As a rule, there is too much pressure on the abdomen, from the weight of heavy skirts that are suspended from the hips, and not sufficient room for the chest to expand, so as to accommodate the respirating movements of the lungs. In the absence of shoulder bands, to which the skirts should all be fastened, the much-decried corset has its redeeming qualities, for it serves the purpose of a yoke or support for the different undergarments, and when not tightly laced is rather a benefit than an injury, and if the corset had a shoulder strap fastened to it over both shoulders so as to keep the garments from dragging on the hips, there could then be no objection to it whatever. The corset must always be so loosely worn as to permit the wearer’s hands to be easily passed between it and the waist. It then becomes a useful brace to a weakly woman and entirely harmless to a strong or healthy one. We can imagine how a tightly-fitting corset will cause mischief by compressing the ribs and abdominal walls, and that this absurd fettering will prevent the lateral expansion of the chest, and also injuriously press upon the internal organs, but this is not due to an inherent property of the corset itself, but to an abuse of it. One might as well advocate a return to the Roman sandal, on the ground that some persons are foolish and vain enough to wear shoes altogether too small for their feet, thereby causing deformities and corns. For my part, I admire a nice, well-shaped, healthy foot, incased in a low, broad-heeled, comfortable shoe, even if its size were one or two numbers larger than a pinched-up, deformed one. But no one would be enthusiastic enough on the question of healthy feet to have us all wear sandals again. Warmth of the lower extremities is a very important point in a female’s apparel, and of more importance than all the other questions raised on this subject. The exposures endured by women, from ignorance or indifference to this fact, is, in my experience, a fruitful source of disease. The chilling blast which sweeps under the skirts must be mitigated and the moist vapor arising from a damp and cold earth neutralized. If the limbs are only protected by thin cotton fabrics, they are insufficiently clad to avoid the evils above mentioned. It is of the greatest importance that the limbs of women should be incased in flannel drawers, and these can be worn underneath the white muslin or linen ones, and the hose, especially in cold or damp weather, should be made of woolen material; the soles of the shoes should be sufficiently heavy so as not to be permeable by the moisture from the ground, and in wet or rainy weather rubber overshoes are always a necessity. When the feet and lower limbs are kept warm, the whole body is more or less protected against cold.