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diff --git a/35409-h/35409-h.htm b/35409-h/35409-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b25400 --- /dev/null +++ b/35409-h/35409-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11765 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beauty; Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classification of Beauty in Woman, by Alexander Walker. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .giant {font-size: 200%} + .huge {font-size: 150%} + .big {font-size: 125%} + + .poem {margin-left:15%;} + .note {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + .spacer {padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + .spacer2 {padding-left: 3.5em; padding-right: 3.5em;} + + ins.correction {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin solid gray;} + + .foot {text-transform: none; font-size:small;} + + .hang {margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beauty, by Alexander Walker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Beauty + Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classificatin of Beauty in Woman + +Author: Alexander Walker + +Release Date: February 26, 2011 [EBook #35409] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUTY *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p class="center"><span class="giant">BEAUTY;</span><br /><br /> +ILLUSTRATED CHIEFLY BY AN<br /><br /> +<span class="huge">ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION</span><br /><br /> +OF<br /><br /> +<span class="giant">BEAUTY IN WOMAN,</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">BY ALEXANDER WALKER,</span><br /> +<small>AUTHOR OF “INTERMARRIAGE,” “WOMAN,” “PHYSIOGNOMY FOUNDED<br /> +ON PHYSIOLOGY,” “THE NERVOUS SYSTEM,” ETC.</small></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">EDITED BY AN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN</p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">NEW YORK:<br />HENRY G. LANGLEY, 8 ASTOR-HOUSE.<br />1845.</p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<p class="center">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> J. & H. G. LANGLEY,<br /> +in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New<br /> +York<br /> +<br /> +STEREOTYPED BY J. S. REDFIELD,<br /> +<i>13 Chambers Street, New York</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> +<h2>DEDICATION.</h2> + +<p class="center">TO</p> +<p class="center"><br />GEORGE BIRBECK, M.D., F.G.S.,<br /> +<small>PRESIDENT OF THE LONDON MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION, &c., &c., &c.</small></p> + +<p><br />A department of science, which in many respects must be regarded as new, +cannot so properly be dedicated to any one as to the inventor of the best +mode of diffusing scientific knowledge among the most meritorious and most +oppressed classes of society.</p> + +<p>When the enemies of freedom, in order effectually to blind the victims of +their spoliation, imposed a tax upon knowledge, you rendered the +acquirement of science easy by the establishment of mechanics’ +institutions—you gave the first and greatest impulse to that diffusion of +knowledge which will render the repetition of such a conspiracy against +humanity impossible.</p> + +<p>You more than once also wrested a reluctant concession, in behalf of +untaxed knowledge, from the men who had evidently succeeded, in some +degree, to the spirit, as well as to the office, of the original<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> +conspirators, and who unwisely hesitated between the bad interest which is +soon felt by all participators in expensive government, and their dread of +the new and triumphant power of public opinion, before which they know and +feel that they are but as the chaff before the whirlwind.</p> + +<p>For these services, accept this respectful dedication, as the expression +of a homage, in which I am sure that I am joined by thousands of Britons.</p> + +<p>Nor, in writing this, on a subject of which your extensive knowledge +enables you so well to judge, am I without a peculiar and personal motive.</p> + +<p>I gratefully acknowledge that, in one of the most earnest and strenuous +mental efforts I ever made, in my work on “The Nervous System,” I owed to +your cautions as to logical reasoning and careful induction, an anxiety at +least, and a zeal in these respects, which, whatever success may have +attended them, could not well be exceeded.</p> + +<p>I have endeavored to act conformably with the same cautions in the present +work. He must be weak-minded, indeed, who can seek for aught in philosophy +but the discovery of truth; and he must be a coward who, believing he has +discovered it, has any scruple to announce it.</p> + +<p class="right">ALEXANDER WALKER.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">April 10, 1836.</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2>AMERICAN ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + +<p>The present volume completes the series of Mr. Walker’s anthropological +works. To say that they have met with a favorable reception from the +American public, would be but a very inadequate expression of the +unprecedented success which has attended their publication. +“<span class="smcap">Intermarriage</span>,” the first of the series, passed through six large +editions within eighteen months, and “<span class="smcap">Woman</span>,” has met with a sale scarcely +less extensive. The numerous calls for the present work, have compelled +the publishers to issue it sooner than they had contemplated; and, it is +believed, that it will be found not less worthy of attention than the +preceding.</p> + +<p>All must acknowledge the interesting nature of the subject treated in the +present work, as well as its intimate connexion with those which have +already passed under discussion. The analysis of beauty on philosophical +principles, is attended with numerous difficulties, not the least of which +arises from the want of any fixed and acknowledged standard. The term +Beauty is, indeed, generally considered as a vague generality, varying +according to national, and even individual taste and judgment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>Mr. Walker claims, in his advertisement, numerous points of originality, +some of which, on examination, may perhaps prove to have been proposed +previously by other writers. Enough, however, will remain to entitle him +to the credit of great ingenuity and acuteness. As treated by him, the +subject assumes an aspect very different from that exhibited in any other +publication. To trace the connexion of beauty with, and its dependance on, +anatomical structure and physiological laws—to show how it may be +modified by causes within our control—to describe its different forms and +modifications, and defects, as indicated by certain physical signs—to +analyze its elements, with a view to its influence on individuals and +society, in connexion with its perpetration in posterity—all these were +novel topics of vast and exciting interest, and well adapted to the +genius, taste, and research of our author.</p> + +<p>In preparing the present edition, it has been thought expedient to make +some verbal alterations, and omit a few paragraphs, to which a refined +taste might perhaps object, and to bring together in the Appendix such +collateral matter, as might serve to correct, extend, or illustrate the +views presented in the text. With these explanations, the work is +confidently commended to the popular as well as philosophical reader, as +worthy of studious examination.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table width="75%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Preliminary Essay</span></td><td align="right">Page <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>English Advertisement</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER I.—Importance of the Subject</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER II.—Urgency of the Discussion of this Subject in relation to the Interests of Decency and Morality</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER III.—Cautions to Youth</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER IV.—Nature of Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER V.—Standard of Taste in Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VI.—The Elements of Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Elements of Beauty in Inanimate Beings</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Elements of Beauty in Living Beings</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section III.</span>—Elements of Beauty in Thinking Beings</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section IV.</span>—Elements of Beauty as employed in Objects of Art</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Beauty of Useful Objects</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Beauty of Ornamental Objects</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Beauty of Intellectual Objects</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Summary of this Chapter</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Appendix</span> to the Preceding Chapters</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Nature of the Picturesque</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Cause of Laughter</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Section III.</span>—Cause of the Pleasure received from Representations exciting Pity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VII.—Anatomical and Physiological Principles</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VIII.—Of the Ages of Women in relation to Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER IX.—Of the Causes of Beauty in Woman</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER X.—Of the Standard of Beauty in Woman</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XI.—Of the Three Species of Female Beauty generally viewed</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XII.—First Species of Beauty: Beauty of the Locomotive System</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XIII.—Second Species of Beauty: Beauty of the Nutritive System</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XIV.—Third Species of Beauty: Beauty of the Thinking System</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XV.—Beauty of the Face in particular</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XVI.—Combinations and Transitions of the Three Species of Female Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XVII.—Proportion, Character, Expression, &c.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XVIII.—The Greek Ideal Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XIX.—The Ideal of Female Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XX.—Defects of Beauty</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_320">320</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Defects of the Locomotive System</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_320">320</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Defects of the Vital System</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Defects of the Mental System</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XXI.—External Indications, or Art of Determining the precise Figure, the degree of Beauty, the Mind, the Habits, and +the Age of Women, notwithstanding the Aids and Disguises of Dress</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_329">329</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">External Indications of Figure</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_329">329</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">External Indications of Beauty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">External Indications of Mind</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">External Indications of Habits</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">External Indications of Age</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Appendix</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> +<h2>PRELIMINARY ESSAY,</h2> +<p class="center">BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night<br /> +Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="spacer">*</span><span class="spacer">*</span><span class="spacer">*</span><span class="spacer">*</span></span><br /> +Death hath no power yet upon thy beauty—<br /> +Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet<br /> +Is crimson on thy lips, and in thy cheeks.—<span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>It maybe set down, we suppose, as a matter sufficiently settled to become +a principle, that men are moved by nothing more generally and certainly +than by the power of Beauty—particularly Beauty in Woman. That it has an +influence upon <i>all</i> of one sex, like that which Master Shakspeare has +given picture of in the lines we have set upon our front, we would not +pretend to say: but that the wild bard was no freshman in his knowledge of +humanity so far as heart and mind matters were concerned, we feel safe to +assert—and feel confident that the passionate language of Romeo +trespasses no bounds, and is but a faithful declaration of a power that +rules with a milder or a mightier sway in the bosoms of all who answer to +the distinctive name of Man.</p> + +<p>This may seem a wide assertion. But it is no less true. The reason of the +slow belief in this universality is, that men are not always subject to +the influence, while the principle of it is always a tenant within them. +There is a time—and with the time comes the development. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> mind, as it +unfolds, becomes acquainted with nothing so calculated to excite its +wonder, as its own properties and capabilities—its new perceptions—its +new affections. Till progress brings with it this knowledge of ourselves, +we remain ignorant of half that is within us to affect us like a spell, +and within whose reach we have been unconsciously passing onward and +upward, by a Providential ordering, from our childhood at least, if not +from our cradles.</p> + +<p>Keeping this in view, let us consider for a moment something of the +elements of Beauty, and their influence, as a principle, upon the +principles of our nature.—And first it must be admitted that they are +good—of a good origin—and tend to a good result. They are good elements, +we believe, for we find them almost ever associated with what is pleasing, +improving, and satisfactory to us. Indeed, in this connexion, we find them +a source of consolation and delight, where all else has failed to minister +or even suggest them. They are of a good origin—for, if they were not, no +such effect would be wrought upon a system so sadly prone to evil and +villanous principles, and so little open to pure, and elevating, and +comforting ones, that they may be said to come about it, most +emphatically, like “angel-visits.” They are elements, again, that tend to +a good result, in their operation, for their consequences are almost ever, +to make men better satisfied with their condition—where they come in, as +an influence upon it, at all—better satisfied with almost everything +about them, so long as they are conscious they are creatures of +proportions and proprieties, and affected intrinsically by them.</p> + +<p>If what we here set down respecting the <i>elements</i> of Beauty be true, it +is certainly of an interesting importance in view of the influence of that +quality upon the principles of our nature. We call it <i>quality</i>. Perhaps +this is not name enough for something so peculiar and powerful in its +connexion with the <i>total</i> of our spirits. We will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> term it such, however, +for want of a wider language—and leave men to <i>feel</i> out such definition +as they may deem more good and grateful.</p> + +<p>Implanted, then, so deeply as Beauty is in the human heart—so universal, +that millions bow to it as something to fear while they worship—so +certain, as a principle, that scarcely a human being can be said to walk +without the sphere of its influence—it would be needless as well as +unphilosophical to deny that the great object of its fixture—its +enthronement upon its high place, should be one of no common character, or +of a tendency and effect within us, which it would be wrong and +inexcusable to overlook.</p> + +<p>What then is the design of this singular and mysterious power, in +connexion with this sad and unaccountable nature—so often the theme of +eulogy and lament—of lofty, long, and desperate satire, among men? The +best answer, we think, is rendered in the influence, where operation is +open to every one who thinks, observes, reasons, acts, among his +fellows.—To enter into particular definitions here, would be needless as +well as wearisome. The general effect upon man, as a sentient and moral +being, must be the point to which our simple remarks and reasons must be +confined.</p> + +<p>We have somewhere seen it observed—and have little doubt in the publicity +and good sense of the thought—that there was perhaps no one thing which +tended so materially to awaken lofty and good sentiments among the +people—to qualify the rough outline of character—and soften and +harmonize the untaught elements of their nature, as the frequent, +unrestrained, and encouraged contemplation of the perfect statuary, which +their master sculptors were continually erecting in their temples. This +freedom was a perpetual lesson to a nation. The principle was developed, +and the power of Beauty had a new, and forming, and mastering sway. A +people were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> coming into the light of better feeling—better +society—better government, under the gradual but no less certain +operation of a living principle, brought into great and beautiful action, +under the commanding hand of Genius, that seemed to pass at once from the +sky, whose perfect things it presented to the sons of earth!—It is not +singular, we think, that such a leading forth of Beauty to the +contemplation of awakened man, should produce effects like those to which +we have adverted. It strikes us that it would have been strange had this +consequence not been generated, and noble sculpture thus have stood before +a world as cold as the marble from which it was stricken. We believe that +Beauty saw a renovating power in the wonder of the Venus—and it would be +a sad thing to feel that it had ever ceased in its progress where woman or +the chisel were doing such things to advance it. Nor has it ceased. +History presents too many instances of the monarch power of Beauty in +woman, to permit us to doubt upon this subject. It has passed upon the +spirit of Man like a thing of necromance—winning him to its command, and +bowing him to its will, until royalty itself has stood powerless in its +presence, and the poor mass of mortals, stricken and panting like cornered +deer before the inexorable hunter. It has been the salvation and ruin of +nations, as well as families and individuals—for queens have obeyed its +supremacy as well as maidens, and kings squared their mandates, and +regulated their course, by the “line of beauty.” All this is matter of +record. Sacred and profane story abounds with instances which admit of no +denial, while they excite our wonder. But the wonder ceases, +notwithstanding, when we turn from record to our own experience, and <i>see</i> +the effect, on others and ourselves, of what we once <i>read</i> about in the +curious annals of our species. We now see the finished sculpture that +delighted and softened the people of an age, gazed on and admired by every +being whom we are accustomed to regard as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span>rational. No one pretends to +question, much less to deny the beauty of the lovely statue, in which the +perfection of woman is portrayed in the finished feature or the swelling +form. Insensibility here would properly be regarded as a thing to be +ashamed of—as little better than a moral paralysis, which might well +exclude the questionable man from the circle of reasonable, enlightened, +and rising people, as a sad fellow, and a poor pilgrim on the earth. You +will rarely find the roughest nature with a cuticle that will not confess +some sensibility in a presence such as this—and I think we may set it +down as a thing well ascertained, that the picture or chiselling of a +beautiful woman will command the tribute of delight—the +acknowledgment—and loud one too—of a whole and hearty worship from the +tar, as well as the amateur. The galleries of our artists, in which the +principle of Beauty is made to speak and command, sufficiently prove that +there is no passing away of this power which has moved, ruled, and +regulated, to a degree almost incredible, the world of Man, from the time +he came to this school, and this trial of the passions and affections. Let +the question be asked of any one, whose spirit is in healthful action, if +his experience before the work of art, imbodying the Beauty we speak of, +is not of a humanizing—and we will add civilizing, as well as elevating +character, and we are willing to abide the issue of his answer, in full +support of the position we have taken. Such is our belief on the +universality of this influence or element. We have heard it denied, it is +certain—but it was even by those who have never tested the power by an +application of it to themselves, or a surrender to its mysteries, by an +approach to the real presence—and who, like bachelors upon the fearful +subject of matrimony, only betray a silliness just in proportion to their +ignorance. These are the men who have not yet unfolded. They are in the +chrysalis condition—and to be pitied accordingly. They may depend upon +it, when they pass from the <i>slough</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> they will be ready to confess they +are, alas! too deep in that other “Slough of Despond,” which is too well +represented by a sad sensitiveness to the magic of Beauty, and as sad a +consciousness that there is no approach for them, which can be crowned by +a capture of the citadel, or the least enjoyment of the glorious delights +it encloses. When we hear men deteriorating this power, or thanking the +gods they never bent knee or uttered vow at its shrine, we are ever ready +to believe they have either bowed all their days to far other and sadder +principles, and made oath to idols of bad material and worse sculpture, or +that they are as much beyond the reach of any good, and proper, and +beautiful influence, as the clod of the valley to which they are +hastening. They may take pride in denial of such influence—but what is +there to boast of in insensibility of any kind, where the very betrayal of +admiration is the best evidence of a good taste—a good feeling—a good +faith—a good principle? It cannot have escaped common observation, we +presume, that a love of Beauty—or, at least, any peculiar sensitiveness +to that quality in the female sex, has been held—and by sensible men, +too—as a weakness, or an index only of a weak mind, or a feminine spirit. +This is certainly very foolish—and a lamentable mistake. But it is easily +accounted for. It will be observed that the doctrine is never held save by +men who see beauty in things which other persons would hold abhorrent. +They are men who are in love with metaphysics, or glory in a mathematical +existence. They like, beyond all, the <i>features</i> of a problem, and think +only of the <i>good face</i> of a speculation. They see, as they profess, at +least, no proportions, save in some cold system of an absurd philosophy, +and are only fit for judgment in things either too abstract for the mass +of men, or too decidedly “earthy” to be worthy the attention of beings +made for a better sphere, and capable of seeing something in much that is +around us, which intimates the order and beauty by which that sphere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> is +distinguished. This is enough to put an end to this objection, in +reference to the subtle element of which we are venturing our humble, but +we believe, orthodox sentiments. For ourselves, we know of no more sad or +senseless mental condition in which we could be placed—we mean in the +social relation—than this one of such ungraceful stupidity, as this of +which a boast is made by such weary fellows as we have adverted to. If +Beauty is an <i>outside</i> principle, which they argue is of no utility, and +quite unworthy of one who should look beyond the mere <i>coating</i> of this +existence for his reward or his satisfaction, then we say that even an +<i>outside</i> of loveliness and grace, is better than an <i>interior</i> of +deformity, uselessness, indefiniteness, chaos—even though it pretend to +be all spiritual, while it suggests little but nonsense, and is quite +certain to end in nothing.</p> + +<p>There is another thought in connexion with this element of Beauty in +Woman, which certainly deserves consideration. We believe the philosophy +which it intimates is founded in very good sense, and withal, in +propriety. Insensibility to the power, we have observed, is no index of +anything virtuous or elevated. It is rather, in all cases, a bad omen. Men +look upon it—and that very rationally—as indicative of something +unhealthy in the moral system. It seems to tell of a hardness—bad +propensities—a crustaceous nature. In short, man regards his fellow, who +is dead to this influence, as rather to be suspected at all times, than to +be trusted at any. But this is not his saddest trial—or what should be +regarded as such, if he can sign himself a man, with any conscience +whatever. His estimation by woman is unqualified and unquestioned. He is +set down by her as a creature as unworthy of regard by the sisterhood, as +he is devoid of warmth or wit in anything that has to do with the social +relations, and, above all, with the mysteries of the passions and +affections. He is marked by them with a timble brand. He is set apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span> as +a poor thing, who knows nothing of what he was made for, and whose ideas +of the graceful and lovely in life are about as defined and worthy as +those of the brutes that perish. He is run upon and laughed at by the +playful, and satirised and scathed by the witty. In the circle he is +treated—not pitied—as a piece of circulating insensibility; in the +street he is pointed at as one who might be well set up as a mark at its +corners. And this is right. It is well he should be visited by rebuke from +her who presents so continually around him the elements of that power he +is foolish to resist, and unable, after all, to depreciate. Woman’s +opinion, here, is a part of the great system which the influence she +defends is meant to support—and we truly hope that she will maintain it +aloud as long as she can utter it. Of the power of Beauty, both the world +of fact, and the world of fancy, are abounding in instances. The records +of ancient story present us with their Helens and their Cleopatras, who +wrought upon nations by the magic of their faces. Later times show us the +wonder of the power in Mary of Scotland, and many a page might be adverted +to, full of the adventures which marked the love passages of kings as well +as clowns, originating in this mysterious influence, as developed in the +graces and glories of woman.</p> + +<p>The power of Beauty operates widely, and everywhere. It takes the good man +captive as well as the miscellaneous one, who has no definite rule to +guide him on his wanderings. It bows the masters and teachers of men at +its shrine, as well as the scholars and children of life. It draws the +merchant from his desk—the philosopher from his chair. It gives new +utterance to the poet, while it wins the statesman to confess that there +is some virtue in the outside of the world, after all, and some attraction +apart from the chaos of cabinets and broad seals.</p> + +<p>There is a beautiful exemplification of this power given by Florian, in +his story of a Theban sculptor. He is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span> wandering orphan in the streets +of his native city, and his first entrance into the workshop of the +celebrated Praxitiles well proves the truth of what we have set down in +the foregoing pages.—“He is suddenly transported on beholding so many +masterpieces of art! He gazes upon them—he is lost in admiration! and +turning to Praxitiles with an air of grace and juvenile freedom, “Father,” +cried he, “give <i>me</i> the chisel, and teach me to become as great as thou +art.” Praxitiles stared at the boy, astonished at the fire of enthusiasm +which kindled in his eyes, and embracing him with affection, “Yes!” said +he, “remain with me; I will now be <i>your</i> master, but my hope shall be +that you may soon be <i>mine</i>.”</p> + +<p>The pupil soon becomes worthy of his teacher. He becomes the heir of his +fortune, and removes to Miletus. There, the daughter of the governor +visits his statuary, and from the time of that visit, his destiny is +sealed. Love usurps the place of every other passion, and the chisel is +cast aside in silence, under that supremacy. The Venus of marble that +adorned his study, was no longer a Venus before that living one which +filled his eye and his bosom. He felt that he must tell his love, or die. +He declares it, in a hurried letter—a slave betrays him—and the +indignant father accuses him before the council. He is banished from the +city—and embarks in a Cretan vessel.