A
classic case of
the cure being worse than the disease. A
device seemingly intended to shake people to the point where their skeletons decide not to reside within their skins.
In times
before paved roads were invented, roads crossing
boggy or
marshy areas had logs laid across them
side-by-side in an attempt to prevent horse-drawn
carriages from getting
stuck in the mud:
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Unfortunately the
hard, rough surface presented often caused considerable damage to both the carriage and its
occupants and roads with corduroy sections were often avoided, even at great
cost in time and distance.