For some years the writer has been collecting data in relation to this subject, and has encountered some very interesting and some very positive facts, which have been recorded in various medical papers,' and which may be very briefly summarized as follows, so far as they relate to the waist proportion of the feminine figure:

1. The anterior line of the trunk in a normal woman is a continuous curve from the upper end of the sternum to the pubes, slightly flattened only at the epigastrium, not at the point commonly known as the waist. A flat or furrowed waist is not to be found among uncivilized women who have never worn corsets or waistbands, but is universal among civilized women over twenty years of age who have worn the conventional dress, and who are not extraordinarily obese. The waist furrow is not infrequently found, even in very stout women, as the result of their extraordinary efforts to "keep the stomach down "by waist constriction. This statement is made upon the strength of hundreds of exact tracings of the outline of the body made by the writer, and may be verified by any one who will take the trouble to look through a collection of photographs or engravings representing the women of barbarous tribes in a seminude condition.

2. The measurement of many hundreds of women of various nationalities,-English, French, German, American, Chinese, East Indian, American Indian, Mexican,

and Italian, has afforded the most convincing evidence that the small waist of

the half-civilized woman is an abnormality, really a deformity, and as unnatural as it is ugly and ungraceful. A nude figure with a wasp waist would be condemned as a monstrosity, even by the

11. "Experimental Researches Respecting the Relation of Dress to the Pelvic Diseases of Women." 1889.

2. "The Value of Exercise as a Therapeutic Means in the Treatment of the Pelvic Diseases of Women." 1890.

3. The Influence of Dress in Producing the Physical Decadence of American Women." 1891.

4. "The Relation of Static Disturbances to the Displaeements of the Abdominal Viscera. 1892.

most ardent worshiper of fashion. It is only when draped that the small-waisted woman can by any stretch of the imaginaion be thought to look well. Underneath the drapery of the small-waisted woman is hidden a figure which is positively hideous in its departures from the normal outlines. The collapsed waist, rounded shoulders, protruding belly, and crooked spine of the undressed devotee of fashion who comes to the gynecologist and the orthopedist for repairs, if drawn to life and presented in a comic paper, would surely be pronounced a caricature, and such it truly is, The beautiful proportions of the Venus de Milo, universally conceded to be the finest model of a mature woman's figure which art has ever produced, presents a waist, the circumference of which is exactly 47.6 per cent of the height, little less than the chest measurement taken at the armpits. Prof. Giovanni, of Milan, has shown the natural chest measurement to be just one half the height.

In the careful measurement of 600 adult civilized American women, we found the average height to be 62.6 inches. The average waist measurement in 848 women was 24 inches, or 38.4 per cent of the height.

Dr. M. Anna Wood, director of the Department of Physical Training in Wellesley College, Mass., found the average height of 1500 young women to be 63.2 inches, and the average waist measurement to be 24.6 inches, or 38.9 per cent of the height. We found the proportion of waist to height among unmarried French women from eighteen to thirty years of age, to be 45.4. inches.

Dr. Seaver, of Yale, found the average waist measure of 2000 men to be 29.3 inches, which, compared with the average height 68.6 inches,- gives a waist proportion of 42.7, nearly three per cent less than that of French women, and five per cent less than that of the Venus de Milo.

We have taken the pains to note the proportion of waist to height in a number of women who seemed to have the most perfect proportions, and have always found it to approximate closely to that of the Venus de Milo.

Some of our readers may remember the marvelous agility and grace exhibited by Buffalo Bess, who rode, bareback, the wild buffalo in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Certainly any woman might be proud of the wonderfully agile and graceful figure possessed by this young woman. We recently had an opportunity to take the measurements of her figure, and found them to be as follows: Height, 61.5 inches; stretch of arms, 63 inches (allowing for shortening of left arm, occasioned by an injury); chest at level of armpits, 33.5 inches; hips, 37.5 inches; waist, 28.8 inches; giving a waist proportion of 46.8, a very close approach to the proportions of the Venus de Milo.

Al

This young woman's profession rendered waist constriction by tight corsets or waistbands impossible, hence the abdominal muscles had an opportunity for the freest and fullest development. At the time these measurements were taken, she was, as she stated, rather thin in flesh, as she was just recovering from a recent illness due to hardship and exposure. There was certainly no superfluous adipose tissue about the abdomen. though she had followed for years a profession which involved the most violent physical exercise, suffering frequent falls, and being once trampled upon and nearly killed by the wild beast she rode, the pelvic organs had never suffered any injury thereby. How absurd, then, to charge upon such gentle exercise as walking up one or two flights of stairs, or lifting a baby, or running a sewing machine, the little health of women, and especially that long list of congestions, inflammations, catarrhs, displacements, hyperdisplacements, hyperæsthesias, etc., which constitute the chief support of a large share of the profession,

and render miserable the lives of so many thousands of American women.

If all physicans would join in a vigorous condemnation of the conventional mode of dress which requires waist hampering and constriction, the American woman might be induced to stop long enough to consider well the consequences, before proceeding farther in the work of destroying, for herself and for her posterity, the beauty, grace, and vigor which accompany the natural and well-developed waist. J. H. K.