</p> + +<p>At this time pirates surprise the city, and pillage the temple of Venus. +The statue of that goddess is torn from its pedestal. It was the Palladium +of the island, and on its possession hung the happiness of the Milesians. +The oracle of Delphos was consulted, and it was answered that Miletus +would not be safe till a new statue of Venus, beautiful as the Goddess +herself, should replace that ravished by the pirates. The inhabitants were +in despair. They accused the governor of unjustly banishing the only man +who might now save the city. He is seized, and hurried in chains to a +dungeon. Now came the trial of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span> the daughter, whose beauty had brought on +this fearful crisis. She equips her vessel, and with treasures about her, +determines to go in person to Athens—Corinth—Thebes—to find some artist +who should emancipate her father. Tempted to land on a delicious island, +she there comes suddenly upon her lover, whom she had been taught to +believe had been long laid under the waters that lashed the heights of +Naxos.</p> + +<p>The story is soon told. In the humble cabin of his solitude he had +prepared a statue which he said would meet the demand of the sybil. But he +claimed to have it placed veiled upon the pedestal in the temple of +Miletus, before she should even look upon the marble. She consents—and +they embark for that island. The artist is received with shoutings and +joy. The statue is borne to its trial on the altar of Venus. It stands +erect. He fears nothing—and it is unveiled. The features are not +mistaken—and the people utter cries of joy as they behold the image of +his mistress! The enamored sculptor had made her, in his loneliness, the +model of his Venus!—He is called on to claim his reward. “Release him you +have imprisoned,” he cried—“release her father—and I ask no more.”—It +is done—and the father gives up the daughter to his preserver, at the +foot of her statue.</p> + +<p>Can the power of Beauty be better illustrated than in this simple tale? We +are not shown simply its effect upon an uneducated, artless +individual—upon a mind in its singleness, and just awakened to its own +capabilities of suffering and joy—but we see it operating in a wide and +unquestioned influence, upon the spirit of a whole people. It was not +demanded by fate that there should be merely a replacing of the piece of +marble upon the pedestal from which it had been torn—it was required that +the statue should be as royal in its <i>Beauty</i> as that was whose place it +should supply. Beauty was the spirit-word of the destiny of Miletus. It +was Beauty which had been guardian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</a></span> of the city—and it was Beauty which +must now restore it, by her return to her temple.</p> + +<p>But we will not dwell upon this story, though it so beautifully +exemplifies the position we maintain. There are many instances of frequent +occurrence in the world, which tell as strong a tale, of the influence of +Grace and Beauty, as is here presented in the Grecian record. We may not +witness them—but the power is working ever like fate in the mingled +material of our life; and it only requires a sober faith, together with a +moderate observation, to convince all men that they are the creatures of +Beauty, as much as they are of destiny and dust.</p> + +<p>But there is another consideration connected with this subject—an +important one, too—and for that reason we have reserved it to the last.</p> + +<p>We are settled in our conviction that there is something in Personal +Beauty, of a representative and correspondent character. It represents a +spiritual beauty—corresponds with a moral symmetry. Though we call it an +<i>outward</i> property, still it must be a picture of the <i>internal</i>. It would +seem impossible that there can be a speaking expression of grace and +loveliness, upon a face that is but a telegraph of an inward deformity and +ugliness. Perhaps all this may seem somewhat ideal in its philosophy—and, +perhaps, almost transcendental. But we hold it to be true. It certainly +appears to us reasonable that the minor should reflect the reality, as +well in this heaven-made humanity, as amid the earthy art of our +drawing-rooms. That the spirit should speak out in the language of the +countenance, is to us as excellent sense as that it should tell its story +in protuberances and indentations. Who can deny this—and where will the +argument fail? We pause for a reply.</p> + +<p>Let us be understood, however. We have no idea of going beyond reason in a +theory, which, though it may appear more than plausible to us, may seem +far this side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</a></span> of plausible to others. Yet we think we are borne out by +example. We do not maintain, it will be remembered, that beauty of person +must necessarily be the representative of <i>moral beauty</i>, according to the +best and highest definition of that term. That definition, we presume, +would include the virtuous and the heavenly. That these traits are +unfailing accompaniments of noble features—the beautiful countenance—the +finished form—it would be hazardous and foolish to assert. What we intend +to say is this—that we believe external beauty is the representation of +an internal and spiritual quality of the same nature. That Beauty may be +spiritual, though it may not be moral—the Beauty of Virtue. It may be the +beauty of superior and surpassing powers—the Beauty of Genius. It may be +the beauty of a mind, uncommon in its attractions, and in its proportions +beyond fault or question. It may be the beauty of intellectual +symmetry—and this may find its speaking resemblance in the chiseled face +and figure, as certainly as the moral loveliness of the +heaven-inspired—the emphatically <i>good</i> man. Of what more perfect mental +proportions could the human countenance have been indicative, than the +countenance of Napoleon? The symmetry of Genius spake there, if it <i>was</i> +true—as it certainly was—that moral beauty had no telegraph in that +splendid sculpture of the man.</p> + +<p>But we have said as much as we can afford to—though the more particular +subject of our remarks—or what in good faith should have been, if it has +not—Beauty in Woman, would seem to be one on which it would not be deemed +unknightly to give way to a pretty expression. We must, however, leave all +considerations of gallantry on this score, to others who can amplify +better than we can, when we have got to the end of our chapter.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + +<p>There is perhaps no subject more universally or more deeply interesting +than that which is the chief subject of the present work. Yet no book, +even pretending to science or accuracy, has hitherto appeared upon it. The +forms and proportions of animals—as of the horse and the dog—have been +examined in a hundred volumes: not one has been devoted to woman, on whose +physical and moral qualities the happiness of individuals, and the +perpetual improvement of the human race, are dependant.</p> + +<p>The cause of this has been, probably, the neglect on the part of +individuals, to combine anatomical and physiological knowledge with the +critical observation of the external forms of woman; and, perhaps, some +repugnance to anthropological knowledge on the part of the public. The +last obstacle, if ever it existed, is now gone by, as many circumstances +show; and it will be the business of the author, in this work, to endeavor +to obviate the former.</p> + +<p>The present work, beside giving new views of the theory of beauty, and of +its application to the arts, presents an analysis and classification of +beauty in woman. A subsequent work will apply the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> principles here +established to intermarriages and crossings among mankind, and will +explain their results in relation to the happiness of individuals, and to +the beauty and the freedom from insanity of their offspring. A final work +will examine the relations of woman in society, will expose the +extravagant hypothesis of writers on this subject who have been ignorant +of anthropology, and will describe the reforms which the common interests +of mankind demand in this respect.</p> + +<p>It is now to be seen, whether a branch of science which is strictly +founded on anatomy and physiology—one which entangles the reader in no +mystical and delusive hypothesis, and presents to him only indisputable +facts—one which is applicable to the subject most universally and deeply +interesting to mankind, the critical judgment of female beauty, as founded +on necessary functions—and one which unravels the greater difficulties +which that subject presents—may not excite and permanently command a +great degree of public interest.</p> + +<p>A preliminary view of the importance of this subject is given in the first +chapter; the urgency of its discussion, in relation to the interests of +decency and morality, is established in the second; and some useful +cautions as to youth are offered in the third.</p> + +<p>In regard to the importance of the subject, I may, even here, avail myself +of the highest authorities.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Thomas More</span>, speaking of the people of his commonwealth, says: “They do +greatly wonder at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> the folly of all other nations, which, in <i>buying a +colt</i> (whereas, a little money is in hazard), be so chary and circumspect, +that, though he be almost all bare, yet they will not buy him, unless the +saddle and all the harness be taken off—lest, under those coverings, be +hid some gall or sore. And yet, in <i>choosing a wife</i>, which shall be +either pleasure or displeasure to them all their life after, they be so +reckless, that, all the residue of the woman’s body being covered with +clothes, they esteem her scarcely by one hand-breadth (for they can see no +more but her face), and so to join her to them, not without great jeopardy +of evil agreeing together—if anything in her body afterward should chance +to offend and mislike them.”<small><a name="f1.1" id="f1.1" href="#f1">[1]</a></small></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Francis Bacon</span> is of similar opinion.</p> + +<p>Happily, the advancement of anthropological science in modern times, may, +as is here shown, be so applied as to render quite unnecessary the +<i>objectionable methods</i> proposed by both these philosophers, in order to +carry their doctrines into practice.</p> + +<p><i>Shall I be blamed, because I avail myself of the progress of knowledge to +render all that these great men desired on this subject of easy attainment +and inoffensive to woman? Shall I be blamed, because I first facilitate +that which the still farther advancement of knowledge will inevitably +render an everyday occurrence, and the guide of the most important act of +human life?</i>—I care not.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>In the details as to female beauty, it will be seen how incorrectly +Winckelmann says: “In female figures, the forms of beauty are not so +different, nor the gradations so various, as in those of males; and +therefore in general they present no other difference than that which is +dependant upon age.... Hence, in treating of female beauty, few +observations occur as necessary to be made, and the study of the artist is +more limited and more easy.... It is to be observed, that, in speaking of +the resemblance of nude female figures, I speak solely of the body, +without concluding from it that they also resemble each other in the +distinctive characters of the head, which are particularly marked in each, +whether goddess or heroine.”—The differences, even in the bodies of +females, are here shown to be both numerous and capable of distinct +classification.</p> + +<p>It is right to observe, that this work has nothing to do with an early +production of the writer, a consciousness of the small value of which +prevented his attaching his name to it, which he now knows to be utterly +worthless, and which has since been vamped up with things which are more +worthless still.</p> + +<p>The most valuable features of the present work are entirely new and +original. Others are such as the writer thought not unworthy of +preservation from earlier essays. He has also, throughout this work, +adopted from other writers, with no other alteration than accuracy +required, every view, opinion, or remark, which he thought applicable to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +a department of science, of which all the great features are new.</p> + +<p>Such being the case, he thinks it just, at once to himself and others, to +indicate here the only points on which he can himself lay any claim to +originality. These are as follows:—</p> + +<p>The more complete establishment of the truth that, in relation to man and +woman in particular, beauty is the external sign of goodness in +organization and function, and thence its importance.—Chapter I., and the +work generally.</p> + +<p>The showing that the discussion of this subject, though involving the +examination of the naked figure, is urgent in relation to decency (the +theory of which is discussed), morality, and happy intermarriage.—Chapter +II.</p> + +<p>The showing that the ancient religion was the cause of the perfection of +the fine arts in Greece, by its personification of simple attributes or +virtues, as objects of adoration.—Chapter II.</p> + +<p>The exposition of the nature, the kinds, and the characteristics of +beauty; and of some errors of Burke, Knight, &c., on this +subject.—Chapter IV.</p> + +<p>The showing that there are elements of beauty invariable in their nature +and effect, and that these are modified and complicated in advancing from +simple to complex beings, and the arts relating to them.—Chapter VI.</p> + +<p>The pointing out these elements of beauty, and their mode of operation in +inanimate beings; and the errors of Knight and Allison on this +subject.—Sect. I., Chapter VI.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>The pointing out these elements, and others which are superadded, in +living beings; and the errors of Allison on this subject.—Sect. II., +Chapter VI.</p> + +<p>The pointing out these elements, and others which are farther superadded, +in thinking beings; and the errors of Burke and Knight on this +subject.—Sect. III., Chapter VI.</p> + +<p>The exposition of these elements, as differing, or variously modified, in +the useful, ornamental, and intellectual arts, respectively; and some +remarks on ornament in architecture, and in female dress.—Sect. IV., +Chapter VI.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the nature of the picturesque, after the failure of +Knight and Price in this respect.—Sect. I., Appendix to preceding +chapters.</p> + +<p>The vindication of the doctrine of Hobbes, as to the cause of laughter; +and exposition of the errors of Campbell and Beattie on this +subject.—Sect. II., Appendix.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the cause of the pleasure received from representations +exciting pity; and of the errors of Burke, &c., on that subject.—Sect. +III., Appendix.</p> + +<p>The arrangement of anatomy and physiology, and the application of the +principles of these sciences to the distinguishing and judging of +beauty.—Chapter VII.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the difference in the beauty of the two sexes even in +the same country.—Chapter IX.</p> + +<p>Various arguments establishing the standard of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> beauty in woman; and +exposure of the sophistry of Knight, on this subject.—Chapter X.</p> + +<p>The showing, by the preceding arrangements, that the ancient temperaments +are partial or complex views of anthropological phenomena.—Chapter XI., +et seq.</p> + +<p>The description of the first species of beauty, or that of the locomotive +system, and of its varieties, as founded on examination of +structure.—Chapter XII.</p> + +<p>The description of the second species of beauty, or that of the nutritive +system, and of its varieties, as founded on examination of +structure.—Chapter XIII.</p> + +<p>The description of the third species of beauty, or that of the thinking +system, and of its varieties, as founded on examination of +structure.—Chapter XIV.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the cause of the deformity produced by the obliquely +placed eyes of the Chinese, &c.—Chapter XV.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the mode in which the action of the muscles of the face +becomes physiognomically expressive.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the physiognomical character of the different kinds of +the hair.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the cause of the different effects of the same face, +even in a state of repose.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The indication of the faulty feature, and its gradual increase, even in +beautiful faces.—Ibid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>The exposition of the different organization of Greek and Roman +heads.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the combinations and transitions of beauty.—Chapter +XVI.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the numerical, geometrical, and harmonic methods of +proportion, employed by the ancient Greeks.—Chapter XVII.</p> + +<p>Some remarks on character, expression, and detail in art.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>Some observations on the Greek forehead, actual as well as ideal.—Chapter +XVIII.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the reason of the Greek ideal rule, as to the +proportion between the forehead and the other parts of the face.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the reason of the Greek ideal rule, as to the profile +of the forehead and nose, or as to the direction of the mesial line which +they form, and the exposition of Winckelmann’s blunder respecting +it.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The explanation of the reason why the Greeks suppressed all great degrees +of impassioned expression.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The mere indication of the Greek idealizations as applied to the nutritive +and locomotive systems, and the explanation of the latter in the +Apollo.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The replies to the objections of Burke and Alison, as to ideal +beauty.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The enunciation of the ideal in attitude.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>Various views as to the Venus de Medici, the conformation of the nose, and +the connexion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> odor with love, in animals and plants.—Chapter XIX.</p> + +<p>Some remarks on the Venus de Medici.—Ibid.</p> + +<p>The pointing out and explanation of various defects in beauty.—Chapter +XX.</p> + +<p>The pointing out and explanation of various external indications of +figure, beauty, mind, habits, and age.—Chapter XXI.</p> + +<p>The writer may possibly be mistaken as to the originality of one or two of +these points; but, leaving the critical reader to deduct as many of these +as it is in his power to do, enough of novelty would remain for the +writer’s ambition, in this respect, if he had done no more than exposed +the errors of Burke, Knight, Alison, &c., and established the true +doctrine of beauty, in the first chapters—given an analysis and +classification of beauty in woman, in the chapters which follow—and +applied this to the fine arts, and solved the difficulty of Leonardo da +Vinci, &c., in the last chapters.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION</span><br /> +<small>OF</small><br /> +<span class="huge">BEAUTY IN WOMAN.</span></p> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.</h3> + +<p>It is observed by Home, in his “Elements of Criticism,” that a perception +of beauty in external objects is requisite to attach us to them; that it +greatly promotes industry, by promoting a desire to possess things that +are beautiful; and that it farther joins with utility, in prompting us to +embellish our houses and enrich our fields. “These, however,” he says, +“are but slight effects, compared with the connexions which are formed +among individuals in society by means of this singular mechanism: the +qualifications of the head and heart are undoubtedly the most solid and +most permanent foundations of such connexions; but as external beauty lies +more in view, and is more obvious to the bulk of mankind, than the +qualities now mentioned, the sense of beauty possesses the more universal +influence in forming these connexions; at any rate, it concurs in an +eminent degree,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> with mental qualifications, to produce social +intercourse, mutual good-will, and, consequently, mutual aid and support, +which are the life of society.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Pritchard similarly observes, that “the perception of beauty is the +chief principle in every country which directs men in their marriages.”</p> + +<p>Advancing a step farther, Sir Anthony Carlisle thinks a taste for beauty +worthy of being cultivated. “Man,” he observes, “dwells with felicity even +on ideal female attributes, and in imagination discovers beauties and +perfections which solace his wearied hours, far beyond any other resource +within the scope of human life. It cannot, then, be unwise to cultivate +and refine this natural tendency, and to enhance, if possible, these +charms of life. We increase and heighten all our pleasures by awakening +and cultivating reflections which do not exist in a state of ignorance. +Thus, the botanist perceives elegances in plants and flowers unknown and +unfelt by the vulgar, and the landscape-painter revels in natural or +imaginary scenery, with feelings which are unknown to the multitude. It +would be absurd to pretend that the more exquisite and more deeply +attractive beauty of woman is not worthy of more profound, as well as more +universal cultivation.”</p> + +<p>Such are the observations of philosophical anthropologists, who, +nevertheless, in these remarks, consider mere physical beauty independent +of its connexion with corresponding functions or moral qualities.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>If, however, the external beauty of woman, calculated as it is to flatter +the most experienced eye, limited its effect to a local impression, to an +optical enjoyment, the sentiment of beauty would be far from having all +its extent and value. Happily, ideas of goodness, of suitableness, of +sympathy, of progressive perfection, and of mutual happiness, are, by an +intimate and inevitable association, connected with the first impression +made by the sight of beauty.</p> + +<p>The foundation of this feeling is well expressed by Dr. Pritchard, in his +observation that “the idea of beauty of person is synonymous with that of +health and perfect organization.”</p> + +<p>Hence, it has been observed, the great ideal models of beauty please us, +not merely because their forms are disposed and combined so as to affect +agreeably the organ of sight, but because their exterior appears to +correspond to admirable qualities, and to announce an elevation in the +condition of humanity. Such do the Greek monuments appear to physiologists +and philosophical artists, whose minds pass rapidly from the beauty of +forms to that locomotive, vital, or mental excellence which it compels +them to suppose.</p> + +<p>Goodness and beauty in woman will accordingly be found to bear a strict +relation to each other; and the latter will be seen always to be the +external sign of the former.</p> + +<p>There are, however (slightly to anticipate what must afterward be +explained), different kinds, both of beauty and of goodness, which are +confounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> by vulgar observers; or rather there are beauty and goodness +belonging to different systems of which the body is composed, and which +ought never to be confounded with each other.</p> + +<p>Where, consequently, one of these kinds of beauty and of goodness is +wanting, even in a remarkable degree, others may be found; and, as the +vulgar do not distinguish, it is this which leads to the gross error that +these qualities have no strict relations to their signs.</p> + +<p>Want of beauty, then, in any one of the systems of which the body is +composed, indicates want of goodness only in that system; but it is not +less a truth, and scarcely of less importance, on that account.—I will +now illustrate this by brief examples.</p> + +<p>There may, in any individual, exist deformity of limbs; and this will +assuredly indicate want of goodness in the locomotive system, of that or +general motion. There may exist coarseness of skin, or paleness of +complexion; and either of these will as certainly indicate want of +goodness in the vital system, or that of nutrition. There may exist a +malformation of the brain, externally evident; and this no less certainly +will indicate want of goodness in the mental system, or that of thought.</p> + +<p>It follows that even the different kinds and combinations of beauty, which +are the objects of taste to different persons, are founded upon the same +general principle of organic superiority. Nay, even the preferences which, +in beauty, appear to depend most on fancy, depend in reality on that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +cause; and the impression which every degree and modification of beauty +makes on mankind, has as a fundamental rule only their sentiment, more or +less delicate and just, of physical advantage in relation to each +individual. Such is the foundation of all our sentiments of admiration and +of love.</p> + +<p>The existence or non-existence of these advantages, and the power of +determining this, or the judgment of beauty, are therefore of transcendent +importance to individuals and to families. Such judgment can be attained +by analysis and classification alone. Nothing, therefore, can more nearly +affect all human interests than that analysis and classification of beauty +which are here proposed.</p> + +<p>To place beyond a doubt, and to illustrate more minutely, the +extraordinary importance of this subject, as regards advantages real to +the species, I may anticipate some of the more minute applications of my +doctrine.</p> + +<p>If, in the locomotive system of the female, much of the delicacy of form, +and the ease and grace of her movements, depend upon the more perfect +development of the muscles of the pelvis, and its easily adapting itself +to great and remarkable changes, how important must be the ability to +determine, even by walk or gesture, the existence of this condition!</p> + +<p>If, in the vital system, the elasticity and freshness of the skin are the +characteristics of health, and their absence warns us that the condition +of woman is unfavorable to the plan of nature relatively to the +maintenance of the species—or, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> the capacity of the pelvis, and the +consequent breadth of the haunches, are necessary to all those functions +which are most essentially feminine, impregnation, gestation, and +parturition, without danger either to parent or to child—of what extreme +importance must be the ability to determine this with certainty and ease!</p> + +<p>If, in the mental system, the capacity and delicacy of the organs of +sense, and the softness and mobility of the nervous system, are necessary +to the vivid and varying sensibility of woman—if it is in consequence of +this, that woman is enabled to act on man by the continual observation of +all that can captivate his imagination or secure his affection, and by the +irresistible seduction of her manners—if it is these qualities which +enable her to accommodate herself to his taste, to yield, without +constraint, even to the caprice of the moment, and to seize the time when +observations, made as it were accidentally, may produce the effect which +she desires—if it is by these means that she fulfils her first duty, +namely, to please him to whom she has united her days, and to attach him +to her and to home by rendering both delightful—if all this is the case, +of what inexpressible importance must be the ability to determine, in each +individual, the possession of the power and the will to produce such +effects!</p> + +<p>If (descending to still more minute inquiries) external indications as to +figure are required as to parts concealed by drapery—if such indications +would obviate deception even with regard to those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> parts of the figure +which are more exposed to observation by the closer adaptation of +dress—if, even when the face is seen, the deception as to the degree of +beauty, is such that a correct estimate of it is perhaps never formed—if +indications as to mind may be derived from many external circumstances—if +external indications as to the personal habits of women are both numerous +and interesting—if such indications even of age and health are sometimes +essential—if all this be the case, let the reader say what other object +of human inquiry exceeds this in importance.</p> + +<p>Let us not then deceive ourselves respecting the source of those +impressions which one sex experiences from the sight of the other. It is +evidently nothing else than the more or less delicate and just perception +of a certain conformity of means with a want which has been created by +nature, and which must be satisfied.</p> + +<p>“It is very obvious,” says Dr. Pritchard, “that this peculiarity in the +constitution of man must have considerable effects on the physical +character of the race, and that it must act as a constant principle of +improvement, supplying the place in our own kind of the beneficial control +[in the crossing of races] which we exercise over the brute creation.” And +he adds: “This is probably the final cause for which the instinctive +perception of human beauty was implanted by Providence in our nature.”</p> + +<p>We need not wonder, then, that the Greeks should have preferred beauty to +all other advantages,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> should have placed it immediately after virtue in +the order of their affections, or should have made it an object of +worship.