| A Normal Waist. | A Corset formed Waist. |
As we have said (see Skin, Care of) clothing should be loose and porous in order that the skin may perform its functions. Corsets are both tight and impervious. The constriction of any part of the body by tight bands, and the hanging of the clothes from the hips, are highly injurious.
It is frequently urged that corsets are necessary if a woman is to have well-fitting clothes and a neat figure, but this is by no means the case. We illustrate a "good health waist" which has the advantage of allowing freedom of movement and respiration, producing no constriction of any part, and yet being well-fitting. Buttons are arranged, as shown in the illustration, to support the skirts so that their weight falls equally from the shoulders. This waist can be had from the Good Health Supply Department, 451 Holloway Road, London, N., who will send particulars on receipt of a post card.
Good Health Waist (back view) Good Health Waist (front view)
Lancing Swellings.—See Abscess.
Lather, How to make.—One of the most powerful soothing influences which can be had, is found in the lather of M'Clinton's soap, so often recommended in these pages. Applied to the skin over a stomach which has been rejecting all food, and even retching on emptiness, for hours, it will almost at once stop the irritation. Applied to the head it is invaluable (see Brain; Head; Hearing, etc.), and in many cases we have known it perform almost miracles of soothing effect. But the lather must be rightly made, and none but this soap used, if good results are to be got. Lather is first Soap, secondly Water, and thirdly Air, so wrought together to make a mass like whipped cream, or only a little more fluid. To get this, dip a good shaving brush in hot water, rub it on the soap a little, take another slight dip of hot water, and work the brush in the hollow of the left hand patiently, until you have a handful of fine creamy foam, sufficiently solid not to run like water, and yet as soft in its consistency as cream. There is in the hand just the temperature, consistency, and shape that are required for working the lather, and no dish can properly replace it. The lather is to be gathered from the hand with the brush (a soft badger's-hair one preferred), and laid with it on the skin of the patient wherever necessary. Then another handful is quickly made, and so on until the required surface is covered. Or the lather may be transferred to a hot dish, placed over a bowl of boiling water, till enough is ready. After the application, a soft handkerchief may be laid loosely on, and, if the lather is to remain on as a pack, a dry covering put over this.
Lather ready for application.
In many cases where it is inconvenient to apply the lather direct to the skin, it may be spread on a warm cloth of soft and clean linen or cotton, and this laid over the part to be treated before it is cold. This will also apply where the patient is too weak to sit or lie in the position required for lathering the skin. A dry cloth must be put on the top of the soapy one, and all fastened on by proper wrapping. In cases, however, where the skin has to be lathered in order to soothe the nervous system or to allay irritation of internal organs, it is well, if at all possible, to apply the lather direct to the skin, as described above.