THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.

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afraid of ridicule for being odd, and are slaves to fashion, no amount of argument: from an aesthetic or even hygienic standpoint will affect them. In vain you may tell them that beauty and fashion are not synonymous, as anyone can see by looking at the hideous grotesqueness of the styles of the past; that some of the most celebrated artists of today will not paint a woman’s portrait until she has removed “those disfig­urements,” as they designate corsets, etc.; that the most noted house in London will not make a gown fashioned upon the abnormal, inartistic lines of the corset; that hun­dreds of the most intelligent women in this country and in England are striving for something better for themselves and their children in the way of healthful and artistic clothing. It is useless to refer to such other mistaken ideas of beauty as that which induces the women in some countries to insert a round piece of wood in the lower lip,, and then gradually increase the size of the wedge and so enlarge the lip that it projects far beyond the place that nature gave it. A wedge two inches in diameter was in accord with the requirements of fashion, but four inches was the mark of an extremely stylish savage.

These arguments seem to fall for the most part on “ stony ground,” and the “ thus saith ” of fashion is as potent as ever with a large majority, even though obedience to her commands entails agony and deformity. “ Oh Lord, make us all stylish,” was the fervent prayer of a little girl I once heard of, and this, doubtlessly, is the sum total of many a woman’s aspirations. So they cramp and distort their bodies, force their hands and feet into coverings much too small for these members and which destroy all semblance to the exquisite beauty nature shows in the perfect hands and feet of an infant, and make them almost useless. All this abuse of the body seems to be the result of a perverted notion that the female figure is not properly con­structed and needs making over. But women are beginning to awaken to the fact that a large portion of the sideaches, backaches, headaches, nervous prostrations, etc., are nature’s warning against the violation of her laws. I believe exercise and the conse­quent ability ot relaxation to be the chief factor of health.

The other requisites of health are sleep, nourishing food, fresh air, clean linen and peace of mind. But exercise comprises in itself all the beneficial qualities of the others. Sleep has been rightfully called “ the chief nourisher in life’s feast ” Loss of sleep and lack of nerve-control are among the most serious maladies of the present day. We are in such a hurry, and live at such a high pressure of nervous tension during the day, that we lose our ability to sleep, and thus fail to recuperate the nervous forces at night.. Well-directed exercise which draws the blood away from the brain will give a much more healthful and refreshing sleep than that which is produced by narcotics.

We must also have nourishing food in order that we may have health; but no amount of nourishing food will help the body whose organs of digestion and assimila­tion are ruined. And what good will fresh air do one whose lungs are unable to per­form their functions? But exercise, that gives health to the muscles, aids digestion and quickens the action of the heart and lungs. Peace of mind is impossible without that harmony of the nervous system which a healthy body secures. Thus we see illus­trated the story of the old woman getting her pig over the stile As soon as the fire began to burn the stick, the stick began to beat the dog, the dog began to bite the pig, and everything started in the way in which it should go. So, too, if you exercise, your appetite will be increased, your digestive organs will do their duty and nourish you. A well-nourished body demands sleep, sufficient sleep secures nerve-control, and so “ a sound mind in a sound body ” is the result. Health of mind, on the other hand, is necessary to health of body. We see plainly enough, in extreme cases of idiocy and insanity, that a diseased mind usually accompanies, if it does not result in, a diseased body; so, then, a diseased mind deranges the health, and as doctors can not minister to a mind diseased any more than they can to a sick body, with drugs simply, then here, too, harmony with nature’s laws is the price of health and beauty. We reach the highest beauty of all when we attain the beauty of expression. Beauty in its highest manifestation does not consist in any one part, but in the harmony of the whole—mind,