</p> + +<p>Even the practical application of this principle to the improvement of the +human race is not a matter of conjecture. We have seen both families and +nations ameliorated by the means which it affords. Of this, the Turks are +a striking example. Nothing, therefore, can better deserve the researches +of the physiologist, or the exertions of the philanthropist, than the fact +that there are laws, of which we have yet only a glimpse, according to +which we may influence the amelioration of the human race in a manner the +most extensive and profound, by acting according to a uniform and +uninterrupted system.</p> + +<p>Well might Cabanis exclaim: “After having occupied ourselves so curiously +with the means of rendering more beautiful and better the races of animals +or of plants which are useful or agreeable—after having remodelled a +hundred times that of horses and dogs—after having transplanted, grafted, +cultivated, in all manners, fruits and flowers—how shameful is it to have +totally neglected the race of man! As if it affected us less nearly! as if +it were more essential to have large and strong oxen than vigorous and +healthy men, highly odorous peaches or finely striped tulips, than wise +and good citizens!”</p> + +<p>I actually know a man who is so deeply interested in the doctrine of +crossing, that every hour of his life is devoted to the improvement of a +race<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> of bantam fowls and curious pigeons, and who yet married a mad +woman, whom he confines in a garret, and by whom he has some insane +progeny.</p> + +<p>Let it not be imagined that the discovery of the precise laws of crossing +or intermarriage, and the best direction of physical living forces, in +relation both to the vital faculties and to those of the mind, upon which +knowledge and skill may operate for the improvement of our race, is a +matter of difficulty.</p> + +<p>It will be shown in this work, that there exist not only an influence of +beauty and defects on offspring, but peculiar laws regulating the +resemblance of progeny to parents—laws which regard the mode in which the +organization of parents affects that of children, or regulates the organs +which each parent respectively bestows.</p> + +<p>It will accordingly be shown, that, as, on the size, form, and proportion, +of the various organs, depend their functions, the importance of such laws +is indescribable—whether we regard intermarriages, and that immunity from +mental or bodily disease which, when well directed, they may ensure, or +the determination of the parentage of a child—or the education of +children, in conformity with their faculties—or the employment of men in +society.</p> + +<p>I conclude this brief view in the words of the writer just quoted: “It is +assuredly time for us to attempt to do for ourselves that which we have +done so successfully for several of our companions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> in existence, to +review and correct this work of nature—a noble enterprise, which truly +merits all our cares, and which nature itself appears to have especially +recommended to us by the sympathies and the powers which it has given +us.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>URGENCY OF THE DISCUSSION OF THIS SUBJECT IN RELATION TO THE INTERESTS OF DECENCY AND MORALITY.</h3> + +<p>It has now been seen that beauty results from the perfection, chiefly of +external forms, and the correspondence of that perfection with superiority +of internal functions; on the more or less perfect perception of which, +love, intermarriage, and the condition of our race, are dependant.</p> + +<p>This mode of considering the elements, the nature, and the consequences of +beauty, is equally applicable to the two sexes; but, in woman, the form of +the species presents peculiar modifications.</p> + +<p>In this work, it is the form of woman which is chosen for examination, +because it will be found, by the contrast which is perpetually necessary, +to involve a knowledge of the form of man, because it is best calculated +to ensure attention from men, and because it is men who, exercising the +power of selection, have alone the ability thus to ensure individual +happiness, and to ameliorate the species; which are the objects of this +work.</p> + +<p>Let it not be imagined that the views now taken are less favorable to +woman than to man. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>Whatever ensures the happiness of one ensures that of +the other; and as the variety of forms and functions in man requires as +many varieties in woman, it is not to exclusion or rejection with regard +to woman that this work tends, but to a reasoned guidance in man’s choice, +to the greater suitableness of all intermarriages, and to the greater +happiness of woman as well as man, both in herself and in her progeny.</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding the importance of any work which is in any degree +calculated to promote such an object, some will tell us that the analysis +of female beauty, on which it can alone be founded, is indelicate.—I +shall, on the contrary, show that decency demands this analysis; that the +interests of nature, of truth, of the arts, and of morality, demand it.</p> + +<p>Our present notions of sexual decency belong more to art than to nature, +and may be divided into artificial and artful decencies.</p> + +<p>Artificial decencies are illustrated in the habits of various nations. +They have their origin in cold countries, where clothing is necessary, and +where a deviation from the degree or mode of clothing constitutes +indecency. They could not exist in hot climates, where clothing is +scarcely possible.</p> + +<p>In hot climates, natural decency can alone exist; and there is not, I +believe, one traveller in such countries whose works do not prove that +natural decency there exists as much as in cold countries. In +exemplification of this, I make a single quotation: it would be easy to +make thousands. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>Burchell, speaking of the Bushmen Hottentots, says: “The +natural bashful reserve of youth and innocence is to be seen as much among +these savages, as in more polished nations; and the young girls, though +wanting but little of being perfectly naked, evinced as just a sense of +modesty as the most rigid and careful education could have given them.”</p> + +<p>In mild climates, the half-clothed or slightly-clothed people appear to be +somewhat at a loss what to do. Fond of decorations, like all savage or +half-civilized people, they seem to be divided between the tatooing and +painting of hot climates, and the clothing of cold ones; and when they +adopt the latter, they do not rightly know what to conceal.</p> + +<p>The works of all travellers afford the same illustrations of this fact. I +quote one. Kotzebue describes the custom among the Tartar women of Kasan, +of flying or of concealing their countenance from the sight of a stranger. +The necessity of conforming to this custom threw into great embarrassment +a young woman who was obliged to pass several times before the German +traveller. She at first concealed her face with her hands; but, soon +embarrassed by that attitude, she removed the veil which covered her +bosom, and threw it over her face. “That,” adds Kotzebue, “was, as we say, +uncovering Paul to cover Jacques: the bosom remained naked. To cover that, +she next showed what should have been concealed; and if anything escaped +from her hands, she stooped, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> then,” says Kotzebue, “I saw both one +and the other.”</p> + +<p>In colder or more uncertain climates, the greatest degree of covering +constitutes the greatest degree of artificial decency: fashion and decency +are confounded. Among old-fashioned people, of whom a good example may be +found in old countrywomen of the middle class in England, it is indecent +to be seen with the head unclothed; such a woman is terrified at the +chance of being seen in that condition; and if intruded on at such a time, +she shrieks with terror and flies to conceal herself. In the equally +polished dandy of the metropolis, it is indecent to be seen without +gloves. Which of these respectable creatures is the most enlightened, I do +not take upon me to say; but I believe that the majority of suffrages +would be in favor of the old woman.</p> + +<p>So entirely are these decencies artificial, that any number of them may +easily be created, not merely with regard to man or woman, but even with +regard to domesticated animals. If it should please some persons partially +to clothe horses, cows, or dogs, it would ere long be felt that their +appearing in the streets without trowsers or aprons was grossly indecent. +We might thus create a real feeling of indecency, the perception of a new +impurity, which would take the place of the former absence of all impure +thought, and once established, the evil would be as real as our whims have +made it in other respects.</p> + +<p>Moral feeling is deeply injured by this substitution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> of impure thoughts, +however fancifully founded, for pure ones, or rather for the entire +absence of thought about worthless things. Artificial crimes are thus +made, which are not the less real because artificial; for if aught of this +kind is believed to be right, there is weakness or wrong in its violation. +But violated it must be, if it were but accidentally.</p> + +<p>To corrupt minds, this very violation of artificial decency in the case of +woman affords the zest for the sake of which many of these decencies seem +to have been instituted; and thus are created the artful decencies.</p> + +<p>The purpose and the zest of artful decency are well illustrated by +coquetry. Coquetry adopts a general concealment, which it well knows can +alone give a sensual and seductive power to momentary exposure. Coquetry +eschews permanent exposure as the bane of sensuality and seduction; and +where these are great, as among the women of Spain, the concealment of +dress is increased, even in warm climates. Nothing can throw greater light +than this does on the nature of these decencies.</p> + +<p>That coquetry has well calculated her procedure, does not admit of a +doubt. She appeals to imagination, which she knows will spread charms over +even ugly forms; she seeks the concealment under which sensuality and lust +are engendered; and, in marriage, she at last lifts the veil which +gratifies, only to disgust, and repays a sensual hallucination by years of +misery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>Ought religion to claim the right of saying grace to such unveiling of +concealment and the nuptial rites that follow it? Ought religion to profit +by the impurities of sexual association? Marriage is a civil ceremony in +other countries, even in Scotland. Such profane and profitable sanctions +have nothing to do with primitive Christianity: they are abhorrent to its +letter as well as to its spirit. But worldly and profitable religion is +connected in business with government, under the firm of Church and State, +and drives a thriving trade, in which the junior partner is contented with +the profit arising from the common acts of life, while the senior one +draws much of his living from other rites.<small><a name="f2.1" id="f2.1" href="#f2">[2]</a></small></p> + +<p>What is said here, is no argument for living nudity: that, our climate and +our customs forbid; and, in so doing, we can only regret that they are +unfavorable to natural purity; while perfect familiarity with the figure +ensures that feeling in the highest degree.</p> + +<p>A distinguished artist informs me that greater modesty is nowhere to be +seen than at the Life academy; and it was an observation of the great +Flaxman, that “the students, in entering the academy, seemed to hang up +their passions with their hats.” I can, from personal experience, give the +same testimony in behalf of medical students at the dissecting-rooms. The +familiarity of both these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> classes with natural beauty leads them only to +seek to inform their minds and to purify their taste.<small><a name="f3.1" id="f3.1" href="#f3">[3]</a></small></p> + +<p>Sinibaldi observes, that “nothing is more injurious to morals and to +health, than the incitements of the women who in such numbers walk our +streets,” and that “the laws as to offences against morals ought certainly +to affect them the moment their language or actions can be deemed +offensive.” But it is not to those who are critically conversant with the +highest beauty of the human figure, that defective forms, ill-painted +skins, rude manners, and contagious diseases, are at all seductive.</p> + +<p>Nothing, then, can be more favorable to virtue than the decoration of +every house with the beautiful copies of the glorious works of ancient +Greece; and it is only humiliating to think that what has been so +extensively done in this respect in the best houses, is less owing to our +own taste than to the poor wanderers from Lucca or Barga. Experiment on +this subject is peculiarly easy in London: let any one spend an hour in +the shop of the very able Mr. Sarti, of Dean street, where he will meet +the most liberal attention, and let him ask himself, in coming out, +whether his moral feeling, as well as his taste, is not improved.</p> + +<p>Those who cannot make this experiment, will perhaps be satisfied with the +assurance of Hogarth, who says: “The rest of the body, not having +advantages in common with the face, would soon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>satiate the eye, were it +to be as constantly exposed, nor would it have more effect than a marble +statue.” Surely this is decisive enough in its way! Now let them mark what +follows. “But,” he continues, “when it is artfully clothed and decorated, +the mind at every turn resumes its imaginary pursuits concerning it. Thus, +if I may be allowed a simile, the angler chooses not to see the fish he +angles for, until it is fairly caught.” He meant of course—“the <i>fish</i> +chooses not to see the <i>angler</i>, until it is fairly caught!”</p> + +<p>Be it known then to all, even the most aristocratic as to sexual +association—I say the most aristocratic, and not the most religious, +because religion is in some countries made the pander to aristocracy—be +it known that the critical judgment and pure taste for beauty are the sole +protection against low and degrading connexions.</p> + +<p>Home observes that “the sense of beauty does not tend to advance the +interests of society, but when in a due mean with respect to strength. +Love in particular arising from a sense of beauty, loses, when excessive, +its sociable character: the appetite for gratification, prevailing over +affection for the beloved object, is ungovernable, and tends violently to +its end, regardless of the misery that must follow. Love in this state is +no longer a sweet agreeable passion: it becomes painful, like hunger or +thirst, and produces no happiness but in the instant of fruition. This +discovery suggests a most important lesson, that moderation in our desires +and appetites, which fits us for doing our duty, contributes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> at the same +time the most to happiness: even social passions, when moderate, are more +pleasant than when they swell beyond proper bounds.” Payne Knight says: +“When, at the age of puberty, animal desire obtrudes itself on a mind +already qualified to feel and enjoy the charms of intellectual merit, the +imagination immediately begins to form pictures of perfection, by +exaggerating and combining in one hypothetic object every excellence that +can possibly belong to the whole sex; and the first individual that meets +the eye, with any exterior signs of any of these ideal excellences, is +immediately decorated with them all, by the creative magic of a vigorous +and fertile fancy. Hence, she instantaneously becomes the object of the +most fervent affection, which is as instantaneously cooled by possession: +for, as it was not the object herself, but a false idea of her raised in +heated imagination, that called forth all the lover’s raptures, all +immediately vanish at the detection of his delusion; and a degree of +disgust proportioned to the disappointment, of which it is the inevitable +consequence, instantly succeeds. Thus it happens that what are called +love-matches are seldom or ever happy.”</p> + +<p>Now, nothing can more effectually prevent even the existence of the mania +described by these two philosophers than a critical judgment and a pure +taste for beauty, which again therefore are the sole protection against +low and degrading connexions.</p> + +<p>A just sense of this truth will give high encouragement to sculpture and +painting—arts which may everywhere be looked upon as the best tests, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +well as the best records, of civilization. Such encouragement they need in +truth; for the monstrous monopoly of landed property and the accumulation +of wealth in few hands—the great aim of our political economy—renders +art poor, indeed.</p> + +<p>I am aware that the vulgar among artists think otherwise; from the few +rich they obtain employment; and, like the dog with his master, they look +not beyond the hand that doles out their pittance. But the rich are few; +and their palaces are already filled. A diffusion of wealth alone can give +encouragement to art; nor can this ever be while British industry is +crushed under the weight of enormous taxation.</p> + +<p>Having removed some objections to art, I would add a few words to artists +on the cause of the fine arts in Greece, from a paper I, two years ago, +contributed to a monthly periodical.<small><a name="f4.1" id="f4.1" href="#f4">[4]</a></small></p> + +<p>That the mythology of Greece had an influence over its arts, is generally +granted; but I am not aware, that it has either been shown to be +exclusively their cause, or that its mode of operation has ever been +explained.</p> + +<p>Religion, I may observe, is as natural to man as his weakness and +helplessness. There is not one of its systems, not even the vilest, which +has not afforded him consolation. Of its higher and better systems, some +are equally admirable for the grandeur and the beauty of the truths on +which they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> founded, the simplicity and the elegance of their +ostensible forms, the power and applicability of their symbols, and their +sympathy with, and control over, the affections and the imagination.</p> + +<p>These high characteristics peculiarly distinguished the religion of +ancient Greece.</p> + +<p>By bigots, we are indeed told, that, though Homer is our model in epic, +Anacreon in lyric, and Æschylus in dramatic poetry—though the music of +Greece doubtless corresponded to its poetry in beauty, pathos, and +grandeur—though the mere wreck of her sculpture is never overlooked in +modern war and negotiation—though the mere sight of her ruined Parthenon +is more than a reward for the fatigue or the peril of a journey to the +Eternal city—though these products of art are the test of the highest +civilization which the world has witnessed—though to these chiefly Rome +owed the little civilization of which she was capable, and we ourselves +the circumstance that, at this hour, we are not, like our ancestors, +covered only with blue paint or the skins of brutes—though all this is +true as to the arts of Greece, we are told that, by the strangest +exception, the religion of Greece was a base superstition.</p> + +<p>That religion, however, was the creator of these arts. They not only could +not have existed without it, but they probably could never have been +called into existence by any other religion.</p> + +<p>The personification of <i>simple</i> Beauty, Valor, Wisdom, or Omnipotence, in +Venus, Mars, Minerva, or Jupiter, respectively, was essential to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +<i>purity</i> and the <i>power</i> of expression of these attributes in the worship +of the deities to whom they respectively belonged. The union of absolute +beauty and valor in one being, is not more impossible than their union in +one expression of homage and admiration. Delicacy, elegance, and grace, +were as characteristic of the statue, the worship, and the temple, of the +goddess of beauty, as attributes nearly opposite to these were of the +statue, the worship, and the temple, of the god of war. Thus, were the +fine arts in Greece created by the personification of <i>simple</i> attributes +or virtues as objects of adoration; and thus is excellence in these fine +arts incapable of being elicited by any system of religion in which more +than one attribute is ascribed to the god.</p> + +<p>They must be ignorant, indeed, of the wonderful people of whom I now +speak, who allege, that the Greeks worshipped the mere statue of the god +and not the personified virtue. Even the history of their religion proves +the reverse. It was the tomb which became the altar, and retained nearly +its form. It was the expression of love, of regret, and of veneration for +departed virtue, which became divine adoration; and, as individual acts +and even individual names were ultimately lost in one transcendent +attribute, so were individual forms and features, in its purified and +ideal representation. Here, then, instead of finding the worship of men or +of their representations, we discover a gradual advance from beings to +attributes—from mortal man to eternal virtue—and a corresponding and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +suitable advance from simple veneration to divine adoration.</p> + +<p>When, in great emergencies of the state, the sages and the soldiers of +Athens, in solemn procession repaired to the temple of Minerva, turned +their faces toward the statue of the goddess, and prostrated themselves in +spirit before her—let the beautiful history of Grecian science tell, +whether in the statue they worshipped the mere marble structure, or, in +its forms and attributes, beheld and adored a personification of eternal +truth and wisdom, and so prepared the mind for deeds which have rendered +Greece for ever illustrious. Or, when returning from a Marathon, or a +Salamis, the warriors of Athens, followed by trains of maidens, and +matrons, and old men, returned thanks to the god of victories—let the +immortal record of the long series of glorious achievements which +succeeded these, tell, whether gratitude to their heroes was not there +identified with homage to the spirit or the divinity that inspired them.</p> + +<p>True it is, that, whenever physical or moral principles are personified, +the ignorant may be led to mistake the sign for that which is signified; +but one of the most admirable characteristics of the Grecian religion is, +that, with little effort, every external form may be traced to the spirit +which it represents, and every fable may be resolved into a beautiful +illustration of physical or moral truth. So that when mystic influences, +with increasing knowledge, ceased to sway the imagination, all-powerful +truths directed the reason.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>The natural and poetical religion of Greece, therefore, differed from +false and vulgar religions in this, that it was calculated to hold equal +empire over the minds of the ignorant and the wise; and the initiations of +Eleusis were apparently the solemn acts by which the youths and maidens of +Greece passed from ignorance and blind obedience to knowledge and +enlightened zeal. Thus, in that happy region, neither were the priests +knaves, nor the people their dupes.<small><a name="f5.1" id="f5.1" href="#f5">[5]</a></small></p> + +<p>And what has been the result of this fundamental excellence?—that no +interpolated fooleries have been able to destroy it;—that the religion of +Greece exists, and must ever exist, the religion of nature, genius, and +taste;—and that neither poetry nor the arts can have being without it. +Schiller has well expressed this truth in the following lines:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“The intelligible forms of ancient poets,<br /> +The fair humanities of old religion,<br /> +The power, the beauty, and the majesty,<br /> +That had their haunts in dale, or piny mountains,<br /> +Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring,<br /> +Or chasms, and watery depths—all these have vanished;<br /> +They live no longer in the faith of reason;<br /> +But still the heart doth need a language; still<br /> +Doth the old instinct bring back the old names;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">* * And even, at this day,</span><br /> +’Tis Jupiter who brings whate’er is great,<br /> +And Venus who brings everything that’s fair.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>CAUTIONS AS TO YOUTH.</h3> + +<p>In relation to <i>early</i> sexual association, it cannot be doubted, that, +when the instinct of reproduction begins to be developed, the reserve +which parents, relatives, and instructers, adopt on this subject, is often +the means of producing injurious effects; because, a system of concealment +on this subject, as observed in the preceding chapter, is quite +impracticable. Discoveries made by young persons in obscene books, the +unguarded language or shameless conduct of grown-up persons, even the wild +flights of an imagination which is then easily excited, will have the most +fatal consequences.</p> + +<p>Parents or instructers ought, therefore, at that critical period, to give +rational explanations as to the nature and the object of the propensity, +the mechanism of reproduction in various vegetable and animal beings, and +the fatal consequences to which this propensity may lead. Such procedure, +if well conducted, cannot but have the most beneficial results; because, +in order that a sane person should avoid any danger, it is only necessary +that he should see it distinctly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>The advantage, it has been observed, which the parent, relative, or +instructer, derives, from himself in forming the adolescent in the new +faculty which is developed in him, is to prevent his choosing, among +corrupt servants or ignorant youths of his own age, the confidants of his +passion. The parent or instructer, moreover, is then justly entitled to, +and has gratefully given to him, the entire confidence of the adolescent; +and he is thereby enabled exactly to appreciate the degree of power of the +propensity which he desires to divert or to guide.</p> + +<p>Such being the case, it is the business of the parent to present a true +picture of the effects of too early association of this kind, on the +stature, the various development of the figure, the muscular power, the +quality of the voice, the health, the moral sense, and especially on the +acuteness, the power, the dignity, and the courage, of the mind.</p> + +<p>In doing this, it would be as stupid as injurious to employ the slightest +degree of false representation, of unjust reprimand, or too much of what +is called moralizing, which is often only the contemptible cant of a being +who cannot reason, especially when it takes the place of a simple and +powerful statement of facts. All of these would only render the young man +a dissembler, and would compel him to choose another confidant.</p> + +<p>Among other considerations, varying according to the circumstances of the +case, those stated below may with advantage be presented.</p> + +<p>At a certain period in the life both of plants and animals, varying +according to their kind and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> climate they live in, they are fit for +and disposed to the reproduction of their species. The sexes in both are +then attracted to each other. In plants, the powder termed pollen, in +animals a peculiar liquid which, deriving its name by analogy from the +seeds of plants, is termed seminal, is secreted by the male plant or +animal, and, by organs differently formed in each kind, is cast upon ova +or eggs either contained within, or deposited by, the female. The details +of this process are among the most beautiful and interesting of the living +economy. In mankind, the attainment of this period is termed puberty.</p> + +<p>It is with this critical period, and his conduct during it, that all that +the youth deems most valuable, all that can decide his fortunes and his +happiness in the world, his stature, figure, strength, voice, health, and +mental powers, are most intimately connected.</p> + +<p>In regard to stature, the body appears to complete its increase in height +chiefly at the age of puberty, and during the first years which succeed +that age. To be assured of the powerful influence of his own conduct, at +this period, upon his stature, the youth has only to compare the tall men +and women of the country as in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmoreland, +Cumberland, and the Scottish borders, where they have not been overworked, +with the stunted and dwarfed creatures of the metropolis, where a +stranger, when he first enters it, is apt to think he sees so many ugly +boys and girls, whereas, they are full-grown London men and women.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> Half +the population of the metropolis is affected in this way; and it is the +obvious consequence of the acceleration of puberty by confinement, +stimulating food, indecent plays, and sexual association.</p> + +<p>In regard to the perfect development and beauty of the figure, the youth +is probably aware that the most beautiful races of horses and dogs rapidly +deteriorate, if men do not carefully maintain them by continence as well +as by crossing. The too early employment, the depraved abuses, the injury, +or the removal, of the sexual organs, are all of them causes still more +certain of deformity. The latter of these causes acts, of course, most +obviously; and it is evidenced in the almost universal malformation of +eunuchs, geldings, &c.