The skirts and other garments should be supported from the shoulders, and not from the waist. To this end, an under jacket, close-fitting, but in no sense compressing the body, loose in texture so as to be permeable to the air, with straps over the shoulders, should be worn. To this, by means of buttons, all the lower garments should be attached. No steel or other stiff supports should be tolerated. With this system in general use for a generation, the amount of suffering saved would be incalculable, and the advantage to the race would be beyond compute. =The Feet.=--In so far as the health is affected by the dress, next to the evils of tight lacing come the evils of tight shoes. The feet being remote from the heart, the circulation of the blood at this point is not as free as in other parts of the body. This in itself tends to beget cold feet, and at once suggests the advantage of warm stockings and stout shoes in order to keep out the cold and wet, and to induce a freer current of warmth-producing blood. The small foot is almost as much an object of worship as the small waist. The temptation to cramp it by tight and ill-fitting shoes is great, and is not wholly confined to the weaker sex. Large shoes may be ill-fitting and injurious, as well as small ones, often rubbing the skin and producing blisters and sores. The shoes should be close-fitting but not tight, thus allowing free circulation of air as well as of blood, and also the freest action of the bones and muscles. Like other parts of the dress, the shoes must be adapted to the season. In cold and wet weather the soles should be thick so as to keep out the dampness. The maxim, “Keep the feet warm and the head cool,” is none the less good because it is old. =Rubbers.=--Tight-fitting rubbers impede circulation, and, on this score, are objectionable. But the disadvantages of wet or damp feet are far greater. Through the winter and spring months the streets and pavements are rarely free from dampness, and light rubbers or sandals should be worn. Persons who are exceptionally susceptible to colds need to be doubly careful to keep the feet dry and warm. =Stockings.=--The stockings, too, should be stout and warm. For most persons, wool is the best material. If the rough surface is uncomfortable to the skin, those of a smoother surface may be tried. A thin silk stocking with a woolen one of moderate thickness outside will make no more bulk than a single heavy woolen stocking, and will be found equally warm. Some persons when about to undergo extreme exposure to cold wrap the feet with a thickness or two of tissue paper, either under or outside of the stocking. Being impervious to the air, paper is not to be recommended for general use.