Helen: What a pity it is that men should abuse the liver so!
Mother: Yes, it is a pity, but some women are as bad, though not as many of them as of the men take alcohol. Some of them who would never think of doing that, think that their liver is too big, and that it makes the waist too large, so they gird it up with tight clothing and do not give it room to work. One doctor found a woman who had squeezed her waist so long that the liver was cut in two; and she died for her folly.
When Liver finds his room growing smaller, he gets cross, and says, “We’ll see about this;” and he gives the young lady a pain in her side. Her skin begins to look yellow and dirty, and the silly girl goes to the doctor for some medicine to make her well, when all she needs is to give Liver room to do his work, and give her body the right kind of fuel. Perhaps she is so foolish that she would rather be ill than let her waist grow as large as God made it; and, if so, she and her friends have a sorry time.
Amy: My liver shall never scold because it can’t have room enough in which to work.
Mother: That’s like my sensible girl, and I wish every other in the land would say the same.
Helen: But, mother, I have heard girls say that their dresses were not a bit tight, when I am almost sure they were.
Mother: The only safe way is not to wear corsets or tight bands at all, and the clothing should be so loose that it will not compress the body when one draws a deep, full breath.
Percy: I should think there was enough sickness in the world without people eating, drinking, and dressing to make themselves ill.
Mother: Many people do not know that it is what they do that makes them ill. They think people must be sick sometimes, and they do not study to know how to care for themselves in such a way that they may keep well. For this reason I wish you to learn how to care for the holy temple of your body while you are children, and we must also do all we can to help others by living right ourselves.