it is often too much confined. By wearing short stays, there is infinitely less danger, as the whole body cannot be tightened.

We shall not give a description of corsets, though we by no means think the subject unworthy of notice, but merely observe, that French stays having few bones, seem to unite the greatest advantages. All stays, however, that do not prevent free breathing, circulation, digestion, or easy movement, will meet with our approbation, and we recommend the use of them to ladies noted for their elegance, as well as those remarkable for, the negligence of their persons.

The greatest attention should be paid to the manner in which the front of the stays is cut out; cancers of the breast too often originate from pressure; the gussets must therefore be properly shaped, and adapted to the figure. Duffin condemns all stays, and recommends ladies in high life, using their influence upon society, to produce an improvement in a custom he deprecated-so important did he consider the subject.

It is not only pressure of the breast which should be avoided, but also that of the neck, arms, and legs; it is not unusual to find varicose veins caused by tight garters, and cold and swollen feet, originating in the absence of circulation. Another common defect with

ladies, is to wear tight shoes; and as it is impossible to diminish the natural size of the feet, the only results are corns, chilblains, and other troublesome affections. Damp must ever be carefully avoided, and although Locke advised that young people should follow the Scotch custom of walking bare-footed, we think it impracticable, dangerous, and unbecoming, in our social state.

Dress, according to the present fashion, is much less injurious to health than when the waists were worn short, and the many secret appendages used to conceal deformities, are geneally free from danger; but what is most to be feared are low dresses, exposure to cold, and the variations of the temperature, in a climate so damp and changeable as that of England. It is leaving a ball room, or any heated apartment, to go into the open air without a sufficient degree of covering to guard against the effects of damp and cold, that we condemn; and it is certainly to the habit of wearing low dresses, and short sleeves, that may be attributed the origin of many diseases of the chest, which terminate fatally.

CHAP. XXXI.

On Mixed and Passive Exercises.

THE term mixed exercise is principally applied to riding, which the ancients very justly considered as the exercise most conducive to health, and the development of strength, as it combines all those performed in the gymnasia; the greatest advantages can be derived from it, when advised as medical means; but in the gymnastic of the normal state, riding should be considered as comprising all gymnastics.

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Health, and cheerfulness," says an ancient author," are more easily acquired by exercise on horseback than by any other manner. The variety of movements, the pleasure of riding with ease and facility, certainly afford more enjoyment than other occupations, while the mind is interested, and the body exercised. Whether trotting, cantering, or galloping, nearly all the muscles are in motion. To go on horseback, hold the bridle, maintain the equilibrium, encourage the horse, there is not a single muscle that is not put in action alternately. Riding," says Dr. Londe, "communicates to the organs the strength necessary, suitably to fulfil the functions confided to them, regulates all the acts of life, without accelerating them too much."

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Exercise on horseback cannot be considered as mixed, unless the riders go very slowly; but if they either trot or gallop, the exercise is active.

Young ladies who ride, should most carefully study the manner of sitting on horseback; they should be seated in the centre of the saddle, and not hanging by the near crutch. They should be able to preserve the balance, sit upright; it is not uncommon to see girls, who have been improperly taught, contract deviations of the vertebral column, through the bad position contracted while riding; and where there is the least predisposition to those diseases, the exercise must not be too much prolonged.

Driving, or exercise in a carriage, may be considered as good exercise; it is both useful and agreeable, and strongly to be recommended, if there be any cause which prevents children walking. If they spend several days confined to the house, they require to breathe fresh air, and being in an open carriage, enables them to do so with ease and comfort; and nothing gives to the economy such a stimulus as the contact of atmospheric air. Travelling by land has often the best possible effect on the health of children. In well-directed education, why not make travels one of the necessary elements of physical and intellectual development?

How many new ideas may not a child acquire by travelling, without excess of mental exertion!

How many things observed by those who travel, may be learned, the description of which is never found in books! Daily experience proves that children return from a journey with an increase of physical and intellectual strength developed unknown to themselves, and certainly without any excess of mental fatigue. Such are the exercises calculated for children, and which may be turned to the greatest possible advantage in the physical education of the anormal state.

"In crossing rivers, lakes, mountains, and deep ravines," says Dr. Johnson, "we experienced all imaginable transitions, thermometrical, hygrometrical, and barometrical, without a day's or an hour's sickness! We returned to modern Babylon, more like gypsies than London citizens -We were embrowned in complexion-improved in health, and impressed with a conviction of the beneficial influence of travelling exercise in the open air."

Repose.

In the human body there are organs which are in continual motion; their functions only cease when life is extinct. The heart and lungs are constantly in action, whether man be sleeping or waking, and the will has no power over them.

The organs, which may be termed voluntary, are subjected to a species of gymnastic, and may be increased by exercise; but the organs ne