s considered the most perfect model of the female
forms, and has been the admiration of the world for ages. Alexander
Walker, after minutely describing this celebrated statue, says: "All
these admirable characteristics of the female form, the mere existence
of which in woman must, one is tempted to imagine, be even to herself,
a source of ineffable pleasure, these constitute a being worthy, as
the personification of beauty, of occupying the temples of Greece;
present an object finer, alas, than Nature even seems capable of
producing; and offer to all nations and ages a theme of admiration and
delight." Well might Thomson say:

So stands the statue that enchants the world,
So, bending, tries to vail the matchless boast--
The mingled beauties of exulting Greece.

We beg our readers to observe the form of the waist (evidently
innocent of corsets and tight dresses) of this model woman, and also
that of the Greek Slave in the accompanying outlines. These forms
are such as unperverted nature and the highest art alike require.
To compress the waist, and thereby change its form, pushing the ribs
inward, displacing the vital organs, and preventing the due expansion
of the lungs, is as destructive to beauty as it is to health.

* * * * *

THE HISTORY, MYSTERY, BENEFITS AND INJURIES OF THE CORSET.

[Illustration: The Corset in the 18th Century.]

1. The origin of the corset is lost in remote antiquity. The figures
of the early Egyptian women show clearly an artificial shape of the
waist produced by some style of corset. A similar style of dress must
also have prevailed among the ancient Jewish maidens; for Isaiah, in
calling upon the women to put away their personal adornments, says:
"Instead of a girdle there shall be a rent, and instead of a stomacher
(corset) a girdle of sackcloth."

2. Homer also tells us of the cestus or girdle of Venus, which was
borrowed by the haughty Juno with a view to increasing her personal
attractions, that Jupiter might be a more tractable and orderly
husband.

3. Coming down to the later times, we find the corset was used in
France and England as early as the 12th century.

4. The most extensive and extreme use of the corset occurred in the
16th century, during the reign of Catherine de Medici of France and
Queen Elizabeth of England. With Catherine de Medici a thirteen-inch
waist measurement was considered the standard of fashion, while a
thick