darin's thumb; nor do I know which would most offend the unsophisticated eye of nature; but this I know, that the deformity of the latter is unimportant in regard to health, while that of the former is acquired at the expense of vital organs, which may not be encroached on with impunity.

If, as I believe, and shall endeavor to show, the confinement of the chest, practised by females in fashionable life, is one of the most frequent of the remote causes of disease, certainly it is a subject worthy of our particular attention. To prevent is obviously better than to remedy diseases, though perhaps less profitable to our fraternity.

It is a fact, though not perhaps generally observed, that, in females, the free motions of the chest are much more important, "in relation to the function of respiration, than they are in males. It is obvious that in the former the chest is comparatively narrow, and the expansion of the diaphragm less than in males; hence it follows that this muscle must necessarily exert less influence in expanding the chest for the inhalation of air. The mechanism of the ribs, however, is admirably calculated to supply the deficiency. Their obliquity, with respect to the spine, is much greater than in the male; the cartilages are more flexible, and indeed the whole structure of the thorax is more elastic and mobile. The final cause of this peculiarity of mechanism is obvious. During the period of gestation, and especially in the latter months, the increased volume of the abdominal contents impedes the descent of the diaphragm, and renders it more necessary than in the

male that the lateral and anteroposterior diameters should be increased by the compound motion of the ribs. From the above observations it follows that any article of dress which constricts in any considerable degree the chest, must be infinitely more productive of mischief to the female than to the male, and for two reasons: First, it must restrain motions which are far more necessary to the function of respiration; and, secondly, the female chest has far less rigidity to resist the injurious pressure.

Whenever the female chest is confined, it necessarily results that the diaphragm is called into increased and preternatural exercise. The diaphragm is antago nized by the muscles forming the anterior walls of the abdomen, and hence the motions of inspiration and expiration alternate between these organs. The abdominal viscera become injuriously compressed, and though the natural and easy motions of respiration are salutary to these organs, yet the unnatural efforts of the diaphragm must injuriously encroach on the region of the stomach, liver and spleen, with all of which it is in contact below. This effect will be the greater, because these viscera are embraced by the cartilages of the ribs, and must suffer also from lateral pressure. All these organs must be urged lower into the abdomen, and not only this, but the more moveable viscera are pressed into the pelvis, and interfere with the contents of this cavity, producing mischiefs which we shall presently name.

Females are exceedingly incredulous in regard to the injuries resulting from incarceration of

stomach is not only displaced, but is irritated, by the mechanical pressure. Its motions, so essential to the integrity of its functions, are confined, and the circulation of its blood is obstructed. Nearly the same is true in regard to the liver and spleen. The rest of the abdominal viscera are also confined, or displaced, in a degree that cannot be regarded as innoxious.

But some of the most deplorable effects resulting from this absurd practice, and which are of ten productive of infinite misery and protracted suffering to females, are prolapsus uteri and leucorrhoea. That they must result from the descent of the abdominal viscera into the pelvis, and obstructed circulation, is sufficiently obvious. The record of fashion's infirmary will also substantiate our assertion. I have been informed by sn eminent physician, who has practised extensively both in town and country, that these distressing affections are four times more frequent in the former; and to no cause, of the many which undoubtedly concur, does he ascribe more influence than to the follies of dress.

The degree of injury inflicted by the corset on the female form, undoubtedly, in some degree, depends on the period of life at which it is assumed. Before the figure is fully developed, its contour may be influenced by the slightest restraint. This was undoubtedly the case in the instance with which I introduced this subject.

The argument, however, which of all others may, perhaps, with females, be most effectually employed against the use of this procrustean girdle, is the fact that,

But the con

besides its less direct influence, in substituting the pale ensign of disease for "the crimson of their lips and of their cheeks," it often spoils the symmetry of the form. It is a capricious fashion which admires a preternaturally small waist in the female figure; the proportion that nature has assigned it is that which alone pleases the taste capable of appreciating the truly beautiful. finement of the chest also produces a remarkable protuberance of the abdomen, which certainly none can admire, except in those ladies who give evidence that they "love their lords." We have already observed that when the respiratory motions of the chest are restrained, they are communicated to the muscles of the abdomen. This is especially obvious when breathing is hurried by exercise or animated speaking. I have seen a fair actress on the stage so begirt with whalebone and steel, that in impassioned utterance, when the tide of the bosom should speak the emotion of the heart, there was substituted for it an unseemly anhelitus of the abdomen, the chest being fixed like a bust of marble. Surely females would not willingly, for that which is so graceless, sacrifice a charm which has set so many poets raving. 'Tis plain that Haidee could never have worn a corset, or the poet could not with truth have thus sung her graces :

"She wore two jelicks-one was of pale

yellow;

this too frequent cause of disease and deformity, but perhaps we have said enough to convince our professional brethren of the importance of overlooking nothing in which may lurk the embryon cause of disease and death, whether it be a tight neckcloth, a laced corset, a dish of ill prepared food, the subtle principle of contagion, or the desolating breath of the simoom. Let nothing which is hostile to health and life be deemed unworthy the attention of their protectors. In conclusion, however, I would state, that my friend Dr. Eberle has recently mentioned to me a case in which the breasts of a female were ruined for the nursing of the infant, from the nipple having been so buried in the gland, by the pressure of the corset, as that it could not be drawn by the child. Another case he has also related, in which the use of this article of dress, during the latter months of gestation, proved fatal to both mother and child. The latter, when born, manifested, in the very form of its body, that it had been forcibly compressed.

From the London Gazette of Health.

THERAPEUTICS.

Chloruets of the Oxides of Sodium and Calcium.

Dr. Hassell, a scientific and experienced physician, of Boulognesurmer, has just published an interesting pamphlet on the medicinal virtues of the chloruets of sodium and calcium. The active chemical remedies were first brought into practice by M. Labarraque, a philosophical chemist of Paris, as powerful antiseptic remedies, particularly as topical applications to sloughing and foul ulcers, mortifications, &c. Dr. Has

sell merely relates the results of the trials he has given these articles in his own practice and witnessed in that of others, which confirm the very favorable reports of M. Labarraque, and some eminent surgeons on the Continent. The first case is that of a formidable carbuncle, which occurred in the year 1824, in Boulognesurmer. The patient, Robert Burdett, Esq., was about 60 years of age. After scarifying the skin, the Doctor applied the solution of the chloruet of the oxide of sodium, which soon had the effect of checking the progress of the disease and of hastening the sloughing progress; he also administered it internally. The author has given particular direction for the use of the chloruets in a variety of diseases in which it has been found beneficisl; and also a translation of the directions for making them, which appear in the last edition of the "Parisian Pharmacopoeia." The pamphlet, containing many valuable practical remarks related in the simple language of science, we recommend to the perusal of our medical readers.

Croton Oil.

Dr. Basset informs us, that he has prescribed the croton oil in several cases of dropsy of the abdomen and lower extremities, as directed by Mr. Selwyn, of Ledbury with the most decided advantage. He states, that he has uniformly found the oil to produce very watery fecal evacuations, to increase the secretion of urine, and to invigorate not only the stomach but apparently all the vital organs. In a case of hydrocele of long standing, exhibited twice