The Mighty Fallen. John L. Sullivan is said to be a paralytic.. For many years, until recently, he has been the champion pugilist of the world. His Herculean frame and enormous muscles have been long thought to be invincible, and he himself has had such confidence in his constitutional powers that he has not hesitated to plunge into every possible form of dissipation, in the intervals between the periods of training to which he has now and then subjected himself in preparation for a contest with some rival. This perpetual soaking of his body in alcohol, however, has not failed to do its work of insidious mischief, even upon the iron frame of the great champion; and to-day, while a giant in appearance, and with his muscles as large as ever, his strength has departed, never to return. The muscular fibers, under the influence of the alcohol, have taken on that peculiar form of degeneration by which the fibrilla are displaced by the connective tissue elements, so that while they are as large and hard as ever, perhaps even more dense, they are almost powerless. In his last contest, Sullivan found himself so thoroughly unable to command the ponderous muscle which had won for him so many victories, that he insisted that he had been drugged. In this he was entirely correct, - he had been drugged, not by his antagonist, however, nor by an enemy, but by himself.

Umbilical Erysipelas and Tetanus in the Newborn. We still see notices of the occurrence of these two diseases in

the medical press, and not infrequently such cases are brought to our notice in a practical way. It seems to us that if these diseases were thoroughly understood by every physician, neither of them would ever occur again. In the hands of those who do realize their causes, it is seldom that they make their appearance.

Erysipelas is undoubtedly due to bacteria of a well-known character,- a streptococcus, without which this malady will not develop, and without the products of which the lesions will not appear.

As to tetanus, it has been well proven that it is due to micro-organisms, which also produce a septic material capable of causing tetanic contractions. Both of these germs, in the cases we have in view, are introduced into the system by lesions of the umbilicus or through the unbilical cord in the newborn. It is only necessary to know this fact in order to realize the necessity of applying prophylactic measures to prevent the diseases in question. Both of them are infectious, but infection may be absolutely prevented by thorough cleanliness, or asepsis. It is time that physicians who are behind in the study of bacteriology should take a hint of the truth, and study up on this and other microbic affections.

P. P.

Reviews.

Addresses and Essays.- By Frank Lydston, M. D. Published by Renz and Henry, Louisville, Ky.

This little volume consists of fifteen important and excellent essays by this well-known author and physician. It is a book of merit which will materially increase the value of any library. The thoughts are largely original, and of much practical utility. All the essays will be read with interest, particularly those on "Aberrant Sexual Differentiation," "Studies of Criminal Crania," "Materialism vs. Sentiment in the Study of Crime," and "Sexual Perversion." The other essays are chiefly on some subject of genito-urinary surgery, and are all good.

The American Microscopical Society. We have received a special circular referring to the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the American Microscopical Society, in which the writer has been interested since its organization. The list of papers presented at the meeting includes a large number of highly interesting scientific dissertations on questions of an eminently practical character, as well as those of technical value. A large number of new and valuable microscopical appliances and accessories were exhibited. A question was raised whether it would not be wise to hold the meetings of the Society at the same time and place as the American Society for the Advancement of Science. The fact that many of the members of each Society are also members of both Societies would seem to indicate the wisdom of this suggestion. The American Microscopical Society has done much to place the science of microscopy in this country upon a footing with the work done by microscopists of England and continental Europe, and we are pleased to note that the Society seems to be in a flourishing condition.

GRAPHIC STUDIES OF THE SINUSOIDAL AND OTHER FORMS OF ELECTRICAL CURRENTS.

TEN years ago, I began a series of experiments with electrical apparatus of various kinds, for the purpose of determining the physiological and therapeutical effects of the electrical currents produced by different forms of apparatus. In the course of these experiments, a peculiarly constructed magneto-electrical apparatus was secured, and the current produced by it tested. The current produced by the machine being too powerful for ordinary use in applications to the human body, and possessing so high a tension that the ordinary water rheostat was quite insufficient to control it, I constructed a water rheostat by means of a narrow glass tube three or four feet in length. I soon discovered that this current possessed qualities of a remarkable character, which I was very glad to utilize, especially in the treatment of certain classes of gynecological patients.

In a paper entitled, "Report of Fortyeight Cases of Alexander's Operation," read before the section on Gynecology, at the thirty-ninth annual meeting of the American Medical Association, in May, 1888, and published in the proceedings of the Association for that year, I described the current used and its action as follows: :

"I have employed different forms of currents, the faradic current, the slowly interrupted galvanic current, the galvanic and faradic currents combined, and the dynamic current. The latter, which is

BATTLE CREEK, MICH., JANUARY, 1893.

supplied by a small machine giving a reversing current, I have found the most effective of all means of stimulating contraction in the muscular structures which support the uterus. When one electrode is placed upon the abdomen and the other in the vagina, energetic and painless contractions are produced in the abdominal muscles, the sphincter muscles of the rectum and vagina, and the other muscular structures within the pelvic cavity. Experiments made with this current on a patient under ether and with the round ligaments exposed and isolated, showed contraction of these structures also, when the electrodes were applied as indicated. If it be true, as has been suggested, that other ligaments of the uterus as well as the round ligaments, are to a considerable degree muscular in their structure, I deem it wholly probable that these also participate in the contraction. These contractions occur at every reversal of the current, so that this current not only has the effect to stimulate nutritive changes in the diseased structures, but also affords a most valuable means of securing functional activity in idle and relaxed parts, thus giving them the benefit of a genuine gymnastic exercise.

The therapeutic results following the use of this current, justify me in claiming for it a decided superiority over any other form of electrical current for this purpose. I have used this current for medical purposes for the last five years."

The effects of the current produced by these machines, were also described in a