</p> + +<p>That, in regard to bodily strength, sexual continence adds energy to the +muscular fibre, is clearly seen by observing the most ardent quadrupeds +previous to the time of the union of their sexes. But, this being past, +precisely in the same proportion does the act of reproduction debilitate +and break down the strongest animal. Many male animals even fall almost +exhausted by a single act of union with the opposite sex.</p> + +<p>Every classical student has read the beautiful allegory of Hercules, who, +having spun at the knees of Omphale (<ins class="correction" title="omphalos">ομφαλὸς</ins> the navel, here put +for the most essential part of the female generative organ), thereby lost +his strength: this beautifully expresses the abasement of power amid the +indulgences of love. Euripides also depicts the terrible Achilles as timid +before women, and respectful with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>Clytemnestra and Iphigenia. Hence, when +a foolish lord reproached the poet Dryden with having given too much +timidity toward women to a personage in one of his tragedies, and added +that he knew better how to employ his time with the ladies, the poet +answered: “You now acknowledge that you are no hero, which I intended that +personage to be.”</p> + +<p>As to voice, which depends on the muscles of respiration, and more +immediately on those of the mouth and throat, as general strength does on +the muscles of the whole body, both merely affording expressions of the +mind, the influence of the sexual union upon it is prodigious. How +entirely it is altered by the removal of the testes in eunuchs is known to +every one: in corresponding proportion, is it altered by every act of the +generative organs, but especially by sexual indulgence during puberty. The +horrible voice of early libertines and prostitutes presents an alarming +example of this. To those who value voice in conversation, in the +delightful and humanizing exercise of music, or in the grander efforts of +public speaking, nothing more need be said.</p> + +<p>As to health, the less we are prodigal of life, the longer we preserve it. +Every one capable of observing may see that the stag loses his horns and +his hair after procreation; that birds fall into moulting and sadness; and +that male insects even perish after this effort, as if they yielded their +individual life to their progeny. Indeed, everything perishes so much the +more readily, as it has thus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> transmitted life to its descendants, or has +cast it away in vain pleasures.</p> + +<p>In mankind, as in other animals, to procreate is in effect to die to one’s +self, and to leave one’s life to posterity; especially, if this takes +place in early life. It is then that man becomes bald and bent; and that +the charms of woman fade. Even in advanced age, epicures are so well aware +of this, that they are known to abstain from amorous excess, as the +acknowledged cause of premature death.</p> + +<p>In relation to mind—as the generative power is the source of several +characteristics of genius, the exhaustion of that power at an early age +must take away these characteristics. Genius as surely languishes and is +extinguished amid early sexual indulgence, as do the faculties of voice +and locomotion, which are merely its signs and expressions.</p> + +<p>It is thus with all our faculties, locomotive, vital, mental, at an early +age. They are strengthened by all that they do not dissipate; and that +which their organs too abundantly dispense is not only taken immediately +from their own power, and mediately from that of the other organs, but it +ensures the permanent debility of the whole.</p> + +<p>It is true that the strong passions which are modified or characterized by +the sexual impulse, excite the imagination and impel the mind to sublime +exertions; but the sole means of either obtaining or preserving such +impulsion is, to shun the indulgence of pleasure in early life, and its +waste at later periods.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>It has accordingly been observed, that the passion of love appears to be +most excessive in animals which least excel in mental faculties. Thus the +beasts which are the most lascivious, the ass, the boar, &c., are also the +most stupid; and idiots and cretins display a sensuality which brutifies +them still more. Hence, the Homeric fable that Circe transformed men into +beasts.</p> + +<p>It would also appear that the most stupid animals, swine, rabbits, &c., in +general produce the greatest number of young; while men of genius have +engendered the fewest. It is remarked that none of the greatest men of +antiquity were much given to sexual pleasure.</p> + +<p>It is, then, of the greatest importance to young men who are ambitious of +excellence, to mark well this truth, that the most powerful and +distinguished in mental faculties, other things being equal, will be he +who wastes them least in early life by sexual indulgence—who most +economizes the vital stimulant, in order to excite the mental powers on +great occasions. By such means may a man surely surpass others, if he have +received from his parents proportional mental energy.</p> + +<p>Beside the means already indicated, there is one proposed by an able +writer, as serving to divert the instinct of propagation when too early +and excessive, and consequently dangerous: that is, the sentiment of love. +To employ this means, he observes, “it is necessary to search early, after +knowing the character of the adolescent whom it is wished to direct, for a +young woman whose beauty and good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> qualities may inspire him with +attachment. This means will serve, more than can easily be imagined, to +preserve the adolescent both from the grosser attractions of libertinism +and the disease it entails, and from <i>the more dangerous snares of +coquetry</i>. It is,” he adds, “a virtuous young woman and a solid +attachment that are here spoken of.”—At some future period I shall +probably show how wise this recommendation is, as well as the necessity +and the advantages of early marriages, under favorable circumstances.</p> + +<p>Having now shown the evils of early sexual association, I may briefly +notice those of later libertinism.</p> + +<p>If, even in more advanced life, and when the constitution is stronger, the +instinct of propagation be not restrained within just limits, it +degenerates into inordinate lewdness or real mania: “Repperit obscænas +veneres vitiosa libido.” By such depravation, nobleness of character is +utterly destroyed.</p> + +<p>This scarcely evitable consequence of great fortune and of the facility of +indulgence, it has been justly observed, will ever be the ruin of the +rich, and a mode of enervating the most vigorous branches of the most +powerful house.</p> + +<p>The libertine, then, owing to exhaustion, by sexual indulgence, is +characterized by physical and moral impotence, or has a brain as incapable +of thinking, as his muscles are of acting.</p> + +<p>As libertines are enfeebled by indulgence, it follows that they are +proportionally distinguished by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> fear and cowardice. Nothing, indeed, +destroys courage more than sexual abuses.</p> + +<p>But, from cowardice, spring cunning, duplicity, lying, and perfidy. These +common results of cowardice are uniformly found in eunuchs, slaves, +courtiers, and sycophants; while boldness, frankness, and generosity, +belong to virtuous, free, and magnanimous men.</p> + +<p>Again, cowardice, artifice, falsehood, and perfidy, are the usual elements +of cruelty. Men feel more wounded in self-love, as they are conscious of +being more contemptible; and they avenge themselves with more malignity +upon their enemy, as they find themselves more weak and worthless, and as +they consequently dread him more.</p> + +<p>These are the causes of that malignant revenge which princes have often +shown, as, in ancient times, Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, +Heliogabalus, &c. In later times, Catharine de Medici solicited the +massacre of the Protestants; Paul, Constantine, and Nicholas, of Russia, +were happy only when they wallowed in blood; Charles X., equally +effeminate and bigoted, perpetrated the massacre of the Parisians; Don +Miguel covered Portugal with his assassinations; and nearly all the +sovereigns and sycophants in Europe upheld or palliated his atrocities.<small><a name="f7.1" id="f7.1" href="#f7">[7]</a></small></p> + +<p>The strong and brave man, on the contrary, scarcely feels hurt, and scorns +revenge.</p> + +<p>It is not cruelty only with which we may <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>reproach these effeminate +individuals: it is every vice which springs from baseness of character.</p> + +<p>Libertinism, moreover, is not hurtful only to the health and welfare of +these individuals: it is so also to those of their posterity.</p> + +<p>Finally, the results of libertinism have constantly marked, not merely the +ruin of families, but the degeneration of races, and the decay of empires. +The delights of Capua caused the ruin of Hannibal; and the Roman, once so +proud before kings, finally transformed himself into the wretched slave of +monsters degraded far below the rank of humanity.</p> + +<p>So little, however, do men look to remote consequences that perhaps the +most frightful punishments of libertinism are the diseases which it +inflicts. Man may, then, be said to meet only death on the path of life.</p> + +<p>The dangers of promiscuous love are, indeed, far beyond what young men +will easily believe. I do not exaggerate when I state, that, out of every +three women, and those the least common of the promiscuous, two at least +are certainly in a state of disease capable of the most destructive +infection. A surgeon in the habit of receiving foul patients at a public +hospital tells me, I might safely say that nine out of every ten are in +this state.<small><a name="f8.1" id="f8.1" href="#f8">[8]</a></small></p> + +<p>While writing this, Sir Anthony Carlisle observes to me, that, “the +special disease which appears to be a punishment for sexual profligacy, is +not only malignant, painful, and hideous, in every stage of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> it, but the +only remedy known for its cure, mercury, is a poison which generally +leaves its own evils for the venom which it destroys. This frightful +disease has no natural termination but in a disgusting disgraceful death, +after disfiguring the countenance, by causing blindness, loss of the nose, +the palate and teeth, and by the spoliation of the sinning organs. The +miserables, who thus perish in public hospitals, are so offensive to the +more respectable patients, that they are confined to appointed rooms, +termed foul wards, where they linger and die in the bloom of life, either +of the penalty inflicted by their profligacy, of the poison administered +to them, or of incurable consequent diseases, such as consumption, palsy, +or madness.”</p> + +<p>Hence, it has been observed, that, if we have to deal with a young man +incapable of guidance by the nobler motives, of feeling contempt for vice, +and horror for debauchery, there yet remain means to be employed. Let him +be conducted to the hospital, where he will find collected the poor +victims of debauchery—the unhappy women whom, even the day before, he may +have seen in the streets, with faces dressed in smiles, amid the torments, +the corrosion, and the contagion of disease. This may leave an impression +sufficiently deep. But let him also know that these unhappy creatures are +a thousand times more pitiable than the libertine who destroys them, and +who forfeits the only good we cannot refuse to other wretches, compassion +for the misery he endures.<small><a name="f9.1" id="f9.1" href="#f9">[9]</a></small></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>NATURE OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>In this chapter, my aim is to show that there is more than one kind of +beauty, and that much confusion has arisen among writers, from not clearly +distinguishing the characteristics of these kinds.</p> + +<p>An essential condition, then, of all excitement and action in animal +bodies, is a greater or less degree of novelty in the objects impressing +them—even if this novelty should arise only from a previous cessation of +excitement.</p> + +<p>Now, objects of greater or less novelty are the causes of excitement, +pleasurable or painful, by means of their various relations.</p> + +<p>The lowest degree of bodily pleasure (though, owing to its constancy, +immense in its total amount) is that which arises, during health, from +those relations of bodies and that excitement which cause the mere local +exercise of the organs—a source of pleasure which is seldom the object of +our voluntary attention, but which seems to me to be the chief cause of +attachment to life amid its more definite and conspicuous evils.</p> + +<p>All higher mental emotions consist of pleasure or pain superadded to more +or less definite ideas.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> Pleasurable emotions arise from the agreeable +relations of things; painful emotions, from the disagreeable ones.</p> + +<p>The term by which we express the influence which objects, by means of +their relations, possess of exciting emotions of pleasure in the mind, is +<span class="smcaplc">BEAUTY</span>.</p> + +<p>Beauty, when founded on the relations of objects, or of the parts of +objects, to each other, forms a first class, and may be termed <i>intrinsic +beauty</i>.</p> + +<p>When beauty is farther considered in relation to ourselves, it forms a +second class, and may be termed <i>extrinsic</i> beauty.</p> + +<p>We are next led (hitherto this has apparently been done without analyzing +or defining the operation) to a division of the latter into two genera; +namely, the <i>minor beauty</i>, of which prettiness, delicacy, &c., are +modifications, and that which is called <i>grandeur</i> or <i>sublimity</i>.</p> + +<p>The characters of the minor beauty or prettiness, with relation to +ourselves, are smallness, subordination, and subjection. Hence female +beauty, in relation to the male.</p> + +<p>The characters of grandeur or sublimity, with relation to ourselves, are +greatness, superordination, and power. Hence male beauty, in relation to +the female.</p> + +<p>By the preceding brief train of analysis and definition, is, I believe, +answered the question—“whether the emotion of grandeur make a branch of +the emotion of beauty, or be entirely distinct from it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>Having, by this concise statement of my own views on these subjects, made +the reader acquainted with some of the materials of future consideration +here employed, I may now examine the opinions of some philosophers, in +order to see how far they accord with these first principles, and what +answer can be given to them where they differ.</p> + +<p>That <i>beauty</i>, <i>generally considered</i>, has nothing to do with particular +size, is very well shown by Payne Knight, who, though he argues +incorrectly about it in many other respects, here truly says: “All degrees +of magnitude contribute to beauty in proportion as they show objects to be +perfect in their kind. The dimensions of a beautiful horse are very +different from those of a beautiful lapdog; and those of a beautiful oak +from those of a beautiful myrtle; because, nature has formed these +different kinds of animals and vegetables upon different scales.</p> + +<p>“The notion of objects being rendered beautiful by being gradually +diminished, or tapered, is equally unfounded; for the same object, which +is small by degrees, and beautifully less, when seen in one direction, is +large by degrees, and beautifully bigger, when seen in another. The stems +of trees are tapered upward; and the columns of Grecian architecture, +having been taken from them, and therefore retaining a degree of analogy +with them, were tapered upward too: but the legs of animals are tapered +downward, and the inverted obelisks, upon which busts were placed, having +a similar analogy to them, were tapered downward also; while <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>pilasters, +which had no analogy with either, but were mere square posts terminating a +wall, never tapered at all.”</p> + +<p>Speaking of beauty generally, and without seeing the distinctions I have +made above, Burke, on the contrary, states the first quality of beauty to +be comparative smallness, and says: “In ordinary conversation, it is usual +to add the endearing name of little to everything we love;” and “in most +languages, the objects of love are spoken of under diminutive epithets.”</p> + +<p>This is evidently true only of the objects of <i>minor</i> or <i>subordinate +beauty</i>, which Burke confusedly thought the only kind of it, though he +elsewhere grants, that beauty may be connected with sublimity! It shows, +however, that relative littleness is essential to that first kind of +beauty.</p> + +<p>With greater knowledge of facts than Burke possessed, and with as feeble +reasoning powers, but with less taste, and with a perverse whimsicality +which was all his own, Payne Knight similarly, making no distinction in +beauty, considered smallness as an accidental association, failed to see +that it characterized a kind of beauty, and argued, that “if we join the +diminutive to a term which precludes all such affection, or does not even, +in some degree, express it, it immediately converts it into a term of +contempt and reproach: thus, a bantling, a fondling, a darling, &c., are +terms of endearment; but a witling, a changeling, a lordling, &c., are +invariably terms of scorn: so in French, ‘<i>mon petit enfant</i>,’ is an +expression of endearment; but ‘<i>mon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> petit monsieur</i>,’ is an expression of +the most pointed reproach and contempt.”</p> + +<p>Now, this chatter of grammatical termination and French phrase, though +meant to look vastly clever, is merely a blunder. There is no analogy in +the cases compared: a “darling” or little dear unites <i>dear</i>, an +expression of love, with <i>little</i>, implying that dependance which enhances +love; while “witling” or little wit unites <i>wit</i>, an expression of talent, +with <i>little</i>, meaning the small quantity or absence of the talent alluded +to; and it is because the latter term means, not physical littleness, +which well associates with love, but moral littleness and mental +degradation, that it becomes a term of contempt.</p> + +<p>Even from the little already said, it seems evident that much of the +confusion on this subject has arisen from not distinguishing the two +genera of beauty, and not seeing that “the emotion of grandeur” is merely +“a branch of the emotion of beauty.”</p> + +<p>The other genus of beauty, <i>grand</i> or <i>sublime beauty</i>, is well described +by the names given to it, grandeur or sublimity. Some have considered +sublimity as expressing grandeur in the highest degree: it would perhaps +be as well to express the cause of the emotion by grandeur, and the +emotion itself by sublimity.</p> + +<p>Nothing is sublime that is not vast or powerful, or that does not make him +who feels it sensible of its physical or moral superiority.</p> + +<p>The simplest cause of sublimity is presented by all objects of vast +magnitude or extent—a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>seemingly boundless plain, the sky, the ocean, +&c.; and the particular direction of the magnitude or extent always +correspondingly modifies the emotion—height giving more especially the +idea of power, breadth of resistance, depth of danger, &c. Of the objects +mentioned above, the ocean is the most sublime, because, to vastness in +length and breadth, it adds depth, and a force perpetually active.</p> + +<p>Now, that these objects, though sublime, are beautiful, is very evident; +and it is therefore also evident how much Burke erred in asserting +comparative smallness to be the first character of beauty generally +considered. This and similar errors, as already said, have greatly +obscured this subject, and have led Burke and others so to modify and +qualify their doctrines, as to take from them all precision and certainty.</p> + +<p>Hence, in one place, Burke says: “As, in the animal world, and in a good +measure in the vegetable world likewise, the qualities that constitute +<i>beauty</i> may <i>possibly</i> be united to things of <i>greater dimensions</i> [that +is, littleness may be united with bigness!]; when they are so united they +constitute <i>a species something different both from the sublime and +beautiful</i>, which I have before called, Fine.”</p> + +<p>So also he says: “Ugliness I imagine likewise to be consistent enough with +an idea of the sublime. But I would by no means insinuate that ugliness of +itself is a sublime idea, unless united with such qualities as excite a +strong terror.”</p> + +<p>Here, he confounds sublimity with terror, as do Blair and other writers, +when they say that “exact<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> proportion of parts, though it enters often +into the beautiful, is much disregarded in the sublime.” It is a fact, +that exactly in proportion as ugliness is substituted for beauty in vast +objects, is sublimity taken away, until at last it is utterly lost in the +terrible.</p> + +<p>Even Blair shows that sublimity may exist without terror or pain. “The +proper sensation of sublimity appears,” he observes, “to be +distinguishable from the sensation of either of these, and, on several +occasions, to be entirely separated from them. In many grand objects, +there is no coincidence with terror at all; as in the magnificent prospect +of wide-extended plains, and of the starry firmament; or in the moral +dispositions and sentiments, which we view with high admiration; and in +many painful and terrible objects also, it is clear, there is no sort of +grandeur. The amputation of a limb, or the bite of a snake, is exceedingly +terrible, but is destitute of all claim whatever to sublimity.”</p> + +<p>Payne Knight shows that terror is even opposed to sublimity: “All the +great and terrible convulsions of nature; such as storms, tempests, +hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, &c., excite sublime ideas, and impress +sublime sentiments by the prodigious exertions of energy and power which +they seem to display: for though these objects are, in their nature, +terrible, and generally known to be so, it is not this attribute of terror +that contributes, in the smallest degree to render them sublime.... Timid +women fly to a cellar, or a darkened room, to avoid the sublime effects of +a thunder-storm;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> because to them they are not sublime, but terrible. To +those only are they sublime, ‘<i>qui formidine nulla imbuti spectant</i>,’ who +behold them without any fear at all; and to whom, therefore, they are in +no degree terrible.”</p> + +<p>This farther confirms the distinction which I made of beauty into minor or +subordinate, and grand or sublime beauty, although Knight adopted other +principles, if principles they may be called, and neglected such +distinction.</p> + +<p>There is but one other error on this subject which I need to notice. Burke +says: “To make anything very terrible, obscurity seems in general to be +necessary. When we know the full extent of any danger, when we can +accustom our eyes to it, a great deal of the apprehension vanishes. Every +one will be sensible of this, who considers how greatly night adds to our +dread, in all cases of danger.... Those despotic governments which are +founded on the passions of men, and principally upon the passion of fear, +keep their chief as much as may be from the public eye. The policy has +been the same in many cases of religion. Almost all the heathen temples +were dark.”</p> + +<p>From what has already been said, it is evident that all this contributes +to terror, not to sublimity; and that the same error is made by Blair when +he says, “As obscurity, so disorder, too, is very compatible with +grandeur, nay, frequently heightens it.”</p> + +<p>To expose the weakness and to destroy the authority of some writers on +this subject, can only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> set the mind free for the investigation of truth. +I may, therefore, conclude this chapter by quoting the shrewd remarks of +Knight on some of the principles of Burke. I shall afterward be forced +critically to examine the notions of Knight in their turn.</p> + +<p>Burke states that the highest degree of sublime sensation is astonishment; +and the subordinate degrees, awe, reverence, and respect; all which he +considers as modes of terror. And Knight observes that this graduated +scale of the sublime, from respect to astonishment, cannot, perhaps be +better illustrated than by applying it to his own character.</p> + +<p>“He was certainly,” says Knight, “a very respectable man, and reverenced +by all who knew him intimately. At one period of his life, too, when he +became the disinterested patron of remote and injured nations, who had +none to help them, his character was truly sublime; but, unless upon those +whom he so ably and eloquently arraigned, I do not believe that it +impressed any awe.... If, during this period, he had suddenly appeared +among the managers in Westminster Hall without his wig and coat, or had +walked up St. James’s street without his breeches, it would have +occasioned great and universal astonishment; and if he had, at the same +time, carried a loaded blunderbuss in his hands, the astonishment would +have been mixed with no small portion of terror: but I do not believe that +the united effects of these two powerful passions would have produced any +sentiment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> or sensation approaching to sublime, even in the breasts of +those who had the strongest sense of self-preservation and the quickest +sensibility of danger.”</p> + +<p>Thus, I believe, it now appears that novelty<small><a name="f10.1" id="f10.1" href="#f10">[10]</a></small> is the exciting cause of +pleasurable emotion, and of the consequent perception of beauty in the +relations of things, and that the two genera of beauty—the minor or +subordinate beauty, and grandeur or sublimity—have distinct +characteristics, the confounding of which by writers has led to the +obscurity of this part of the subject.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>STANDARD OF TASTE IN BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>The expression, “standard of taste,” is used to signify the basis or +foundation of our judgments respecting beauty and deformity, and their +consequent certainty.</p> + +<p>Setting aside such objection as might be raised to a standard of taste on +the doctrine of Berkeley (which I refuted in 1809, and which I need not +enter into here), this matter was long ago settled by David Hume; and I +have nothing new to say upon the subject (there is probably enough of +novelty in other chapters, whatever its worth may be), except that Burke +appears to have borrowed all he knew about it from that incomparably more +profound philosopher.</p> + +<p>As I ought not, however, to omit here a view of the subject, I cannot do +better than transcribe the words of Hume and Burke respectively. While +this will put the reader in possession of all that I think necessary upon +this subject, it will farther tend to show in what Burke’s ability as a +philosopher consisted.</p> + +<p>I must first, however, observe that the word “taste,” as expressing our +judgment of beauty, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> a metaphor whimsically borrowed from the lowest of +our senses, and is applied to our exercise of that faculty, as regards +both natural objects, and the fine arts which imitate these.</p> + +<p>It is not wonderful that the variety and inconstancy of tastes respecting +the attributes and the characters of beauty, should have led many +philosophers to deny that there exist any certain combinations of forms +and of effects to which the term beauty ought to be invariably attached.</p> + +<p>In his “Philosophical Dictionary,” Voltaire, after quoting some nonsense +from the crazy dreamer who did so much injury to Greek philosophy, says: +“I am willing to believe that nothing can be more beautiful than this +discourse of Plato; but it does not give us very clear ideas of the nature +of the beautiful. Ask of a toad what is beauty, pure beauty, the <ins class="correction" title="to kalon">το καλον</ins>; +he will answer you that it is his female, with two large round +eyes projecting from her little head, a large and flat throat, a yellow +belly, and a brown back. Ask the devil, and he will tell you that the +beautiful is a pair of horns, four claws, and a tail. Consult, lastly, the +philosophers, and they will answer you by rigmarole: they want something +conformable to the archetype of the beautiful in essence, to the <ins class="correction" title="to kalon">το καλον</ins>.” +This is wit, not reason: let us look for that to a deeper thinker—as proposed above.</p> + +<p>David Hume says: “It appears that, amid all the variety and caprice of +taste, there are certain general principles of approbation or blame, whose +influence a careful eye may trace in all operations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> of the mind. Some +particular forms or qualities from the original structure of the internal +fabric, are calculated to please, and others to displease.... If they fail +of their effect in any particular instance, it is from some apparent +<i>defect</i> or imperfection in the organ.