choicest
blessings proper mode of preserving them be-
comes matter Of grear moment, and we are
sure that the public will thank us for an unfail
ing receipt.
Have the feet well protected, then pay the
next attention to the chest. The chest is the
repository of the vital organs. There abide the
heart and lungs. 1t is from the impressions
made upon these organs through the skin, that
the shiver comes. 1t is natures quake-the
alarm bell-at the onset of danger. woman
nevet shivers from the effect of cold upon her
limbs, or hands, or head but let the cold strike
through her clothing on her chest, and off go her
teeth into chatter, and the whole organism is
in commotion. One sudden and severe impress
sion of cold upon the chest has slain its tens of
thousands. Therefore, while the feet are well
looked after, never forget the chest. These
points attended to, the natural connections Of
the dress will supply the rest, and the woman
is ready for the air. Now let her visit her neigh
bors, 60 shopping, call upon the poor, and walk
for the good of it, or the fun of it.
Keep away from the stove or the Register.
Air that is dry and burnt, more or less charged
with gases evolved by the fuel, is poison. Go
up stairs and make the beds with mittens on
Fly around the house like mad, and ventilate
the rooms. Don't sit pent up in single room
full form and favor in air-tight cans; neither
will women. They need air. If the shiver
comes on during these operations, go direcrly
and put on something more about the chest.
Again. do not live in dark rooms. Light fades
the carpet but it feeds the flower. No living
thing, animal or Vegetable can enjoy health in
darkness. Light is almost as nessesary as air,
and brown tan is far preferable, even as mat
ter of beauty, to sickly paleuess Of complexion.
Thus much in regard to the physical means
for preservation. There are moral means no less
important. Every woman should be married to
an excellent man. Marriage, it is true, brings
care and wear, but it is the ring that is worn
that keeps bright, and the watch that lies still
aud unwound that gets out of order. The sweet
sympathies evolved in the relations of the family,
the new energies developed by new responsible
tiles, the new compensation for all outlays of
strength, bring about delightful play Of the
heart and intellect, which, in their reaction upon
the body, produces an effect that is nothing less
than preservation. Then there is higher moral
power than this-one which we speak Of soberly
and honestly. No one is completely armed
against the encroaching ills of life-who has in
the heart no place for religion. The calmness,
the patience, and the joy and hope that are in
possession Of the woman whose heart is right in
its highest relation, can never fail to preserve
and heighten every personal power and charm
that he possesses.
There! you have the receipt. Some Of it is
in sportive form, but it is none the less sober
truth It has within it the cure for many dis
ease-the preventative for more. 1t might be
made longer, but when we see its prescriptions
universally adopted, it will be time to bring for
ward the remainder.