26. "A WOMAN FIVE FEET TALL should measure two feet around the waist and thirty-three inches around the hips. “Now to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia (for the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted with gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in my father’s house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant; these scoundrels got hold of her one day when she was washing near their ship, seduced her, and cajoled her in ways that no woman can resist, no matter how good she may be by nature. “But it’s wonderful,” said Mr.
Giles, when he had explained, “what a man will do when his blood is up. 'This kind of whispers was still going on, the men being bunched together forrard watching for the bar'l, when, lo and behold you, here she comes again. Down she comes, slow and steady, and settles into her old tracks. A waist less than this proportion indicates compression either by lacing or tight clothing. Exercise in the open air, take long walks and vigorous exercise, using care not to overdo it.
The man who had seduced her asked her who she was and where she came from, and on this she told him her father’s name. ‘I come from Sidon,’ said she, ‘and am daughter to Arybas, a man rolling in wealth. I should have committed murder, I know I should, if we’d caught one of the rascals.” You could a heard a pin drop. Then up comes the captain, and says:--
Housework will prove a panacea for many of the ills which flesh is heir to. One hour's exercise at the wash- tub is of far more value, from a physical standpoint, than hours at the piano. One day as I was coming into the town from the country, some Taphian pirates seized me and took me here over the sea, where they sold me to the man who owns this house, and he gave them their price for me.’ Boating is most excellent exercise and within the reach of many. Care in dressing is also important, and, fortunately, fashion is coming to the rescue here.
It is essential that no garments be suspended from the waist. Let the shoulders bear the weight of all the clothing, so that the organs of the body may be left free and unimpeded.