</p> + +<p>“In each creature there is a sound and a defective state; and the former +alone can be supposed to afford us a true standard of taste and sentiment. +If, in the sound state of the organ, there be an entire or a considerable +uniformity of sentiment among men, we may thence derive an idea of the +perfect beauty; in like manner as the appearance of objects in daylight, +to the eye of a man in health, is denominated their true and real color.”</p> + +<p>To the same purpose writes Burke, after some preliminary observations:—</p> + +<p>“All the natural powers in man, which I know, that are conversant about +external objects, are the senses, the imagination, and the judgment.</p> + +<p>“First, with regard to the senses. We do and we must suppose, that, as the +conformations of their organs are nearly or altogether the same in all +men, so the manner of perceiving external objects is in all men the same, +or with little difference.</p> + +<p>“As there will be little doubt that bodies present similar images to the +whole species, it must necessarily be allowed, that the pleasures and the +pains which every object excites in one man, it must raise in all mankind, +while it operates naturally, simply, and by its proper powers only.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>“Custom, and some other causes, have made many deviations from the natural +pleasures or pains which belong to these several tastes; but then the +power of distinguishing between the natural and the acquired relish +remains to the very last.</p> + +<p>“There is in all men a sufficient remembrance of the original natural +causes of pleasure, to enable them to bring all things offered to their +senses to that standard, and to regulate their feelings and opinions by +it.</p> + +<p>“Suppose one who had so vitiated his palate as to take more pleasure in +the taste of opium than in that of butter or honey, to be presented with a +bolus of squills; there is hardly any doubt but that he would prefer the +butter or honey to this nauseous morsel, or to any other bitter drug to +which he had not been accustomed; which proves that his palate was +naturally like that of other men in all things, that it is still like the +palate of other men in many things, and only vitiated in some particular +points.”</p> + +<p>In the same manner, Payne Knight observes that “things, naturally the most +nauseous, become most grateful; and things, naturally most grateful, most +insipid.</p> + +<p>“This extreme effect, however, only takes place where the palate has +become morbid and vitiated by continued, and even forced gratification; +and even when the metaphors taken from this sense, and employed to express +intellectual qualities, show that it is always felt and considered as a +corruption,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> even by those who are most corrupted: for though there are +many who prefer port wine to malmsey, and tobacco to sugar, yet no one +ever spoke of a sour or bitter temper as pleasant, or of a sweet one as +unpleasant.” By this concession, Knight answers several of his own +objections.</p> + +<p>“When it is said,” farther observes Burke, very properly, “taste cannot be +disputed, it can only mean, that no one can strictly answer what pleasure +or pain some particular man may find from the taste of some particular +thing. This indeed cannot be disputed; but we may dispute, and with +sufficient clearness too, concerning the things which are naturally +pleasing or disagreeable to the sense. But when we talk of any peculiar or +acquired relish, then we must know the habits, the prejudices, or the +distempers of this particular man, and we must draw our conclusions from +those.”</p> + +<p>Hume proceeds to a second point, by observing that “one obvious cause, why +many feel not the proper sentiment of beauty, is the want of that +<i>delicacy</i> of imagination which is requisite to convey a sensibility of +those finer emotions.</p> + +<p>“Where the organs are so fine, as to allow nothing to escape them, and at +the same time so exact, as to perceive every ingredient in the +composition; this we call delicacy of taste, whether we employ these terms +in the literal or metaphorical sense.”</p> + +<p>Burke enlarges on this, after preliminary observing that “the power of the +imagination is incapable of producing anything absolutely new; it can only +vary the disposition of those ideas which it has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> received from the +senses. Now, the imagination is the most extensive province of pleasure +and pain, as it is the region of our fears and our hopes, and of all our +passions that are connected with them.</p> + +<p>“Since the imagination is only the representation of the senses, it can +only be pleased or displeased with the images, from the same principle on +which the sense is pleased or displeased with the realities; and +consequently there must be just as close an agreement in the imaginations +as in the senses of men.</p> + +<p>“There are some men formed with feelings so blunt, with tempers so cold +and phlegmatic, that they can hardly be said to be awake during the whole +course of their lives. Upon such persons, the most striking objects make +but a faint and obscure impression. There are others so continually in the +agitation of gross and merely sensual pleasures, or so occupied in the low +drudgery of avarice, or so heated in the chase of honors and distinction, +that their minds, which had been used continually to the storms of these +violent and tempestuous passions, can hardly be put in motion by the +delicate and refined play of the imagination. These men, though from a +different cause, become as stupid and insensible as the former; but +whenever either of these happen to be struck with any natural elegance or +greatness, or with these qualities in any work of art, they are moved upon +the same principle.”</p> + +<p>On a third point, Hume says: “But though there be naturally a wide +difference in point of delicacy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> between one person and another, nothing +tends farther to increase and improve this talent, than <i>practice</i> in a +particular art, and the frequent survey or contemplation of a particular +species of beauty.</p> + +<p>“So advantageous is practice to the discernment of beauty, that, before we +can give judgment on any work of importance, it will even be requisite +that that very individual performance be more than once perused by us, and +be surveyed in different lights with attention and deliberation.”</p> + +<p>This is well illustrated by Burke, who observes: “It is known that the +taste (whatever it is) is improved exactly as we improve our knowledge, by +a steady attention to our object, and by frequent exercise.</p> + +<p>“To illustrate this—(that there is a difference, not in the causes, nor +in the manner of men’s being affected, but in the degree, owing to natural +sensibility, or greater attention to the object)—to illustrate this by +the procedure of the senses in which the same difference is found, let us +suppose a very smooth marble-table to be set before two men; they both +perceive it to be smooth, and they are both pleased with it because of +this quality. So far they agree.</p> + +<p>“But suppose another, and after that another table, the latter still +smoother than the former, to be set before them. It is now very probable +that these men, who are so agreed upon what is smooth, and in the pleasure +thence, will disagree when they come to settle which table has the +advantage in point of polish.... Nor is it easy, when such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> difference +arises, to settle the point, if the excess or diminution be not glaring.</p> + +<p>“In these nice cases, supposing the acuteness of the sense equal, the +greater attention and habit in such things will have the advantage. In the +question about the tables, the marble-polisher will unquestionably +determine the most accurately.</p> + +<p>“In the imagination, beside the pain or pleasure arising from the +properties of the natural object, a pleasure is perceived from the +resemblance which the imitation has to the original.</p> + +<p>“All men are nearly equal in this point, as far as their knowledge of the +things represented or compared extends.</p> + +<p>“The principle of this knowledge is very much accidental, as it depends +upon experience and observation, and not on the strength or weakness of +any natural faculty; and it is from this difference in knowledge that what +we commonly, though with no great exactness, call a difference in taste, +proceeds.</p> + +<p>“A man to whom sculpture is new sees a barber’s block, or some ordinary +piece of statuary; he is immediately struck and pleased, because he sees +something like a human figure; and entirely taken up with this likeness, +he does not at all attend to its defects. No person, I believe, at the +first time of seeing a piece of imitation, ever did. Some time after, we +suppose that this novice lights upon a more artificial work of the same +nature; he begins to look with contempt on what he admired at first; not +that he admired it even then for its <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>unlikeness to a man, but for that +general though inaccurate resemblance which it bore to the human figure. +What he admired at different times in these so different figures, is +strictly the same; and though his knowledge is improved, his taste is not +altered. Hitherto his mistake was from a want of knowledge in art, and +this arose from his inexperience; but he may be still deficient, from a +want of knowledge in nature. For it is possible that the man in question +may stop here, and that the masterpiece of a great hand may please him no +more than the middling performance of a vulgar artist; and this not for +want of better or higher relish, but because all men do not observe with +sufficient accuracy on the human figure, to enable them to judge properly +of an imitation of it.”</p> + +<p>On other points, Hume makes the following observations:—</p> + +<p>“Without being frequently obliged to form <i>comparisons</i> between the +several species and degrees of excellence, and estimating their proportion +to each other ... a man is indeed totally unqualified to pronounce an +opinion with regard to any object presented to him. By comparison alone, +we fix the epithets of praise or blame, and learn how to assign the due +degree of each.</p> + +<p>“But to enable a critic more fully to execute this undertaking, he must +preserve his mind free from all <i>prejudice</i> and allow nothing to enter +into his consideration, but the very object which is submitted to his +examination.</p> + +<p>“It is well known, that, in all questions submitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> to the understanding, +prejudice is destructive of sound judgment, and perverts all operations of +the intellectual faculties: it is no less contrary to good taste; nor has +it less influence to corrupt our sentiments of beauty. It belongs to <i>good +sense</i> to check its influence in both cases; and in this respect, as well +as in many others, reason, if not an essential part of taste, is at least +requisite to the operations of this latter faculty. In all the nobler +productions of genius, there is a mutual relation and correspondence of +parts; nor can either the beauties or blemishes be perceived by him whose +thought is not capacious enough to comprehend all those parts, and compare +them with each other, in order to perceive the consistence and uniformity +of the whole. Every work of art has also a certain end or purpose for +which it is calculated; and is to be deemed more or less perfect, as it is +more or less fitted to attain this end.”</p> + +<p>To a repetition of this, Burke adds some useful remarks:—</p> + +<p>“As many of the works of imagination are not confined to representation of +sensible objects, nor to efforts upon the passions, but extend themselves +to the manners, the characters, the actions, and designs of men, their +relations, their virtues and vices, they come within the province of the +judgment, which is improved by attention and by the habit of reasoning.</p> + +<p>“The cause of a wrong taste is a defect of judgment. And this may arise +from a natural weakness of understanding (in whatever the strength of +that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> faculty may consist), or which is much more commonly the case, it +may arise from a want of proper and well-directed exercise, which alone +can make it strong and ready. Beside that ignorance, inattention, +prejudice, rashness, levity, obstinacy, in short, all those passions, and +all those vices which pervert the judgment in other matters, prejudice it +no less in this its more refined and elegant province. These causes +produce different opinions upon everything which is an object of the +understanding, without inducing us to suppose, that there are no settled +principles of reason.</p> + +<p>“A rectitude of judgment in the arts, which may be called a good taste, +does in a great measure depend upon sensibility; because, if the mind has +no bent to the pleasures of the imagination, it will never apply itself +sufficiently to works of that species to acquire a competent knowledge in +them. But though a degree of sensibility is requisite to form a good +judgment, yet a good judgment does not necessarily arise from a quick +sensibility of pleasure; it frequently happens that a very poor judge, +merely by force of a greater complexional sensibility, is more affected by +a poor piece, than the best judge by the most perfect; for as everything +new, extraordinary, grand, or passionate, is well calculated to affect +such a person, and that the faults do not affect him, his pleasure is more +pure and unmixed.</p> + +<p>“In the morning of our days, when the senses are unworn and tender, when +the whole man is awake in every part, and the gloss of novelty fresh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> upon +all the objects that surround us, how lively at that time are our +sensations, but how false and inaccurate the judgments we form of things!</p> + +<p>“Every trivial cause of pleasure is apt to affect the man of too sanguine +a complexion: his appetite is to keen to suffer his taste to be +delicate.... One of this character can never be a refined judge; never +what the comic poet calls ‘<i>elegans formarum spectator</i>.’</p> + +<p>“The rude hearer is affected by the principles which operate in these arts +even in their rudest condition; and he is not skilful enough to perceive +the defects. But as arts advance toward their perfection, the science of +criticism advances with equal pace, and the pleasure of judges is +frequently interrupted by the faults which are discovered in the most +finished compositions.”</p> + +<p>The chief idea above expressed, is again repeated by Sir J. Reynolds, who +says: “The principles of these (the imagination and the passions) are as +invariable as the former (the senses), and are to be known and reasoned +upon in the same manner, by an appeal to <i>common sense</i> deciding upon the +common feelings of mankind.”</p> + +<p>These views are thus summed by Hume: “The organs of internal sensation are +seldom so perfect as to allow the general principles their full play, and +produce a feeling correspondent to those principles. They either labor +under some defect, or are vitiated by some disorder; and by that means, +excite a sentiment, which may be pronounced erroneous. When the critic has +no delicacy, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> judges without any distinction, and is only affected by +the grosser and more palpable qualities of the object: the finer touches +pass unnoticed and disregarded. Where he is not aided by practice, his +verdict is attended with confusion and hesitation. Where no comparison has +been employed, the most frivolous beauties, such as rather merit the name +of defects, are the object of his admiration. Where he lies under the +influence of prejudice, all his natural sentiments are perverted. Where +good sense is wanting, he is not qualified to discern the beauties of +design and reasoning, which are the highest and most excellent. Under some +or other of these imperfections, the generality of men labor; and hence, a +true judge in the finer arts is observed, even during the most polished +ages, to be so rare a character: strong sense, united to delicate +sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of +all prejudice, can alone entitle critics to this valuable character; and +the joint verdict of such, wherever they are to be found, is the true +standard of taste and beauty.”</p> + +<p>Taking the principal ideas above, Burke also concludes: “On the whole it +appears to me, that what is called taste, in its most general acceptation, +is not a simple idea, but is partly made up of a perception of the primary +pleasures of sense, of the secondary pleasures of the imagination, and of +the conclusions of the reasoning faculty, concerning the various relations +of these, and concerning the human passions, manners, and actions.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>“It is sufficient for our present purpose,” Hume farther observes, “if we +have proved that the taste of all individuals is not upon an equal +footing, and that some men in general, however difficult to be +particularly pitched upon, will be acknowledged by universal sentiment to +have a preference above others.</p> + +<p>“Though men of delicate taste be rare, they are easily to be distinguished +in society by the soundness of their understanding, and the superiority of +their faculties above the rest of mankind. The ascendant which they +acquire, gives a prevalence to that lively approbation, with which they +receive any productions of genius, and renders it generally predominant. +Many men, when left to themselves, have but a faint and dubious perception +of beauty, who yet are capable of relishing any fine stroke which is +pointed out to them. Every convert to the admiration of the real poet or +orator, is the cause of some new conversion. And though prejudices may +prevail for a time, they never unite in celebrating any rival to the true +genius, but yield at last to the force of nature and just sentiment.”</p> + +<p>Hume finally obviates some apparent difficulties:—</p> + +<p>“But notwithstanding all our endeavors to fix a standard of taste, and +reconcile the discordant apprehensions of men, there still remain two +sources of variation, which are not sufficient indeed to confound all the +boundaries of beauty and deformity, but will often serve to produce a +difference in the degrees of our approbation or blame. The one is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> the +different humors of particular men; the other, the particular manner and +opinions of our age and country.</p> + +<p>“A young man, whose passions are warm, will be more sensibly touched with +amorous and tender images, than a man more advanced in years, who takes +pleasure in wise, philosophical reflections concerning the conduct of life +and moderation of the passions. At twenty, Ovid may be the favorite +author; Horace at forty; and perhaps Tacitus at fifty. Vainly would we, in +such cases, endeavor to enter into the sentiments of others, and divest +ourselves of those propensities which are natural to us. We choose our +favorite author as we do our friend, from a conformity of humor and +disposition.</p> + +<p>“Such preferences are innocent and unavoidable, and can never reasonably +be the object of dispute, because there is no standard by which they can +be decided.</p> + +<p>“For a like reason, we are more pleased, in the course of our reading, +with pictures and characters that resemble objects which are found in our +own age or country, than with those which describe a different set of +customs.</p> + +<p>“A man of learning and reflection can make allowance for these +peculiarities of manners; but a common audience can never divest +themselves so far of their usual ideas and sentiments, as to relish +pictures which nowise resemble them.”</p> + +<p>Thus I believe the reader has before him a view, sufficiently clear, of +that popular topic, the stan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>dard of taste, as well as of the agreement +which subsists among the best writers on the subject. In the next chapter, +we proceed to a more fundamental and difficult inquiry.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY.<span class="foot"><a name="f11.1" id="f11.1" href="#f11">[11]</a></span></h3> + +<p>On the subject of the preceding chapter, even the reasonings of Hume +appear to me to be of too vague and indefinite a kind. It requires the +more minute scrutiny into which I shall now enter, in order to place it +upon a deeper and more scientific foundation. If I can here show that, in +the material qualities of the objects of nature and art, there exist +elements of beauty equally invariable in themselves and in the kind of +effect they produce upon the mind, it is evident there can be no farther +dispute about a standard of beauty.</p> + +<p>Many attempts have been made to determine the material elements of beauty, +by Hogarth, Home, and others. All have more or less failed, from not +observing that these elements are modified, varied, and complicated, as we +advance from the most simple to the most complex class of natural beings, +or of the arts which relate to these respectively. Many partial views of +perfect truth and great <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>interest have been taken, and by every one of +these it will be my duty here to profit: but, from the failure just +pointed out, no philosophical and systematic doctrine of beauty, ascending +from its origin in elements through its higher combinations, has ever been +attained by any of the numerous, deep, acute, and elegant thinkers who +have devoted their time to this subject, as the foundation of taste and of +the fine or intellectual arts.</p> + +<p>Profiting, as I ought to do, by the partial views of these philosophers, I +pretend here only to take one larger view—to analyze, to generalize, to +systematize, the materials which they present to me.</p> + +<p>In the hope of accomplishing this, I shall now endeavor successively to +trace the elements of beauty which belong respectively to inanimate, +living, and thinking beings, and to the useful, ornamental, and +intellectual arts which have a reference to these, the neglect of all +which I have described as the fundamental cause of previous failure.</p> + +<p>Again, I repeat, it is to this analysis and generalization alone, and to +the systemization founded upon it, that I make any pretence. The materials +have long been presented by all the great writers on the subject: they +have only left them in confusion, and without conclusion. I shall now +proceed to employ them.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY IN INANIMATE BEINGS.</h3> + +<p>Though Burke did not accurately trace the elements of beauty in any one +class of the objects of nature or art, he yet states a preliminary truth +on this subject so well, that I here quote it: “It would be absurd,” he +observes, “to say that all things affect us by association only; since +some things must have been originally and naturally agreeable or +disagreeable, from which the others derive their associated powers; and it +would be, I fancy, to little purpose to look for the cause of our passions +in association, until we fail of it in the natural properties of things.”</p> + +<p>Home, advancing farther, says: “If a tree be beautiful by means of its +color, its figure, its size, its motion, it is in reality possessed of so +many different beauties, which ought to be examined separately, in order +to have a clear notion of the whole.</p> + +<p>“When any body is viewed as a whole, the beauty of its figure arises from +regularity<small><a name="f12.1" id="f12.1" href="#f12">[12]</a></small> and simplicity; and viewing the parts with relation to each +other, from uniformity<small><a href="#f12">[12]</a></small>, proportion, and order.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>I will here only observe that these are the qualities, as will speedily +appear, which Burke should have set down as the fundamental and first +characteristics of beauty, instead of relative littleness, which belongs +not to beauty generally, but only to the minor or subordinate beauty.</p> + +<p>Even Home, having arrived thus far, says: “To inquire why an object, by +means of the particulars mentioned, appears beautiful, would, I am afraid, +be a vain attempt.”</p> + +<p>But he truly adds: “One thing is clear, that regularity, uniformity, +order, and simplicity, contribute each of them to readiness of +apprehension, and enable us to form more distinct images of objects than +can be done, with the utmost attention, where these particulars are not +found.” And he subjoins: “This final cause is, I acknowledge, too slight, +to account satisfactorily for a taste that makes a figure so illustrious +in the nature of man; and that this branch of our constitution has a +purpose still more important, we have great reason to believe.”</p> + +<p>Now had Home seen that the characteristics of general beauty always are, +with regard to the object, accordant and agreeable relations, the +importance of the qualities he has just enumerated would have been +evident; for, without them, these characteristics of the object could not +exist: simplicity, regularity, uniformity, order, &c., are the very +elements of accordant and agreeable relations. This is in reality the +still more important purpose in which Home believed, and to which the +readiness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> of apprehension he now alludes to eminently contributes.</p> + +<p>As to simplicity, he observes, that “a multitude of objects crowding into +the mind at once, disturb the attention, and pass without making any +impression, or any lasting impression; and in a group, no single object +makes the figure it would do apart, when it occupies the whole attention. +For the same reason, even a single object, when it divides the attention +by the multiplicity of its parts, equals not, in strength of impression, a +more simple object comprehended in a single view: parts extremely complex +must be considered in portions successively; and a number of impressions +in succession, which cannot unite because not simultaneous, never touch +the mind like one entire impression made as it were at one stroke.</p> + +<p>“A square is less beautiful than a circle, because it is less simple: a +circle has parts as well as a square; but its parts not being distinct +like those of a square, it makes one entire impression; whereas, the +attention is divided among the sides and angles of a square.... A square, +though not more regular than a hexagon or octagon, is more beautiful than +either, because a square is more simple, and the attention less divided.</p> + +<p>“Simplicity thus contributes to beauty.”</p> + +<p>By regularity is meant that circumstance in a figure by which we perceive +it to be formed according to a certain rule. Thus, a circle, a square, a +parallelogram, or triangle, pleases by its regularity.</p> + +<p>“A square,” says Home—(who here furnishes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> the best materials to a more +general view, because he most frequently assigns physical causes, and +whom, with some abbreviation, I therefore continue to quote)—“a square is +more beautiful than a parallelogram, because the former exceeds the latter +in regularity and in uniformity of parts. This is true with respect to +intrinsic beauty only; for in many instances, utility comes in to cast the +balance on the side of the parallelogram: this figure for the doors and +windows of a dwelling-house, is preferred because of utility; and here we +find the beauty of utility prevailing over that of regularity and +uniformity.”</p> + +<p>Thus regularity and uniformity contribute to intrinsic beauty.</p> + +<p>“A parallelogram, again, depends for its beauty on the proportion [or +relation of quantity] of its sides. Its beauty is lost by a great +inequality of these sides: it is also lost by their approximating toward +equality; for proportion there degenerates into imperfect uniformity, and +the figure appears an unsuccessful attempt toward a square.”</p> + +<p>Thus proportion contributes to beauty.</p> + +<p>“An equilateral triangle yields not to a square in regularity nor in +uniformity of parts, and it is more simple. Its inferiority in beauty is +at least partly owing to inferiority of order in the position of its +parts: the sides of an equilateral triangle incline to each other in the +same angle, which is the most perfect order they are susceptible of; but +this order is obscure, and far from being so perfect as the parallelism of +the sides of a square.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>Thus order contributes to the beauty of visible objects.</p> + +<p>“A mountain, it may be objected, is an agreeable object, without so much +as the appearance of regularity; and a chain of mountains is still more +agreeable, without being arranged in any order. But though regularity, +uniformity, and order, are causes of beauty, there are also other causes +of it, as color; and when we pass from small to great objects, and +consider grandeur instead of beauty, very little regularity is required.”</p> + +<p>It follows, from all that has been here said, and this has been shown by +Burke, that any rugged, any sudden projection, any sharp angle, is in the +highest degree contrary to the idea of beauty. Such projections and angles +are destitute of all the qualities which have just been +enumerated—simplicity, regularity, uniformity, proportion, order; and +conformably to the principles I have laid down in a previous chapter, they +can present only relations which are naturally disagreeable. This view is +corroborated by the fact, that all very sharp, broken, or angular objects, +were disagreeable to the boy couched by Cheselden, as they are to all eyes +of very nice sensibility.