And thus the lungs and pliant ribs and heart, Incapable of acting out the part Assigned to them by nature, prove a prey To premature diseases and decay. We talk with pious horror and regret, Of the unwise Chinese, who will not let The feet of their poor female children grow, Entailing thus unutterable woe; But when unprejudiced the reason acts, And we together scan th' appalling facts, Resulting from tight lacing, and tight shoes, We cannot conscientiously refuse, To say that of the two vile customs, ours Is certainly more culpable than theirs, While we too are not guiltless or discreet, Respecting our behaviour to our feet, Making them hobble on high heels, with toes Not half the width that should their forms enclose; So we should be more modest when we seek To satirize them and their customs-weak, Remembering that we too are much to blame, And like them merit censure and much shame. How wisely Israel's poet songster said, That cleanliness to godliness is wed, For filthiness of body must conduct, Impurities which mental life obstruct. How well are engineers on the alert, To keep their engines free from dust and dirt, Knowing that without such great care from them, They could not do the work required by men; So neither can we hope our bodies will Their heaven directed work aright fulfil, If their machinery is not kept free, From foul obstruction and impurity. Science and nature then should be our guide, Instructive lessons they for all provide, Teaching us how the pleasant winds insure That atmospheric air is sweet and pure; God's antidote they are, invisible, To poisonous vapours else unbearable, Which steam from all decaying substances, Throughout the earth's wide-spread dependences. But as men civilized do not exist Always in open air, these guides insist, That as God uses circulating air, To purify and sweeten everywhere, That we should also, through our dwellings wide An ever circulating air provide, As we, like other animals outpour, Foul, poisonous vapours too from every pore. How well bees understand effects and cause,