Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].

be performed from the day on which the patient is per- mitted to sit up in bed for any length of time. When she leaves her bed and is about once more, she may do arm exercises both while seated and standing upright. So she slowly passes on to the final puerperal stages ; the exercises, hitherto limited and adapted to special needs, gradually merge again into general physical culture. But I would suggest special care during this transition to the following points :— There must not be any immediate and excessive physical exertion. The involution and complex processes of reversion and recovery within the maternal body are still continuing, and in themselves demand a considerable amount of vital expenditure, so that no unnecessary extra demands should be made. This is particularly the case if the mother suckles her child—as is not only her imperative duty to the baby, but also in her own interest, as lactation sympathetically promotes uterine contraction and the return of the strained and distended genital organs to their normal state. Breast feeding must, therefore, be prescribed in the interests of both parties. But, if it is necessary to emphasise con- sideration and moderation in exercise, thus avoiding needless fatigue ; it is equally necessary to emphasise the dangers of lethargy and laissez-faire, which lead to permanent injuries if this most important branch of physical culture be neglected. And in cases and conditions which allow neither time nor energy for general exercises, there must at least be due attention and cultivation of the abdominal muscles and of the muscles of the pelvic floor. A further matter of importance is the abdominal belt or bandage. The abdomen should be supported, during both the earlier and the later phases of involution after child- birth. The support should only be discarded when the muscles have returned to their normal state, and reacquired their former force and suppleness. Till then an adequate support should be worn, not only for the exercises, but during the whole day's work. The best kind of support is a flexible belt made to measure, of firm elastic material,