</p> + +<p>Now, as angular forms give, to the sense of touch, sharpness, roughness, +or harshness, so do opposite forms give smoothness or fineness. Hence, +Burke makes smoothness his second characteristic of beauty, and that far +more truly than he makes littleness its first, for, as he observes, +“smoothness is a quality so essential to beauty, that I do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> not now +recollect anything beautiful that is not smooth.”</p> + +<p>Such being really the case, I am bound to expose Knight’s sophistry on +this point. “This elegant author,” says he, “has expatiated upon the +gratifications of feeling smooth and undulating surfaces in general: but, +I believe, these gratifications have been confined to himself; and +probably to his own imagination acting through the medium of his favorite +system: for, except in the communication of the sexes, which affords no +general illustration, and ought therefore to be kept entirely out of the +question, I have never heard of any person being addicted to such +luxuries; though a feeling-board would certainly afford as cheap and +innocent a gratification, as either a smelling-bottle, a picture, or a +flute, provided it were capable of affording any gratification at all.”</p> + +<p>This is a good specimen of the kind of perverted reasoning, which +peculiarly distinguishes Knight.</p> + +<p>A man affecting the character of philosopher, ought calmly to have +observed that, by young people before puberty, and, consequently, when +there is not the slightest sexual bias, smooth objects are generally found +to be agreeable, and rough or harsh ones to be the reverse. This would at +once have set him right upon this point.</p> + +<p>If, to such a man, it should for a moment have appeared worth while to ask +why we do not make use of feeling-boards, as well as of smelling-bottles, +he ought to have sought the solution of his difficulty in the nature of +the senses; and then, with a trifle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> more of ability than Payne Knight +hereby shows himself to have possessed, he would have seen that smoothness +affords us as much pleasure as any smell, but that, as it would have been +always troublesome, and often impossible, to apply our fingers to smooth +surfaces, we generally receive the varied and incessant pleasure it +affords, by means of sight; that it is borne by light to the eye, as smell +is by the air; and that this is the reason why, except when contact is +indispensable, we have no need of anything in the way of a feeling-board.</p> + +<p>But Knight says: “Smoothness being properly a quality, perceivable only by +the touch, and applied metaphorically to the objects of the other senses, +we often apply it, very improperly, to those of vision; assigning +smoothness as a cause of visible beauty, to things which, though smooth to +the touch, cast the most sharp, harsh, and angular reflections of light +upon the eyes; and these reflections are all that the eye feels, or +naturally perceives.... Such are all objects of cut-glass or polished +metal; as may be seen by the manner in which painters imitate them: for, +as the imitations of painting extend only to the visible qualities of +bodies, they show those visible qualities fairly and impartially.... Yet +the imitative representation of such objects in painting is far less harsh +and dazzling than the effects of them in reality: for there are no +materials that a painter can employ, capable of expressing the sharpness +and brilliancy of those angular reflections of the collected and +condensed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> rays, which are emitted from the surfaces of polished metals.”</p> + +<p>It seems, to me, scarcely possible to find sophistry more worthless than +this, or rather a more contemptible quibble; for that which, availing +himself of our technicalities about light, he calls angularity, sharpness, +&c., has no analogy with disagreeable angularity of form. To produce the +brilliance and splendor which he calls angular, and describes as so +<i>offensive</i>, we polish crystalline and metallic bodies in the highest +degree!—we value precisely those which thus admit of greatest +splendor!—and, on that very account, the diamond (rightly or wrongly, is +not the question) is deemed the most valuable object on earth!</p> + +<p>So much for those elements of beauty, in inanimate things, which fall +under the cognizance of our fundamental sense, or that of touch.</p> + +<p>As to sight and its objects, it is true that, as this organ varies in +different persons, their taste is modified, with regard to colors. But the +preference of light and delicate colors to dark and glaring ones, is +almost universal among persons of sensibility.</p> + +<p>Alison, indeed, ascribes the effects of all colors to association. +“White,” he says, “as it is the color of day, is expressive to us of the +cheerfulness or gayety which the return of day brings: black, as the color +of darkness [night], is expressive of gloom and melancholy.” And he adds: +“Whether some colors may not of themselves produce agreeable sensations, +and others disagreeable sensations,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> I am not anxious to dispute.” But +this is the very point into which Alison ought to have inquired. Nature +does nothing without foundation in the simplest principles; and this +foundation is not only anterior to, but is the cause of all association.</p> + +<p>That, independent of any association, blackness is naturally disagreeable, +if not painful, is happily determined by the case of the boy restored to +sight by Cheselden, who tells us that the first time the boy saw a black +object, it gave him great uneasiness; and that, some time after, upon +accidentally seeing a negro-woman, he was struck with great horror at the +sight. This appears to be perfectly conclusive.</p> + +<p>Knight indeed says: “As to the uneasiness which the boy, couched by +Cheselden, felt at the first sight of a black object, it arose either from +the harshness of its outline, or from its appearing to act as a partial +extinguisher applied to his eyes, which, as every object that he saw, +seemed to touch them, would, of course, be its effect.” It is highly +probable that black operates in both these ways; and it has therefore +natural effects, independent of all association.</p> + +<p>As to sounds, Alison observes, that the cries of some animals are sublime, +as the roar of the lion, the scream of the eagle, &c.; and he thinks they +become so, because we associate them with the strength and ferocity of the +animals which utter them. By opposite associations, he accounts for the +beauty of the notes of birds. And he says, that there is a similar +sublimity or beauty, in the tones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of the human voice, and that “such +sounds are associated, in our imaginations, with the qualities of mind of +which they are in general expressive, and naturally produce in us the +conception of these qualities.”</p> + +<p>This writer endeavors to establish his views on this subject, by +observing, that “grandeur or sublimity of sound, can no otherwise arise +from its loudness, than as that loudness excites an idea of power in the +sonorous object, or in some other associated with it in the mind: for a +child’s drum, close to the ear, fills it with more real noise, than the +discharge of a cannon a mile off; and the rattling of a carriage in the +street, when faintly and indistinctly heard, has often been mistaken for +thunder at a distance. Yet no one ever imagined the beating of a child’s +drum, or the rattling of a carriage over the stones, to be grand or +sublime; which, nevertheless, they must be, if grandeur or sublimity +belong at all to the sensation of loudness. But artillery and lightning +are powerful engines of destruction; and with their power we sympathize, +whenever the sound of them excites any sentiments of sublimity.”</p> + +<p>Now, all this is directly opposed to the doctrine it is meant to support. +It distinctly implies that loudness is so natural and so frequent a result +of the violent contact of bodies, that we sometimes mistakenly ascribe +power to objects, of which we have not correctly distinguished the sounds, +owing to imitation, distance, &c. The occasional mistake implies the +general truth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Alison, himself, notwithstanding his doctrine of association, is +accordingly led to observe, that “there are some philosophers who consider +these as the natural signs of passion or affection, and who believe that +it is not from experience, but by means of an original faculty, that we +interpret them: and this opinion is supported by great authorities.”</p> + +<p>He adds the following observations, which, notwithstanding the error they +involve, are too much to the purpose to be omitted here, and which in +reality illustrate a natural and true theory, better than they do his +own:—</p> + +<p>“It is natural, however, to suppose, that in this, as in every case, our +experience should gradually lead to the formation of some general rules, +with regard to this expression.</p> + +<p>“The great divisions of sound are into loud and low, grave and acute, long +and short, increasing and diminishing. The two first divisions are +expressive in themselves: the two last, only in conjunction with others.</p> + +<p>“Loud sound is connected with ideas of power and danger. Many objects in +nature which have such qualities, are distinguished by such sounds; and +this association is farther confirmed from the human voice, in which all +violent and impetuous passions are expressed in loud tones.</p> + +<p>“Low sound has a contrary expression, and is connected with ideas of +weakness, gentleness, and delicacy. This association takes its rise, not +only from the observation of inanimate nature, or of animals, where, in a +great number of cases, such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> sounds distinguish objects with such +qualities, but particularly from the human voice, where all gentle, or +delicate, or sorrowful affections are expressed by such tones.</p> + +<p>“Grave sound is connected with ideas of moderation, dignity, solemnity, +&c., principally, I believe, from all moderate, or restrained, or +chastened affections being distinguished by such tones in the human voice.</p> + +<p>“Acute sound is expressive of pain, or fear, or surprise, &c., and +generally operates by producing some degree of astonishment. This +association, also, seems principally to arise from our experience of such +connexions in the human voice.</p> + +<p>“Long or lengthened sound seems to me to have no expression in itself, but +only to signify the continuance of that quality which is signified by +other qualities of sound. A loud or a low, a grave or an acute sound +prolonged expresses to us no more than the continuance of the quality +which is generally signified by such sounds.</p> + +<p>“Short or abrupt sound has a contrary expression, and signifies the sudden +cessation of the quality thus expressed.</p> + +<p>“Increasing sound signifies, in the same manner, the increase of the +quality expressed.</p> + +<p>“Decreasing sound signifies the gradual diminution of such qualities.</p> + +<p>“Motion furnishes another sort of beauty.</p> + +<p>“Figure, color, and motion, readily blend in one object, and one general +perception of beauty. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> many beautiful objects they all unite, and +render the beauty greater.”</p> + +<p>These characteristics are too universal not to support the doctrine of +natural appropriation and power, of which association is merely a +consequence.</p> + +<p>It may be said, that all this chiefly regards mere geometrical forms, not +objects in nature. But, on referring to inanimate objects, it will be +found that they everywhere present these forms.</p> + +<p>The round, the simplest form appears to characterize all elementary bodies +and all that are free from compression, to be in fact the most elementary +and the most readily assumed in nature. This form, accordingly, is +presented by the drops of water and of every liquid, by every atom +probably of oxygen, hydrogen, and azote, by the smallest as well as the +largest bodies, even the innumerable celestial orbs.</p> + +<p>All the other, the angular forms are presented by inanimate bodies under +compression, or by mineral crystals.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, do these simple geometrical forms characterize the simplest +bodies in nature; and it appears that this first kind of beauty is +peculiarly their own. It will, in the sequel, be as clearly seen, that +each of the other classes of natural beings presents beauty of a different +kind, which similarly characterizes it. Hence, no rational theory of +beauty could be formed by writers, who indiscriminatingly jumbled together +the characteristics of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> the kinds of beauty, and expected to find them +everywhere.</p> + +<p>As, then, from all that has been said, it appears that all the elements of +beauty which have thus been noticed, belong to inanimate beings, and as +this is shown by the passages I have quoted from the best writers, it +seems surprising, not merely that they should not have seen this to be the +case, but, that it should not have led them to observe, that there exists +also a second beauty, of living beings, and third, of thinking beings, as +well as others of the useful, the ornamental, and the intellectual arts +respectively, in each of which some new element was only added to the +characters of the preceding species.</p> + +<p>It seems still more surprising that Alison, who deviates so widely from +all fundamental principles, should have actually stumbled upon an +observation of a few of the characteristics of inanimate beings, and +traced them as they pass upward through some living and thinking +beings—whose new characteristics, however, he did not discriminate. He +observes, that “the greater part of those bodies in nature, which possess +hardness, strength, or durability, are distinguished by angular forms. The +greater part of those bodies, on the contrary, which possess weakness, +fragility, or delicacy, are distinguished by winding or curvilinear forms. +In the mineral kingdom, all rocks, stones, and metals, the hardest and +most durable bodies we know, assume universally angular forms. In the +vegetable kingdom, all strong and durable plants are in general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +distinguished by similar forms. The feebler and more delicate race of +vegetables, on the contrary, are mostly distinguished by winding forms. In +the animal kingdom, in the same manner, strong and powerful animals are +generally characterized by angular forms; feeble and delicate animals, by +forms of the contrary kind.”<small><a name="f13.1" id="f13.1" href="#f13">[13]</a></small></p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY IN LIVING BEINGS.</h3> + +<p>I have now to show that, in living beings, while the characters of the +first and fundamental beauty, that of inanimate beings, are still +partially continued, new characteristics are added to them.</p> + +<p>Plants accordingly possess both rigid parts, like some of those described +in the preceding section, and delicate parts, which, in ascending through +the classes of natural beings from the simplest to the most complex, are +the very first to present to us new and additional characters totally +distinct from those of the preceding class.</p> + +<p>I. To begin as nature does, then, we find the trunks and stems of plants, +which are near the ground, resembling most in character the inanimate +bodies from among which they spring. They assume the simplest and most +universal form in nature, the round one; but as growth is their great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +function, they extend in height and become cylindrical.</p> + +<p>Even the branches, the twigs, and the tendrils, continue this elementary +character; but it is in them, or in the stem when, like them, it is +tender, that such elementary characters give way to the purposes of life, +namely, growth and reproduction, and that we discover the new and +additional characters of beauty which this class presents to us.</p> + +<p>II. To render this matter plain, I must observe that the formation of +rings, which unite in tubes, appears to be almost universally the material +condition of growth and reproduction. Every new portion of these tubes, +moreover, and every superadded ring, is less than that which preceded it.</p> + +<p>It is from this that results the first characteristic of this second kind +of beauty, namely, fineness or delicacy. Hence, Burke made the possession +of a delicate frame, without any remarkable appearance of strength, his +fifth condition in beauty; and he here erred only from that want of +discrimination which led him to confound together all the conditions of +beauty, and prevented his seeing that they belonged to different genera.</p> + +<p>Now, as fine and delicate bodies, which are growing, will shoot in that +direction where space, air, and light, can best be had, and as this, amid +other twigs and tendrils, will greatly vary, so will their productions +rarely continue long in the same straight line, but will, on the contrary, +bend. Hence, the curved or bending form is the second characteristic of +this kind of beauty.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>It is worthy of remark, that, as the trunks, stems, twigs, and tendrils, +of plants assume the simplest and most universal form in nature, the round +one, so their more delicate parts have again the tendency to bend into a +similar form.</p> + +<p>In the young and feeble branches of plants, it is observed by Alison, that +the bending form is “beautiful, when we perceive that it is the +consequence of the delicacy of their texture, and of their being +overpowered by the weight of the flower.... In the smaller and feebler +tribe of flowers, as in the violet, the daisy, or the lily of the valley, +the bending of the stem constitutes a very beautiful form, because we +immediately perceive that it is the consequence of the weakness and +delicacy of the flower.”</p> + +<p>From the circumstances now described, it results that all the parts of +plants present the most surprising variety. They vary their direction +every moment, as Burke observes, and they change under the eye by a +deviation continually carrying on, but for whose beginning or end you will +find it difficult to ascertain a point.</p> + +<p>Variety is therefore the third characteristic of this second kind of +beauty; and in the indiscriminating views of Burke, he made two similar +conditions, viz: “Thirdly, to have a variety in the direction of the +parts; but, fourthly, to have those parts not angular, but melted as it +were into each other;” thus applying these to beauty generally, to which +they are not applicable, but in a confused and imperfect way.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>It is scarcely necessary to observe that variety, as a character of +beauty, owes its effect to the need of changing impressions, in order to +enliven our sensibility, which does not fail to become inactive under the +long-continued impression of the same stimulant.</p> + +<p>It is connected with this variety that unequal numbers are preferred, as +we see in the number of flowers and of their petals, in that of leaves +grouped together, and in the indentations of these leaves.</p> + +<p>From all this springs the fourth and last characteristic of this second +species of beauty, namely, contrast. This strikes us when we at once look +at the rigid stem and bending boughs, and all the variety which the latter +display.</p> + +<p>It will be observed, that, of all the characteristics of beauty, none tend +to render our perceptions so vivid as variety and contrast.</p> + +<p>I conclude this section with a few remarks on the errors which Alison has +committed on this subject.</p> + +<p>“In the rose,” says that writer, “and the white lily, and in the tribe of +flowering shrubs, the same bending form assumed by the stem is felt as a +defect; and instead of impressing us with the idea of delicacy, leads us +to believe the operation of some force to twist it into this +direction.”—This, however, is no defect arising from the bending form not +being abstractly more beautiful, but from its being contrary to the nature +of the stem of flowering shrubs to bend, from its being, as he himself +observes, the result of some force to twist it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>He asserts, however, that in plants, angular forms are beautiful, when +they are expressive of fineness, of tenderness, of delicacy, or such +affecting qualities; and he thinks that this may perhaps appear from the +consideration of the following instances:—</p> + +<p>“The myrtle, for instance, is generally reckoned a beautiful form, yet the +growth of its stem is perpendicular, the junction of its branches form +regular and similar angles, and their direction is in straight or angular +lines. The known delicacy, however, and tenderness of the vegetable, at +least in this climate, prevail over the general expression of the form, +and give it the same beauty which we generally find in forms of a contrary +kind.”—The mistake here committed is in supposing the beauty of the +myrtle to depend on its angularity, instead of its being evergreen, +fragrant, and suggesting pleasures of association.</p> + +<p>“How much more beautiful,” he says, “is the rose-tree when its buds begin +to blow, than afterward, when its flowers are full and in their greatest +perfection! yet, in this first situation, its form has much less winding +surface, and is much more composed of straight lines and of angles, than +afterward when the weight of the flower weighs down the feeble branches, +and describes the easiest and most varied curves.”—But he answers himself +by adding: “The circumstance of its youth, a circumstance in all cases so +affecting, the delicacy of its blossom, so well expressed by the care +which Nature has taken in surrounding the opening bud with leaves, prevail +so much upon our imagination,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> that we behold the form itself with more +delight in this situation than afterward, when it assumes the more general +form of delicacy.”</p> + +<p>“There are few things in the vegetable world,” he says, “more beautiful +than the knotted and angular stem of the balsam, merely from its singular +transparency, which it is impossible to look at without a strong +impression of the fineness and delicacy of the vegetable.”—But it is its +transparency, not its angularity, that is beautiful.</p> + +<p>The beauty of color is not less conspicuous than that of form in this +class of beings.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY IN THINKING BEINGS.</h3> + +<p>I have next to show that, in thinking beings, while the characters of +inanimate, and those of living beauty, are still more or less continued, +new characteristics are also added to them.</p> + +<p>I. In animals, accordingly, the bones bear a close analogy to the wood of +plants. They generally assume the same rounded form; but, as thinking +beings are necessarily moving ones, their bones are hollow to combine +lightness with strength, and they are separated by joints to permit +flexion and extension.</p> + +<p>II. As animals, like plants, grow and reproduce, a portion of their +general organization, their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>vascular system, which serves the purpose of +growth and reproduction, consists, like plants, of trunks, branches, &c.; +and the surface of their bodies, the skin, is formed by a tissue of these +vessels. Accordingly, both the vessels themselves, and the tissue which +they form, present the delicacy, the bending, the variety, and the +contrast, which are the characters of the preceding species of beauty.</p> + +<p>The undulating and serpentine lines which art seeks always to design in +its most beautiful productions, exist in greater number at the surface of +the human body than at that of any other animal. Wherever, as Hogarth +observes, “for the sake of the necessary motion of the parts, with proper +strength and agility, the insertions of the muscles are too hard and +sudden, their swellings too bold, or the hollows between them too deep, +for their outlines to be beautiful; nature softens these hardnesses, and +plumps up these vacancies with a proper supply of fat, and covers the +whole with the soft, smooth, springy, and, in delicate life, almost +transparent skin, which, conforming itself to the external shape of all +the parts beneath, expresses to the eye the idea of its contents with the +utmost delicacy of beauty and grace.”</p> + +<p>It is principally in the features of the face, as has often been observed, +and on the surface of the torso and of the members of a beautiful woman, +that these delicate, bending, varied, and contrasted lines are multiplied: +by their union, they mark the outlines of different parts, as in the +region of the neck, of the bosom, at the shoulders, on the surface of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +abdomen, on the sides, and principally in the gradual transitions from the +head to the neck, and from the loins to the inferior extremities.</p> + +<p>These lines vary under different circumstances; much enbonpoint producing +round lines, and leanness or old age producing straight ones.</p> + +<p>Woman and man stand pre-eminent among animals as to this kind of beauty; +and to them succeed the swifter animals, as the horse, the stag, &c.</p> + +<p>The animals, on the contrary, of which the surface presents right lines +and square forms, are correspondingly deprived of beauty; as the toad, the +hog, and all the animals which seem to us ugly.</p> + +<p>In all animals, also, the beauty of color, even when slightly varied, +becomes extremely interesting.—In human beauty, considerable variety is +produced by the different shades of the skin.</p> + +<p>Such, indeed, is the variety resulting from all this, that some degree +even of intricacy is produced. The undulating lines which cross in every +direction, and the tortuous paths of the eye, are the means of an +agreeable complication.</p> + +<p>Hence Burke, following Hogarth, says: “Observe that part of a beautiful +woman where she is perhaps the most beautiful, about the neck and breasts: +the smoothness, the softness, the easy and insensible swell, the variety +of the surface, which is never for the smallest space the same, the +deceitful maze, through which the unsteady eye slides giddily, without +knowing where to fix, or whither it is carried. Is not this a +demonstration of that change of surface, continual, and yet hardly +perceptible at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> any point, which forms one of the great constituents of +beauty?</p> + +<p>The hair affords an excellent instance of this agreeable complication. +Soft curls agitated by the wind have been the theme of every poet. And +yet, says Hogarth, “to show how excess ought to be avoided in intricacy, +as well as in every other principle, the very same head of hair, wisped +and matted together, would make the most disagreeable figure; because the +eye would be perplexed, and at a fault, and unable to trace such a +confused number of uncomposed and entangled lines.”</p> + +<p>III. But animals have a higher system of organs and functions which +peculiarly distinguishes them, and which presents new and peculiar +characteristics of beauty. This consists of the organs by which they +receive impressions from, and react upon the objects around them—the +first organs which Nature presents having altogether external relations, +and the first, consequently, in which we look for fitness for any purpose.</p> + +<p>The importance of fitness to the beauty of such objects is learned +imperceptibly. Lines and forms, though the most elegant, fail to please +us, if ill distributed in this respect: and objects, to a great extent +destitute of the other characters of natural beauty, become beautiful when +regarded in relation to fitness. Thus would this sense appear to be so +powerful, as in some measure to regulate our other perceptions of beauty.</p> + +<p>It is fitness which leads us to admire in one animal, what would displease +us if found in another.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> “The variety,” says Barry, “and union of parts, +which we call beautiful in a greyhound, are pleasing in consequence of the +idea of agility which they convey. In other animals, less agility is +united with more strength; and, indeed, all the different arrangements +please because they indicate either different qualities, different degrees +of qualities, or the different combinations of them.”</p> + +<p>In relation to the various fitness of the human body, the same writer +says: “We should not increase the beauty of the female bosom, by the +addition of another protuberance; and the exquisite undulating transitions +from the convex to the concave tendencies, could not be multiplied with +any success. In fine, our rule for judging of the mode and degree of this +combination of variety and unity, seems to be no other than that of its +fitness and conformity to the designation of each species.”</p> + +<p>But it is less necessary for me to adduce authorities in support of this +truth, than to answer the objections that have been made to it by some of +the ablest writers on the subject—objections which have generally their +origin in the narrow views which these men have taken, and in those +partial hypotheses which, even when true, led them to reject all other +truth.