Corselet, Corslet

[Fr. corselet. See CUIRASS.] A small cuira , or piece of armor to cover the body for protection; worn formerly by pikemen. It was made chiefly of leather, and was pistol-proof. "Their hearts. in battle's heat, Against their very corselets beat." - Prior . (Zool.) That part of winged insects which answers to the breast or thorax of other animals. -v. a. To encircle with a corselet. Cor's et, n. [Fr.; from L. Lat. corset us, the chest, a tunic. Etymol. uncertain.) An article of dre laced closely round the body; a bodice; stays. (Hygiene.) The C. is one of the most useful and nece ary articles of female dre , and though many of the worst diseases of the chest have been developed and are frequently greatly exaggerated by tight lacing, the indiscriminate warfare carried on by medical men and public writers against the use in any form of a garb that confines the motions of the thorax is marked by as much cant as ignorance. No medical man whose experience has lain largely among women, and who has studied the requirements of the female system at different periods of life, would risk to condemn the use of C. That stays are as nece ary to a woman, after a certain stage of life, as a bandage is for a sprain, no man who is qualified to speak on the subject will deny. Stays, or rather corsets, however, are quite uncalled for with growing girls , unle , indeed, there should be some natural deformity or weakne to correct. The idea that such a rigid encasement is requisite to give contour to the bust, and impart a graceful carriage to the figure, is equally erroneous. Up to 17 or 18, or perhaps till her marriage, no young female, if she takes due care of her person, and does not acquire bad habits, has any occasion to wear a C. for the mere sake of support and strength. Whatever is worn up to that time around the chest requires neither whalebone nor steel, nor any tension more rigid than that afforded by strings or straps. But to the mother who has domestic duties to perform, and children to nurse and suckle, the C. becomes an absolute nece ity; and that it may effectually serve the purpose for which it is demanded support and comfort-it must be laced with sufficient tightne to insure those objects. That tight lacing is injurious, especially with young girls, and more particularly with those of naturally narrow chests, and in whose families there are seeds of consumption, no one will deny; but the tight lacing which a married woman employs is never of a nature likely either to develop or aggravate pulmonary disease. It is against the universal employment of steel-ribbed stays and tightly-drawn corsets in young women under 20 years, that both authority and reason should be directed to urge the discontinuance of a system decidedly hurtful. Cor's et, v. α. To enclose in a corset. Cor's ica, a French island in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Genoa, and lying to the N. of Sardinia, forming. with that island, the Straits of Bonifacio. Lat. between 41°27′ and 43° 1' N., and Lon. 8° 37′ and 9° 30′ E. C. is remarkably hilly, rising to an elevation of 9,000 feet at the Monte Rotondo. The island is 120 m. long from N. to S., and over 45 broad from E. to W. The W. shores of C. are generally low and sandy; the E. shores are more lofty, and Indented with several extensive harbors or bays, the principal of which are those of Valineo, Ajaccio, Sagone, Porto, Calvi, St. Florent, and Corte. In the plains and val leys the soil is abundantly fertile, and yields the products natural to the land in great abundance, such as corn, oil, oranges, lemons, figs, and several other fruits. The natives are also extensive breeders of cattle, great numbers of which are annually exported. The mountains yield several minerals, but the mines have hardly been productive enough to pay for their working. The mulberry is also much cultivated, and considerable quantities of silk are obtained, and sold at both the Lyons and