The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-04-19

OHendlnS members now OeueVe ne
calls it consumption of the bowels.
My opinion is, that he does not know
what ails her." .4.S.
"Well, my dear SIR" said firmly,
81 know what ails your daughter
She is. committing suicide !"
| The afflicted father lifted both his
hands, and stared at me in wondering
horror.
II know what 1 say. She made
the first attempt at Madame Boulard's
seminary ten years ago. saw her
do it myself. I have since seen it re-
peatedly, and am certain that it is
the cause Of her present condition."
"Why, in Heavens name, did you
not tell her mother or myself" he
gasped.
"You would not have believed 1t
possible. l used all my influence to
dissuade her from the deed, but to no
avail. Come to her room, and / will
prove what say"
The pale sufferer still insisted upon
robing herself each day as usual. She
half reclined upon a low couch, trying
to rise as we entered, but sinking
back exhausted. She looked won
drously beautiful at that moment.
Her golden hair tloated about her like
waves Of sunshine her luminous blue
eyes were full of weird, unearthly
brilliance; a rich carnation bloomed
upon her cheeks and lips-an ominous
flush like q gorgeous sunset which
precedes ight. Her dainty white
dress, with its lace-edged ruffles, was
" fanltily faultless;" her feet were
encased in the tiniest of slippers. AL
together, she looked quite the reverse
of Il self-mnrderer. The father gazed
into her face and disbelieved it in
stantly.
took from the table one Of her
school-books-a physiology-turned
to the diagram showing the natural
form of a healthy chest and the prop
er position of the organs it contains,
with the opposite plate, showing de-
formity caused by compression. l
read from it:
g 1t is Of the greatest Importance
that the motions of the chest and alb
domen should not be intcrfered with.
Freedom Of action is absolutely es.
sential here, where the lower portion
of the lungs, liver, spleen, stomach,
etc, are located. The important or
gan of respiration, the diaphragm, is
also here. Compress these parts, and
the diaphragm is hampered in it's ac-
ton, respiration is partially stopped,
the lungs and heart compressed, the
stomach and liver either forced out
of place, or what is worse, squeezed
into half the space they would natu-
rally otcupy. The portal circulation
is obstructed, and the viscer;. become
the scat of venous engagement"
$ That is precisely the condition of
yonr daughter, my dear friend,n l
said. " Look at her even to-day,
weak as she is, difficult as her lungs
would find this labor Of publication
ut any time, Or her heart its enormous
work of forcing out through its ven
tricles three ounces of blood at each
stroke, doing daily work equal to
lifting one hundred and tuenty- three
tons one foot from it's level, she has
compressed the room in which they
labor to almost half it's natural size,
crushing the heart against its walls,
entirely closing at least one-lalf of
the lung cells, and deluging her bowels
with impure blood, which produces
congestion and inflammation. A nat
ural waist for a woman of her size
would measure from twenty-eig to
thirty -four inches, if never artifcia11y
compressed. Cora, what is the size of
your corsets 7"
Eighteen inches," she answered
languidly, signing.
" From ten to fourteen inches less
room in a chest not q grain too large for
the all-important organs contained in
it! No wonder she is dying, sir. This
| call suicide!"
The poor father was shocked indeed.
He had "Never invaded the sacred
precincts of feminine mysteries;" he
" Supposed her mother ought to know"
And SO ought all mothers to know
that with the first half-inch of COM
preston about the waist none too
large when natural for either beauty
or life-tlleir daughters began the
crime of felo de sc. How many of
them do know the fact? How many
of them realize that disease of liver,
and consumption are legiti-
mate results of such compression
That deformities of the worst char
acter are produced in that manner
deformities of shoulder, of spine, of
hip; deformities of temper and mind
for impure blood flowing to the
brain will cause all varieties Of de-
physicians know, ut
last. Why will not mothers and daugh-
tiers he convincele
We are told on every side that a
slender waist is beautiful. Who has
made it so? Not the All-wise Artist
who created the human form, and
made it the most perfect gem in
universe of beauty; not the grand
old masters,
''Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors Of time;''
not the sublime genius Of the sculptor,