</p> + +<p>“It is said,” observes Burke, “that the idea of a part’s being well +adapted to answer its end, is one cause of beauty, or indeed beauty +itself.... In framing this theory, I am apprehensive that experience was +not sufficiently consulted. For, on that principle, the wedgelike snout of +a swine with its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> tough cartilage at the end, the little sunk eyes, and +the whole make of the head, so well adapted to its offices of digging and +rooting, would be extremely beautiful.”—And so they are, when the beauty +of fitness for their purpose is considered; but that purpose being the +mere growth and fattening of an animal of sensual and dirty habits, it is +a fallacy to represent this, without explanation, as a fair proof of the +absence of connexion between fitness and beauty.</p> + +<p>“If beauty in our species,” says the same writer, “was annexed to use, men +would be much more lovely than women; and strength and agility would be +considered as the only beauties.”—Burke was a stringer of fine words, not +for woman, but for queens, when that served a selfish and venal purpose. +The sentence just quoted shows that his gallantry was as ignorant as it +was mean. He here asserts by implication that women are less useful than +men, although it is to women that the care of the whole human race, during +its most helpless years, is committed, and although they take upon +themselves all that half of the duties of life which men are as little +capable of performing, as women are of performing the portion suited to +men.</p> + +<p>“And,” says he, “I appeal to the first and most natural feelings of +mankind, whether, on beholding a beautiful eye, or a well-fashioned mouth, +or a well-turned leg, any ideas of their being well fitted for seeing, +eating, or running, ever present themselves.”—Is running, then, the +proper use of the leg in woman! Rousseau more truly thought its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> use was +to <i>fail</i> in running, or <i>not</i> to run! Is eating the only use of her +mouth! This, too from the man who deplored that “the age of chivalry was +gone!”—Nevertheless, I will venture to assert that such things never were +and never will be seen, without suggesting ideas of fitness of some kind +or other.</p> + +<p>“There is,” he proceeds, “another notion current, pretty closely allied to +the former; that perfection is the constituent cause of beauty. This +opinion has been made to extend much farther than to sensible objects. But +in these, so far is perfection, considered as such, from being the cause +of beauty, that this quality, where it is highest in the female sex, +almost always carries with it an idea of weakness and imperfection.”—For +this plain reason, that female perfection is utterly incompatible with +great muscular perfection or strength, which would indeed be injurious to +the performance of every feminine function.</p> + +<p>We may now advance another step in the subject under discussion. What, +then, are the peculiar physical characters of beings thus possessing sense +and motion, and thus characterized by fitness?</p> + +<p>“It must be remembered,” says Knight, “that irregularity is the general +characteristic of trees, and regularity that of animals.”—It would have +been more correct to say that symmetry is this peculiar characteristic. +There is little resemblance between the parts of one side; and it is +symmetry which results from the uniform disposition of double parts, and +from the regular division of single ones.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>Hence an agreeable impression is produced by the corresponding disposition +and the exact resemblance of the eyes, of the eyebrows, of the ears, of +the hemispheres of the bosom, and of the different parts of which the +limbs are composed; and the forehead, the nose, the mouth, the abdomen, +the back, are agreeably distinguished by means of the median line which +divides them.</p> + +<p>It appears that the eye is pleased by the exactness of corresponding +parts; and that symmetry is the first character of beauty in thinking +beings.</p> + +<p>Occasional irregularity makes us better appreciate the importance of +symmetry. The oblique direction of the eyes, squinting, twisting of the +nose or lips, unequal magnitude of the hemispheres of the bosom, or +unequal length of the limbs, disfigure the most beautiful person.</p> + +<p>But how does symmetry contribute to fitness, or why is it necessary?</p> + +<p>“All our limbs and organs,” says Payne Knight, “serve us in pairs, and by +mutual co-operation with each other: whence the habitual association of +ideas has taught us to consider this uniformity as indispensable to the +beauty and perfection of the animal form. There is no reason to be deduced +from any abstract consideration of the nature of things, why an animal +should be more ugly and disgusting for having only one eye, or one ear, +than for having only one nose or one mouth; yet if we were to meet with a +beast with one eye, or two noses, or two mouths, in any part of the world, +we should, without inquiry, decide it to be a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>monster, and turn from it +with abhorrence: neither is there any reason, in the nature of things, why +a strict parity, or relative equality, in the correspondent limbs and +features of a man or a horse, should be absolutely essential to beauty, +and absolutely destructive of it in the roots and branches of a tree. But, +nevertheless, the Creator having formed the one regular, and the other +irregular, we habitually associate ideas of regularity to the perfection +of one, and ideas of irregularity to the perfection of the other; and this +habit has been so unvaried, as to have become natural.”</p> + +<p>This is the common cant of every weak man at loss for a reason. Now, it is +not by any “habitual association” with “our limbs and organs serving us in +pairs,” that we are “taught to consider this uniformity indispensable to +beauty,” but because, independent of all association, we could not +conveniently walk upon one leg, or, indeed, on any unequal number of legs: +and there being two sides in the moving organs, there are necessarily two +in the sensitive organs, which are mere portions of the same general +system. Thus it is locomotion to be performed that renders “a strict +parity, or relative equality, in the correspondent limbs and features of a +man or a horse” absolutely essential to beauty; and it is the absence of +locomotion which renders it utterly worthless, and therefore very rare, in +“the roots and branches of a tree.”</p> + +<p>In animals, proportion is not less essential than symmetry. It is indeed +the second character of this kind of beauty. As this part of the subject<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +has been perfectly well treated by Mr. Alison, I need only quote what he +has said:—</p> + +<p>“It is this expression of fitness which is, I apprehend, the source of the +beauty of what is strictly and properly called proportion in the parts of +the human form.</p> + +<p>“We expect a different form, and a different conformation of limbs, in a +running footman and a waterman, in a wrestler and a racing groom, in a +shepherd and a sailor, &c.</p> + +<p>“They who are conversant in the productions of the fine arts, must have +equally observed, that the forms and proportions of features, which the +sculptor and the painter have given to their works, are very different, +according to the nature of the character they represent, and the emotion +they wish to excite. The form or proportions of the features of Jove are +different from those of Hercules; those of Apollo, from those of Ganymede; +those of the Fawn, from those of the Gladiator. In female beauty, the form +and proportions in the features of Juno are very different from those of +Venus; those of Minerva, from those of Diana; those of Niobe, from those +of the Graces. All, however, are beautiful; because all are adapted with +exquisite taste to the characters they wish the countenance to express.”</p> + +<p>In “the Hercules and the Antinous, the Jupiter and the Apollo, we find +that not only the proportions of the form, but those of every limb, are +different; and that the pleasure we feel in these proportions arises from +their exquisite fitness for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> the physical ends which the artists were +consulting.</p> + +<p>“The illustration, however, may be made still more precise; for, even in +the same countenance, and in the same hour, the same form of feature may +be beautiful or otherwise.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY AS EMPLOYED IN OBJECTS OF ART.</h3> + +<p>I divide the arts into the useful, the ornamental, and the intellectual, +commonly called the fine arts; and I shall endeavor to show, that the +objects of each of these are characterized by a peculiar kind of beauty, +corresponding to one of those already described.</p> + +<p>I shall endeavor to show that the objects of the useful arts are +characterized by the simple geometrical forms which belong to inanimate +beings; that those of the ornamental arts are characterized by the +delicate, bending, varied, and contrasted forms of living beings; and that +those of the intellectual arts are, in their highest efforts, +characterized chiefly by thinking forms, as in gesture, sculpture, +painting, or by functions of mind actually exercised, in oratory, poetry, +music.</p> + +<p>In all these arts, purpose is implied—not purpose in the hypothetical +sense, as applied to the existence, conditions, and objects, of natural +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>beings—but in the common intelligible sense of the word, as expressing +the intention of men in the pursuit of these arts.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Beauty of Useful Objects.</i></p> + +<p>Here the purpose being utility, this kind of beauty arises from the +perception of means as adapted to an end, which of course implies, the +parts of anything being fitted to answer the purpose of the whole.</p> + +<p>This implies an act of understanding and judgment; for of no product of +useful art can we perceive the extrinsic beauty, until we know its +destination, and the relations which that involves.</p> + +<p>When these are known, so powerful is the sense of utility, that, though +deviation from the elementary beauty never ceases to be felt, yet that +sense sanctions it to a great extent. Hence it is that an irregular +dwelling-house may become beautiful, when its convenience is striking. +Hence it is that, in the forms of furniture, machines, and instruments, +their beauty arises chiefly from this consideration; and that every form +becomes beautiful by association, where it is perfectly adapted to its +end.</p> + +<p>The greater, however, the elementary beauty, that can be introduced in +useful objects, the more obvious will their utility be, and the more +beautiful will they universally appear. This will be granted the moment I +mention simplicity.</p> + +<p>Of all the elements of beauty already spoken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of—of all the means of +producing accordant and agreeable relations—simplicity appears to be the +most efficient; and in all the useful arts, no elementary consideration +recommends their objects so much.</p> + +<p>This implies all the rest, regularity, uniformity, proportion, order, &c., +as far as is compatible with purpose.</p> + +<p>Thus, in regard to uniformity, says some one, a number of things destined +for the same purpose, as chairs, spoons, &c., cannot be too uniform, +because they are adapted to uniform purposes; but it would be absurd to +give to objects destined for one purpose the form suited to those destined +for another.</p> + +<p>So also the objects of useful art will resemble in form precisely as they +resemble in purpose; and where the purpose is similar, and the deviation +which is admissible is slight, this becomes a subject of great nicety, +and, if ornament be at the same time admissible, a subject of exquisite +taste.</p> + +<p>It was by the transcendent exercise of these qualities, that the Greeks +succeeded in fixing the orders of architecture. The most beautiful columns +would have shocked the sight, if their mass had not corresponded to that +of the edifice which they sustained; and the difference which existed in +this respect, required a difference of ornament.</p> + +<p>Home indeed observes, that “writers on architecture insist much upon the +proportions of a column, and assign different proportions to the Doric, +Ionic, and Corinthian; but no architect will <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>maintain, that the most +accurate proportions contribute more to use, than several that are less +accurate and less agreeable.”</p> + +<p>That such a man should have committed such an error is surprising. It +seems evident that the different proportion in the columns of these orders +is admirably suited to the different quantity of matter in their +entablatures. A greater superincumbent mass, required shorter and thicker +columns; a less superincumbent mass, longer and slender ones. Many +experiments, much observation, were requisite to determine this; but the +Greeks had the means of making them, and solved every problem on the +subject; and the result of the perfection they attained is, that all err +who depart from the truth they have determined.</p> + +<p>It was, again, the differing quantities of matter in the entablatures, and +the accurately-corresponding dimensions of the columns that determined, of +course amid infinite experiment and observation, the nature of their +ornaments. Hence, the Doric is distinguished by simplicity; the Ionic by +elegance; and the Corinthian by lightness, in ornament as well as in +proportion.</p> + +<p>Even, therefore, if we were to destroy all the associations of elegance, +of magnificence, of costliness, and, still more than all, of antiquity, +which are so strongly connected with such forms, the pleasure which their +proportions would afford, would remain, as in all cases where means are +best adapted to their end.</p> + +<p>In his objections to proportion as an element of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> beauty, Burke only +confounds this kind of beauty with that which I have next to describe.</p> + +<p>“The effects of proportion and fitness,” he says, “at least so far as they +proceed from a mere consideration of the work itself, produce approbation, +the acquiescence of the understanding, but not love, nor any passion of +that species. When we examine the structure of a watch, when we come to +know thoroughly the use of every part of it, satisfied as we are with the +fitness of the whole, we are far enough from perceiving anything like +beauty in the watchwork itself; but let us look on the case, the labor of +some curious artist in engraving, with little or no idea of use, we shall +have a much livelier idea of beauty than we ever could have had from the +watch itself, though the masterpiece of Graham.”</p> + +<p>It is an emotion of pleasure which is the inevitable result of the +perception of beauty, not love, nor any passion of the kind. These will or +will not follow, according to the nature of the object, and of the mind of +the observer. A hill, a valley, or a rivulet, may be beautiful, and it +will excite an emotion of pleasure when its beauty is discerned; but it +may produce no desire or passion of love. There may exist, then, the +beauty of utility, as to the structure of the watch, and that of ornament +as to its case; and some minds will more readily perceive the one; others, +the other.</p> + +<p>When Burke adds, “In beauty, the effect is previous to any knowledge of +the use; but to judge of proportion, we must know the end for which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> any +work is designed;” he forgets, that, in the instance of the barber’s +block, &c., he showed that the perception of beauty, as well as +proportion, required observation, experience, and reflection.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Beauty of Ornamental Objects.</i></p> + +<p>There are three great arts which, under circumstances of high +civilization, become ornamental, namely, landscape-gardening, +architecture, and dress—the particular arts by which our persons are more +or less closely invested;<small><a name="f14.1" id="f14.1" href="#f14">[14]</a></small> and all of them, then, require beauty of the +second kind, that which belongs particularly to vegetable beings, and is +characterized by delicate, bending varied, and contrasted forms.</p> + +<p>All these, regarded as ornamental arts, have chiefly bodily and sensual +pleasures for their purpose; and this I consider as distinguishing them +from the intellectual arts, which have a higher purpose.</p> + +<p>Of landscape-gardening, the materials are plants, and therefore its beauty +is evidently dependant on, or rather composed of, theirs.</p> + +<p>The same kind of beauty will be found in every ornamental art. Hence, +Alison says: “The greater part of beautiful forms in nature, are to be +found in the vegetable kingdom, in the forms of flowers, of foliage, of +shrubs, and in those assumed by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> young shoots of trees. It is from +them, accordingly, that almost all those forms have been imitated, which +have been employed by artists for the purposes of ornament and elegance.”</p> + +<p>On this kind of beauty, mistaking it for the only one, Hogarth founded his +peculiar doctrine. “He adopts two lines, on which, according to him, the +beauty of figure principally depends. One is the waving line, or a curve +bending gently in opposite directions. This he calls the line of beauty; +and he shows how often it is found in flowers, shells, and various works +of nature; while it is common also in the figures designed by painters and +sculptors, for the purpose of decoration. The other line, which he calls +the line of grace, is the former waving line, twisted round some solid +body. Twisted pillars and twisted horns exhibit it. In all the instances +which he mentions, variety plainly appears to be so important an element +of this kind of beauty, that he states a portion of the truth, when he +defines the art of drawing pleasing forms to be the art of varying well; +for the curve line, so much the favorite of painters, derives much of its +beauty from its perpetual bending and variation from the stiff regularity +of the straight line.” It is evident, however, that in this, he mistakes +one kind of beauty for all.</p> + +<p>Of architecture, considered as a fine art, much of the beauty depends on +the imitation of vegetable forms. Employing materials which require the +best characteristics of the first kind of beauty, it, in its choicest and +ornamented parts, imitates both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> the rigid trunks, and the delicate and +bending forms of plants. Its columns, tapering upward, are copied from the +trunks of trees; and their decorations are suited with consummate art to +their dimensions, and the weight they support. The simple Doric has little +ornament; the elegant Ionic has more; the light Corinthian has most.</p> + +<p>On the subject of these finely-calculated ornaments, some observations +have struck me, which I have not seen mentioned elsewhere. The Doric +presents only columns, without any other ornament than that of which their +mere form admits. The Ionic expresses increased lightness, by the +interposition of its volute, as if the superincumbent weight had but +gently pressed a soft solid into a scroll. The Corinthian expresses the +utmost lightness, by forming its capitals of foliage, as if the weight +above them could not crush even a leaf. The Composite expresses gayety, by +adding flowers to the foliage. It is from imperfect views of this, that +the meaning and effect of caryatides have been mistaken: instead of being +oppressed by weight, they seem, when well employed, to have no weight to +support.</p> + +<p>In nearly all internal architectural decorations, it is the delicate, +bending, varied, and contrasted vegetable forms which are imitated.</p> + +<p>“There is scarce a room, in any house whatever,” says Hogarth, “where one +does not see the waving line employed in some way or other. How inelegant +would the shapes of all our moveables be without it? how very plain and +unornamental the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> mouldings of cornices and chimney-pieces, without the +variety introduced by the ogee member, which is entirely composed of +waving lines.”</p> + +<p>The distinctions I have here made, are farther illustrated by the remarks +of Alison, who says: “These ornaments being executed in a very hard and +durable substance, are in fact only beautiful when they appear but as +minute parts of the whole. The great constituent parts of every building +require direct and angular lines, because in such parts we require the +expression of stability and strength. It is only in the minute and +delicate parts of the work, that any kind of ornament is attempted with +propriety; and whenever ornaments exceed in size, in their quantity of +matter, or in the prominence of their relief, that proportion which, in +point of lightness or delicacy, we expect them to hold with respect to the +whole of the building, the imitation of the most beautiful vegetable forms +does not preserve them from the censure of clumsiness and deformity.”</p> + +<p>In dress, considered as an ornamental art, and, as practised by the sex +which chiefly studies it, the chief beauty depends on the adoption of +winding forms in drapery, and of wreaths of flowers for the head, &c. +These are essential to the variety and contrast, as well as to the gayety +which that sex desires.</p> + +<p>“Uniformity,” says Hogarth, “is chiefly complied with in dress, on account +of fitness, and seems to be extended not much farther than dressing both +arms alike, and having the shoes of the same color.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> For when any part of +dress has not the excuse of fitness or propriety for its uniformity of +parts, the ladies always call it formal.”</p> + +<p>These irregular, varying, and somewhat complicated draperies excite that +active curiosity, and those movements of imagination, to which skilful +women never neglect to address themselves in modern costume.</p> + +<p>It is with the same feeling and intention, whether these be defined or +not, that, in the head-dress, they seek for bending lines and +circumvolutions, and that they combine variously the waves and the tresses +of the hair.</p> + +<p>For the same reason, a feather or a flower is never placed precisely over +the middle of the forehead; and if two are employed, great care is taken +that their positions are dissimilar.</p> + +<p>It has sometimes struck me as remarkable, that precious stones are almost +always arranged differently from flowers. While the latter are placed +irregularly, and in waving lines, not only on the head, but the bosom, and +the skirt of the dress, the former are in general regularly placed, either +on the median line of the person, as the middle of the forehead and, in +Eastern countries, of the nose, or symmetrically in similar pendants from +each ear, and bracelets on the arms and wrists.</p> + +<p>The instinctive feeling which gives origin to this is, that flowers adorn +the system of life and reproduction, and by their color and smell, +associate with its emotions, which they also express and communicate to +others—they, therefore, assume<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> the varied forms of that system; whereas, +diamonds, attached generally to mental organs, or organs of sense, are +significant of mental feelings, love of splendor, distinction, pride, +&c.—they, therefore, assume the symmetrical form of these organs. Hence, +too, flowers are recommended to the young; diamonds are permitted only to +the old.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Beauty of Intellectual Objects.</i></p> + +<p>I have already said, that the intellectual arts are, in their highest +efforts, characterized chiefly by animal forms, as in gesture, sculpture, +and painting, or by animal functions actually exercised, in oratory, +poetry, and music.</p> + +<p>In the useful arts, the purpose is utility; in the ornamental arts, it is +bodily or sensual pleasure; and in the intellectual arts, it is the +pleasure of imagination.</p> + +<p>The first elements of beauty, however, are not forgotten in these arts. As +simplicity is conspicuous in the works of nature, so is it a condition of +beauty in all the operations of mind. In philosophy, general theorems +become beautiful from this simplicity; and polished manners receive from +it dignity and grace. The intellectual arts are especially dependant upon +it: it has been a striking character of their most illustrious +cultivators, and of their very highest efforts.</p> + +<p>How much the characters and accidents of elementary beauty influence +intellectual art, has been well shown by Mr. Knight.</p> + +<p>“In the higher class of landscapes,” he says,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> “whether in nature or in +art, the mere sensual gratification of the eye is comparatively so small, +as scarcely to be attended to: but yet, if there occur a single spot, +either in the scene or the picture, offensively harsh and glaring—if the +landscape-gardener, in the one, or the picture-cleaner, in the other, have +exerted their unhappy talents of polishing, all the magic instantly +vanishes, and the imagination avenges the injury offered to the sense. The +glaring and unharmonious spot, being the most prominent and obtrusive, +irresistibly attracts the attention, so as to interrupt the repose of the +whole, and leaves the mind no place to rest upon.”</p> + +<p>“It is, in some respects,” he observes, “the same with the sense of +hearing. The mere sensual gratification, arising from the melody of an +actor’s voice, is a very small part, indeed, of the pleasure which we +receive from the representation of a fine drama: but, nevertheless, if a +single note of the voice be absolutely cracked and out of tune, so as to +offend and disgust the ear, it will completely destroy the effect of the +most skilful acting, and render all the sublimity and pathos of the finest +tragedy ludicrous.”</p> + +<p>This, I may observe, is a concession of much that he elsewhere +inconsistently contends for; for sensual beauty could never act thus +powerfully, if it possessed not fundamental importance as an element even +in the most complex beauty.</p> + +<p>That the second kind of beauty also enters into the acts or products of +intellectual beauty, is sufficiently illustrated by the observation of +Hogarth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> who on this subject observes, that all the common and necessary +motions for the business of life are performed by men in straight or plain +lines, while all the graceful and ornamental movements are made in waving +lines.</p> + +<p>As Alison has given the best view of the history and character of beauty +in the intellectual arts, as that indeed constitutes the most valuable +portion of his work, I shall conclude this section by a greatly abridged +view of these as nearly as possible in his own words.</p> + +<p>There is no production of taste, which has not many qualities of a very +indifferent kind; and our sense of the beauty or sublimity of every object +accordingly depends upon the quality or qualities of it which we consider.</p> + +<p>This, Mr. Alison might have observed, is in great measure dependant upon +our will. We can generally, when we please, confine our consideration of +it to the qualities that least excite pleasurable or painful emotion, and +that can least interest the imagination.</p> + +<p>It is in consequence of this, that the exercise of criticism always +destroys, for the time, our sensibility to the beauty of every +composition, and that habits of this kind generally destroy the +sensibility of taste.</p> + +<p>When, on the other hand, the emotions of sublimity or beauty are produced, +it will be found that some affection is uniformly first excited by the +presence of the object; and whether the general impression we receive is +that of gayety, or tenderness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> or melancholy, or solemnity, or terror, +&c., we have never any difficulty of determining.</p> + +<p>But whatever may be the nature of that simple emotion which any object is +fitted to excite, if it produce not a train of kindred thought in our +minds, we are conscious only of that simple emotion.</p> + +<p>In many cases, on the contrary, we are conscious of a train of thought +being immediately awakened in the imagination, analogous to the character +of expression of the original object.</p> + +<p>“Thus, when we feel either the beauty or sublimity of natural scenery—the +gay lustre of a morning in spring, or the mild radiance of a +summer-evening—the savage majesty of a wintry storm, or the wild +magnificence of the tempestuous ocean—we are conscious of a variety of +images in our minds, very different from those which the objects +themselves present to the eye. Trains of pleasing or of solemn thought +arise spontaneously within our minds; our hearts swell with emotions, of +which the objects before us seem to afford no adequate cause; and we are +never so much satiated with delight, as when, in recalling our attention, +we are unable (little able, perhaps, and less disposed) to trace either +the progress or the connexion of those thoughts, which have passed with so +much rapidity through our imagination.