Doctors and ladies on Tight Lacing.

Evening Star, Issue 7773, 19 November 1888, Page 3

Doctors and ladies on Tight Lacing.

In the Biological Section of the British Association, on the 7th September, the sub- • jecc of stays and tight lacing was discussed in the presence of a large attendance of kdies. Mr C. S. Roy, Frofeasor of Pathology, at Cambridge, and Mr J. G. Adami, University Administrator of Pathology, who had announced a joint piper on 'The Physiological Bearing of Waistbelts and Stays,' said they had lately been making some pathological experiments, and had found that a slight pressure upon the abdomen resulted in the giving out of considerably increased quantities of blood from the herat in a given time. A good deal of the blood stored uselessly iu the abdominal veins was, by this pressure, placed advantageously at the disposal of the muscles, brain, and skin. This explained how men, as well na v/nmTi, instinctively employed some •u-fited nt abdominal completion, we.iri ];- w.iiatl'arii!:. or b.-'lt.;, or the mora

•iilxnace eor-sets, at periods of inei'eafiod .icti'.'ity. No doubt fashion fins sometinu'S Jed to the diutoitir.n <<f the female figure by iru.uja of :;Uy.-i ; hue, if not laced too tightly, tli" modern cornet, by clasping the waist and supporting the bosom und back, rionatitnted » convenient combination of the

different forma of girdle, which has been found useful by tho women of all civilised nations from the remotest time. Of course, during sleep they were put off, but during hours of exertion, social or otherwise, reasonable tight lacing was fitted to increase mental and physical activity. They, however, cautioned young ladies against carrying this to an injudicious extreme. By tho way, it was suggested to trainers of horses that, if they girthed the racing saddle behiud tho ribs instead of over

them, thoy would thereby gain for the horse the same advantage as was experienced by the long distance runner from his broad, tight leather belt. Dr Wilberforco Smith said that he considered this a moot dangerous paper to be read to such an assembly. He declared the evils of tight lacing to bo manifold and terrible, and that it was perfectly refreshing to find a girl the muscles of whose back had not been withered by wearing stays. As a matter of beauty, net one woman out of twenty who wore stays was presentable as a model.

Dr Johnson Lavis expressed astonishment at hearing pathologists justifying the habit of wearing stays; and remarked, amid laughter and applause, that women were all fond of admiration, but that a tight-laced woman was the ugliest form of female humanity. Mrs Stokes said that tight lacing was highly prejudicial; that women knew well enough it did them physical and moral harm ; and that much of the evil of present fashions was due to the dressmakers.

A lady in the body of the hall now got up, owned to fifty yitrs, and gloried in never wearing stays. Dr Beverley declared that a large number f the diseases of unmarried women were attributed to tight lacing. Mr Hoyle suggested that women did not consider themselves properly dressed unless they were uncomfortable. Miss Becker advocated rigid and not elastic stays, at the same time giving her approval of modern fashions us better than those dress reforms. In reply to some laughter, this speaker quoted a lady who said: "To be well and comfortably dressed is a sensation of delight which religion is incapable of affording.' Miss Becker did not go quite so far as this, but added that the lady who thus placed millinery above religion, at the time she spoke her creed undoubtedly wore a comfortable pair of stays. The Chairman (Professor Shaffer) during tho debate expressed an opinion that the weight of clothing should be supported from the hips rather than from the shoulders. Dr Anderson remarked that the authors of the paper had given a rational explanation of the causes of many of the diseases in women which baflled physicians. The pressure of the stays on the abdomen increased the work of the heart; that caused palpitation and shortness of breath; the blood being driven to the head accounted for giddiness; driven to the nose it produced its redness; driven to the uterine organs, it accounted for congestion ; driven to the legs, it produced swelled ankles and varicose veins ; driven out of the abdomen, it accounted for indigestion. Mr J. G. Adami replied with a further vindication of the conclusions of himself and his coadjutor. The proceedings in this section caused considerable amusement.