The physiology or mechanism of blushing : illustrative of the influence of mental emotion on the capillary circulation; with a general view of the sympathies, and the organic relations of those structures with which they seem to be connected / by Thomas H. Burgess.

  • Burgess, Thomas Henry, -1865.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiology or mechanism of blushing : illustrative of the influence of mental emotion on the capillary circulation; with a general view of the sympathies, and the organic relations of those structures with which they seem to be connected / by Thomas H. Burgess. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    ever a girl appeared at all awkward or inclined to stoop, to have immediate recourse to the collar and backboard, in order to give the young lady a proper carriage, and, in addition to these tortures, should her feet not be sufficiently turned out, the unhappy girl was placed in stocks, by which means both heels were placed together, and the toes pointed in straight lines from either side of the body, and in this position she was compelled to sit for hours together. These three instruments, consti- tuting in themselves an infernal machine, were so con- structed, that when applied to young growing girls, they produced the most baneful consequences ; in the first place, they prevented the body and limbs from moving either one wa}'^ or the other, conse- quently the whole frame must have been maintained in the same fixed position during the period of their application. This sedentary habit in itself was quite sufficient to produce indigestion. The immov- able position of the neck and back for so long a time, only rendered the muscles and ligaments of these parts feeble and weak, (a natural result of the want of exercise,) and the consequence was, that the spinal column, from the want of support, yielded to one side, not unfrequently to both, forming a double curvature like the letter S; this state of things went on for some time without attracting any attention, until at length one of the hips became visibly prominent, which then attracted notice to the part; but when this happened it was generally