Defects of the Locomotive System.
1. If the whole figure be either too broad or too tall; because, the first is inelegant, and the last unfeminine. Persons who are too tall are generally ill at ease and destitute of grace, a greater misfortune to a woman than to a man.—Too low a stature is a defect less disagreeable, especially for women. If, however, on the one side, it gives prettiness, on the other, it deprives of all imposing appearance.
2. If the bones, except those of the pelvis, be not proportionally small; because, in woman, this portion of the locomotive system ought to be completely subordinate to the vital.
3. If the ligaments, and the articulations they form, be not proportionally small; because, in woman, this portion of the locomotive system ought also to be completely subordinate to the vital.
Either of the last two defects will produce what is termed clumsiness.
4. If the muscles, generally more slender, feeble, soft and yielding than in man, be not large around the pelvis, and delicate elsewhere; because, this is necessary, for reasons which will be afterward assigned, as well as to permit the ease and suppleness of the movements.
5. If, in a mature female, the length of the neck, compared with the trunk, be not proportionally somewhat less than in the male; because, in her, the subordination of the locomotive system, the predominance of the vital, and the dependance of the mental, are naturally connected with the shorter vertebrae and shorter course of the vessels of the neck.
(The following defects, from 6 to 15 inclusive, have necessarily a reference also to the vital system; because, the form and capacity of the cavities here spoken of, as formed by the osseous frame of the locomotive system, have an obvious relation to the vital organs, which these cavities are destined to contain.)
6. If the upper part of the body (exclusive of the bosom) be proportionally more, and the lower part of the body less prominent, than in man, so that, when she stands perfectly upright or lies on the back, the space between the breasts is more prominent than the mons veneris; because, such conformation is injurious to impregnation, gestation, and parturition.