</p> + +<p>“The effect of the different arts of taste is similar. The landscapes of +Claude Lorraine, the poetry of Milton, the music of the greatest masters, +excite feeble emotions in our minds when our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> attention is confined to the +qualities they present to our senses, or when it is to such qualities of +their composition that we turn our regard. It is then only we feel the +sublimity or beauty of their productions, when our imaginations are +kindled by their power, when we lose ourselves amid the number of images +that pass before our minds, and when we waken at last from this play of +fancy, as from the charm of a romantic dream.</p> + +<p>“The degree in which the emotions of sublimity or beauty are felt, is in +general proportioned to the prevalence of those relations of thought in +the mind, upon which this exercise of imagination depends. The principal +relation which seems to take place in those trains of thought that are +produced by objects of taste, is that of resemblance; the relation, of all +others the most loose and general, and which affords the greatest range of +thought for our imagination to pursue. Wherever, accordingly, these +emotions are felt, it will be found, not only that this is the relation +which principally prevails among our ideas, but that the emotion itself is +proportioned to the degree in which it prevails.</p> + +<p>“What, for instance, is the impression we feel from the scenery of spring? +The soft and gentle green with which the earth is spread, the feeble +texture of the plants and flowers, the young of animals just entering into +life, and the remains of winter yet lingering among the woods and +hills—all conspire to infuse into our minds somewhat of that fearful +tenderness with which infancy is usually beheld. With such a sentiment, +how innumerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> are the ideas which present themselves to our +imagination! ideas, it is apparent, by no means confined to the scene +before our eyes, or to the possible desolation which may yet await its +infant beauty, but which almost involuntarily extend themselves to +analogies with the life of man, and bring before us all those images of +hope or fear, which, according to our peculiar situations, have the +dominion of our heart!—The beauty of autumn is accompanied with a similar +exercise of thought.</p> + +<p>“Whatever increases this exercise or employment of imagination, increases +also the emotion of beauty or sublimity.</p> + +<p>“This is very obviously the effect of all associations. There is no man +who has not some interesting associations with particular scenes, or airs, +or books, and who does not feel their beauty or sublimity enhanced to him +by such connexions. The view of the house where one was born, of the +school where one was educated, and where the gay years of infancy were +passed, is indifferent to no man.</p> + +<p>“In the case of those trains of thought, which are suggested by objects +either of sublimity or beauty, it will be found, that they are in all +cases composed of ideas capable of exciting some affection or emotion; and +that not only the whole succession is accompanied with that peculiar +emotion which we call the emotion of beauty or sublimity, but that every +individual idea of such a succession is in itself productive of some +simple emotion or other.</p> + +<p>“Thus the ideas suggested by the scenery of spring, are ideas productive +of emotions of cheer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> fulness, of gladness, and of tenderness. The images +suggested by the prospect of ruins, are images belonging to pity, to +melancholy, and to admiration. The ideas, in the same manner, awakened by +the view of the ocean in a storm, are ideas of power, of majesty, and of +terror.”</p> + +<p>To prevent circumlocution, such ideas may be termed ideas of emotion; and +the effect which is produced upon the mind, by objects of taste, may be +considered as consisting in the production of a regular or consistent +train of ideas of emotion.</p> + +<p>“In those trains which are suggested by objects of sublimity or beauty, +however slight the connexion between individual thoughts may be, it will +be found, that there is always some general principle of connexion which +pervades the whole, and gives them some certain definite character. They +are either gay, or pathetic, or melancholy, or solemn, or awful, or +elevating, &c., according to the nature of the emotion which is first +excited. Thus the prospect of a serene evening in summer, produces first +an emotion of peacefulness and tranquillity, and then suggests a variety +of images corresponding to this primary impression. The sight of a +torrent, or of a storm, in the same manner, impresses us first with +sentiments of awe or solemnity, or terror, and then awakens in our minds a +series of conceptions allied to this peculiar emotion.”</p> + +<p>The intellectual, or fine arts are those whose objects are thus addressed +to the imagination; and the pleasures they afford are described, by way of +distinction, as the pleasures of the imagination.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER.</p> + +<p>Thus, by analysis, generalization, and systematization, of the materials +which the best writers present, I have, in this chapter, endeavored to +take new and larger views; and, by an examination of the elements of +beauty, I have endeavored to fix its doctrines upon an immoveable basis.</p> + +<p>I have shown that there exist elements of beauty equally invariable in +themselves, and in the kind of effect they produce upon the mind; that +these elements are modified, varied, and complicated, as we advance from +the most simple to the most complex class of natural beings, or of the +arts which relate to these respectively; that the elements of beauty in +inanimate beings, consist in the simplicity, regularity, uniformity, +proportion, order, &c., of those geometrical forms which are so intimately +connected with mere existence; that the elements of beauty in living +beings, consist in adding to the preceding the delicacy, bending, variety, +contrast, &c., which are connected with growth, and reproduction; that the +elements of beauty in thinking beings, consist in adding to the preceding +the symmetry, proportion,<small><a name="f15.1" id="f15.1" href="#f15">[15]</a></small> &c., which are connected with fitness for +sense, thought, and motion; that the elements of beauty in the objects of +useful art, consist in the same simplicity, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>regularity, uniformity, +proportion, order, of geometrical forms which belong to inanimate beings; +that the elements of beauty in the objects of ornamental art consist in +the same delicacy, bending, variety, contrast, which belong to living +beings; and that the elements of beauty in the objects of intellectual art +consist in thinking forms, in gesture, sculpture, and painting, or in +functions of mind actually exercised, in oratory, poetry, and music.</p> + +<p>The elements of beauty have hitherto been confounded by many writers, as +more or less applicable to objects of all kinds; and as this general and +confused application was easily disproved as to many objects, uncertainty +and doubt have been thrown over the whole. The remaining writers have +consequently been led to adopt, as characters of beauty, only one or two +of these elements, which were consequently capable of application only to +one or two classes of its objects. Hence, no subject of human inquiry has +hitherto been left in a more disgraceful condition than this, the very +foundation of taste.</p> + +<p>I do not hesitate to state that, owing to the near approximations to +truth, and the insensible transitions into error, which I have found in +every writer, and the immense mass of confused materials which they +present, this subject has cost me more trouble than any one I have ever +investigated, except that of my work on the mind;<small><a name="f16.1" id="f16.1" href="#f16">[16]</a></small> nor without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> some +physiological knowledge, do I think tasks of this kind at all practicable. +Generally speaking, each branch of knowledge is most surely advanced by +acquaintance with its related branches; and philosophers cannot too much +bear in mind the words of Cicero: “Etenim omnes artes quæ ad humanitatem +pertinent, habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione quadam +inter se continentur.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX TO THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +NATURE OF THE PICTURESQUE.<span class="foot"><a name="f17.1" id="f17.1" href="#f17">[17]</a></span></h3> + +<p>In landscape, the nature of the beautiful and the sublime seems to be +better understood than that of the picturesque. There are few disputes as +to the former; many as to the latter. These disputes, moreover, are not as +to <i>what is picturesque</i>, but as to <i>what picturesque is</i>.</p> + +<p>Payne Knight asserts, that the picturesque has no distinctive character, +and merely designates what a painter would imitate. Price, on the +contrary, has given so many admirable illustrations of it, that its +characteristics are before every reader. Strange to tell, its nature or +essence has not been penetrated, because these characteristics have not +been rigidly analyzed.</p> + +<p>Price has, indeed, generalized considerably on this subject, by showing +that irregularity, roughness, &c., enter into all scenes of a picturesque<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +description; and the examination of any one of them will certainly verify +the truth of his observation.</p> + +<p>Thus, on a remote country-road, we often observe the deep ruts on its +surface which in winter would render it impassable—the huge and loose +moss-grown stone, ready to encumber it by falling from the bank—the +stunted pollard by its side, whose roots are exposed by the earth falling +away from it, and which must itself be swept away by the first wind that +may blow against it in an unfavorable direction—the almost ruined +cottage, above and beyond these, whose gable is propped up by an old and +broken wheel, and whose thatched roof, stained with every hue of moss or +lichen, has, at one part, long fallen in—the shaggy and ragged horse that +browses among the rank weeds around it—and the old man, bent with age, +who leans over the broken gate in front of it.</p> + +<p>Here, in every circumstance, is verified the irregularity and roughness +which Price ascribes to the picturesque. But he has failed to observe, +that <i>the irregularity and roughness are but the signs of that which +interests the mind far more deeply</i>, namely, the universal <span class="smcaplc">DECAY</span> which +causes them. This is the essence of the picturesque—the charm in it which +begets our sympathy.</p> + +<p>Confining his remark merely to ruins, the author of “Observations on +Gardening,” says: “At the sight of a ruin, reflections on the change, the +decay, and the desolation, before us naturally occur; and they introduce a +long succession of others, all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> tinctured with that melancholy which these +have inspired; or if the monument revive the memory of former times, we do +not stop at the simple fact which it records, but recollect many more +coeval circumstances which we see, nor perhaps as they were, but as they +are come down to us, venerable with age, and magnified by fame.”—What is +here said of ruins, and is indeed as to them sufficiently striking, is +true of the picturesque universally, and it is only surprising that, amid +such disputes, this simple and obvious truth should not have been +observed.</p> + +<p>In landscape, therefore, the picturesque stands in the same relation to +the beautiful and sublime, that the pathetic does to them in poetry. +Hence, speaking also of ruins only, Alison says: “The images suggested by +the prospect of ruins, are images belonging to pity, to melancholy, and to +admiration.”</p> + +<p>A thousand illustrations might be given in support of this truth and the +principle which it affords; but I think it better to leave these to the +suggestion or the choice of every reader.</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +CAUSE OF LAUGHTER.</h3> + +<p>This has been partly explained by Beattie, partly by Hobbes; and it is +chiefly to vindicate the latter, who knew much more of the human mind than +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> people who have attacked him, that I write the pages immediately +following.</p> + +<p>Speaking of the quality in things, which makes them provoke the pleasing +emotion or sentiment of which laughter is the external sign, Beattie says: +“It is an uncommon mixture of relation and contrariety, exhibited, or +supposed to be united, in the same assemblage.” And elsewhere he says: +“Laughter arises from the view of two or more inconsistent, unsuitable, or +incongruous parts or circumstances, considered as united in one complex +object or assemblage, or as acquiring a sort of mutual relation from the +peculiar manner in which the mind takes notice of them.”</p> + +<p>“The latter may arise from contiguity, from the relation of cause and +effect, from unexpected likeness, from dignity and meanness, from +absurdity, &c.</p> + +<p>“Thus, at first view, the dawn of the morning and a boiled lobster seem +utterly incongruous, but when a change of color from black to red is +suggested, we recognise a likeness, and consequently a relation, or ground +of comparison.</p> + +<p>“And here let it be observed, that the greater the number of incongruities +that are blended in the same assemblage, the more ludicrous it will +probably be. If, as in the last example, there be an opposition of dignity +and meanness, as well as of likeness and dissimilitude, the effect of the +contrast will be more powerful, than if only one of these oppositions had +appeared in the ludicrous idea.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>The first part of the subject seems, indeed, so clear as to admit of no +objection.</p> + +<p>Hobbes, viewing more particularly the act of the mind, defines laughter to +be a “sudden glory, arising from a sudden conception of some eminency in +ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own +formerly.” And elsewhere he says: “Men laugh at jests, the wit whereof +always consisteth in the elegant discovering and conveying to our minds, +some absurdity of another.”<small><a name="f18.1" id="f18.1" href="#f18">[18]</a></small></p> + +<p>Dr. Campbell objects that “contempt may be raised in a very high degree, +both suddenly and unexpectedly, without producing the least tendency to +laugh.” But if there exist that incongruity in the same assemblage +described as the fundamental cause of this sudden conception of our own +superiority, laughter, as Beattie has shown, “will always, or for the most +part, excite the risible emotion, unless when the perception of it is +attended with some other emotion of greater authority,” dependant on +custom, politeness, &c.</p> + +<p>Dr. Campbell also observes, that “laughter may be, and is daily, produced +by the perception of incongruous associations, when there is no contempt.</p> + +<p>“We often smile at a witty performance or passage, such as Butler’s +allusion to a boiled lobster, in his picture of the morning, when we are +so far from conceiving any inferiority or turpitude in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> author, that +we greatly admire his genius, and wish ourselves possessed of that very +turn of fancy which produced the drollery in question.</p> + +<p>“Many have laughed at the queerness of the comparison in these lines,</p> + +<p class="poem">‘For rhyme the rudder is of verses,<br /> +With which like ships they steer their courses,’</p> + +<p>who never dreamed that there was any person or party, practice or opinion, +derided in them.</p> + +<p>“If any admirer of the Hobbesian philosophy should pretend to discover +some class of men whom the poet here meant to ridicule, he ought to +consider, that if any one hath been tickled with the passage to whom the +same thought never occurred, that single instance would be sufficient to +subvert the doctrine, as it would show that there may be laughter where +there is no triumph or glorying over anybody, and, consequently, no +conceit of one’s own superiority.</p> + +<p>Now, the class of men laughed at in both cases is the same, namely, poets, +whose lofty allusions are ridiculed by the former, and silly rhymes by the +latter; nor can any one duly appreciate or be pleased with either, to whom +this intention of the writer is not obvious. Who ever dreamed of +“turpitude in the author,” as Dr. Campbell supposes!</p> + +<p>“As to the wag,” says Beattie, “who amuses himself on the first of April +with telling lies, he must be shallow, indeed, if he hope, by so doing, to +acquire any superiority over another man whom he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> knows to be wiser and +better than himself; for, on these occasions, the greatness of the joke, +and the loudness of the laugh, are, if I rightly remember, in exact +proportion to the sagacity of the person imposed on.”—No doubt; but it is +because he is thrown into an apparent and whimsical, though momentary +inferiority; and the greater his sagacity, the more amusing does this +appear.</p> + +<p>“Do we not,” says he, “sometimes laugh at fortuitous combinations, in +which, as no mental energy is concerned in producing them, there cannot be +either fault or turpitude? Could not one imagine a set of people jumbled +together by accident, so as to present a laughable group to those who know +their characters?”—Undoubtedly; but then the slouch of one, and the +rigidity of the other, &c., make both contemptible, as to physical +characteristics at least, and there is no need of turpitude in either.</p> + +<p>The strongest apparent objection, however, is that of Dr. Campbell, who +says: “Indeed, men’s telling their own blunders, even blunders recently +committed, and laughing at them, a thing not uncommon in very risible +dispositions, is utterly inexplicable upon Hobbes’s system. For, to +consider the thing only with regard to the laugher himself, there is to +him no subject of glorying, that is not counterbalanced by an equal +subject of humiliation (he being both the person laughing, and the person +laughed at), and these two subjects must destroy one another.”</p> + +<p>But he overlooks the precise terms employed by Hobbes, who says: “The +passion of laughter is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> nothing else but sudden glory, arising from a +sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the +infirmity of others, or with <i>our own formerly</i>. For men laugh at <i>the +follies of themselves past</i>, when they come suddenly to remembrance, +<i>except they bring with them any present dishonor</i>.”</p> + +<p>It is not therefore true, as Dr. Campbell says, that “with regard to +others, he appears solely under the notion of inferiority, as the person +triumphed over.” He, on the contrary, appears as achieving a very glorious +triumph, that, namely, over his own errors.</p> + +<p>This shows also the error of Addison’s remarks, that “according to this +account, when we hear a man laugh excessively, instead of saying that he +is very merry, we ought to tell him that he is very proud.”—A man may +contemn the errors both of himself and others, without pride: and, indeed, +in contemning the former, he proves himself to be far above that +sentiment, and verifies Dr. Campbell’s remark that no two characters more +rarely meet in the same person, than that of a very risible man, and a +very self-conceited supercilious man.</p> + +<p>It is curious to see a great man, like Hobbes, thus attacked by less ones, +who do not even understand him.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> +<h3>SECTION III.<br />CAUSE OF THE PLEASURE RECEIVED FROM REPRESENTATIONS EXCITING PITY.</h3> + +<p>Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain this cause.</p> + +<p>According to the Abbé Du Bos,<small><a name="f19.1" id="f19.1" href="#f19">[19]</a></small> in order to get rid of listlessness, the +mind seeks for emotions; and the stronger these are the better. Hence, the +passions which in themselves are the most distressing, are, for this +purpose, preferable to the pleasant, because they most effectually relieve +the mind from the less endurable languor which preys upon it during +inaction.</p> + +<p>The sophistry of this explanation is evident. Pleasant passions, as Dr. +Campbell has shown, ought in every respect to have the advantage, because, +while they preserve the mind from this state of inaction, they convey a +feeling which is agreeable. Nor is it true that the stronger the emotion +is, so much the fitter for this purpose; for if we exceed a certain +measure, instead of a sympathetic and delightful sorrow, we excite only +horror and aversion. The most, therefore, that can be concluded from the +Abbé’s premises, is, that it is useful to excite passion of some kind or +other, but not that the distressing ones are the fittest.</p> + +<p>According to Fontenelle,<small><a name="f20.1" id="f20.1" href="#f20">[20]</a></small> theatrical representation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> has almost the +effect of reality: but yet not altogether. We have still a certain idea of +falsehood in the whole of what we see. We weep for the misfortunes of a +hero to whom we are attached. In the same instant, we comfort ourselves by +reflecting, that it is nothing but a fiction.</p> + +<p>The short answer to this is, that we are conscious of no such alternation +as that here described.</p> + +<p>According to David Hume, whose hypothesis is a kind of supplement to the +former two, that which “when the sorrow is not softened by fiction, raises +a pleasure from the bosom of uneasiness, a pleasure which still retains +all the features and outward symptoms of distress and sorrow, is that very +eloquence with which the melancholy scene is represented.”</p> + +<p>In reply, Dr. Campbell has shown that the aggravating of all the +circumstances of misery in the representation, cannot make it be +contemplated with pleasure, but must be the most effectual method for +making it give greater pain; that the detection of the speaker’s talents +and address, which Hume’s hypothesis implies, is in direct opposition to +the fundamental maxim, that “it is essential to the art to conceal the +art;” and that the supposition that there are two distinct effects +produced by the eloquence on the hearers, one the sentiment of beauty, or +of the harmony of oratorical numbers, the other the passion which the +speaker purposes to raise in their minds, and that when the first +predominates, the mixture of the two effects becomes exceedingly pleasant, +and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> reverse when the second is superior, is altogether imaginary.</p> + +<p>According to Hawkesworth,<small><a name="f21.1" id="f21.1" href="#f21">[21]</a></small> the compassion in question may be “resolved +into that power of imagination, by which we apply the misfortunes of +others to ourselves;” and we are said “to pity no longer than we fancy +ourselves to suffer, and to be pleased only by reflecting that our +sufferings are not real; thus indulging a dream of distress, from which we +can awake whenever we please, to exult in our security, and enjoy the +comparison of the fiction with the truth.”</p> + +<p>This hypothesis is evidently too gross to need reply.</p> + +<p>Dr. Campbell has answered the preceding hypotheses at great length, and +quite satisfactorily. I regret to say that his own is as worthless, as +well as remarkably confused and unintelligible.</p> + +<p>To Burke, who wrote at a later period, it falls to my lot to reply at +greater length.</p> + +<p>“To examine this point concerning the effect of tragedy in a proper +manner,” says that writer, “we must previously consider how we are +affected by the feelings of our fellow-creatures in circumstances of real +distress. I am convinced we have a degree of delight, and that no small +one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others; for, let the affection +be what it will in appearance, if it does not make us shun such objects, +if on the contrary it induces us to approach them, if it makes us dwell +upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> them, in this case I conceive we must have a delight or pleasure of +some species or other in contemplating objects of this kind.... Our +delight in cases of this kind is very greatly heightened, if the sufferer +be some excellent person who sinks under an unworthy fortune.... The +delight we have in such things hinders us from shunning scenes of misery; +and the pains we feel, prompt us to relieve ourselves, in relieving those +who suffer.... In imitated distress, the only difference is the pleasure +resulting from the effects of imitation.”</p> + +<p>A more monstrous doctrine than this was never perhaps enunciated. A very +little analysis will expose its fallacy.</p> + +<p>In relation to events of this kind, there are three very distinct +cases—real occurrence, subsequent inspection or historical narration, and +dramatic representation; in each, the affection of the mind is very +different; and nearly all the errors on this subject seem to have occurred +from confounding them. Burke has done this in the greatest degree.</p> + +<p>The real occurrence of unmerited suffering is beheld with no delight, but +with unmixed pain, by every well-constituted mind. Hume,<small><a name="f22.1" id="f22.1" href="#f22">[22]</a></small> therefore, +justly observes, that “the same object of distress, which pleases in a +tragedy, were it really set before us, would give the most unfeigned +uneasiness.” It is only by confounding this with the next case, of +subsequent inspection or historical narration, that Burke gets into error +here.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>“We do not,” says Burke, “sufficiently distinguish what we would by no +means choose to do [or <i>to see done</i>—he should have added] from what we +should be eager enough to see if it was once done. We delight in seeing +things [<i>after they are done</i>—he should have added], which, so far from +doing, our heartiest wishes would be to see redressed.”</p> + +<p>That the additions I have made, more truly state the case, seems as +evident, as it is, that they afford a very different conclusion from +Burke’s, of our beholding unmerited suffering with delight. But he himself +proves this by the very instance which he gives in illustration of his +doctrine.</p> + +<p>“This noble capital,” he says, “the pride of England and of Europe, I +believe <i>no man is so strangely wicked as to desire to see destroyed</i> by a +conflagration or an earthquake, though he should be removed himself to the +greatest distance from the danger. But <i>suppose such a fatal accident to +have happened</i>, what numbers from all parts would crowd to behold the +ruins, and among them many who would have been content never to have seen +London in its glory!”</p> + +<p>Here the words which I have put in italics clearly show that I was right +in the additions I suggested in his previous statement, and that he there +confounded delight in seeing the infliction of unmerited suffering, with +delight in seeing it after infliction, or of seeing it historically +narrated; for, in this his illustration, it is the latter, and not the +former, that he supposes—nay he now says “no man is so strangely wicked +as to desire to see destroyed!” <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>&c. Indeed, it is quite plain that, +supposing an attempt made to destroy London, so far would every one be +from being delighted to see it done, that he would eagerly prevent it. +There is here, therefore, on the part of this writer, only his common and +characteristic confusion of ideas.</p> + +<p>“Choose a day,” he says, “on which to represent the most sublime and +affecting tragedy we have; appoint the most favorite actors; spare no cost +upon the scenes and decorations; unite the greatest efforts of poetry, +painting, and music; and when you have collected your audience, just at +the moment when their minds are erect with expectation, let it be reported +that a state-criminal, of high rank, is on the point of being executed in +the adjoining square; in a moment the emptiness of the theatre would +demonstrate the comparative weakness of the imitative arts, and proclaim +the triumph of the real sympathy.”</p> + +<p>This presents only another instance of want of discrimination. If the +“state-criminal, of high rank,” were not a real criminal—if he were an +unmerited sufferer, the place of execution, supposing his rescue +impossible, would assuredly be fled from by every person of feeling and +honor; as we read of in the public papers, lately, when a murder of that +kind was perpetrating by some one of the base little jailor-princes of +Germany. And we know that, in the case of legal perpetrations of that kind +in England, even upon real criminals, none but the most degraded wretches +go to witness such scenes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>In tragic representation, then, we know that the suffering is not real, +else should we fly. There have, indeed, in such cases, been instances of a +sort of momentary deception, but it is only children, and very simple +people, utter strangers to theatrical amusements, who are apt to be so +deceived; and as their case always excites the surprise and laughter of +every one, it clearly proves that others are under no sort of deception.</p> + +<p>Even Burke, notwithstanding his want of discrimination, and his monstrous +hypothesis, says: “Imitated distress is never so perfect, but we can +perceive it is imitation, and on that principle are somewhat pleased with +it.” And his case of desertion of the theatre, if it occur under any +circumstances, illustrates this.</p> + +<p>Burke adds, indeed: “But then I imagine we shall be much <i>mistaken</i> if we +attribute any considerable part of our satisfaction in tragedy to the +consideration that tragedy is <i>a deceit</i>, and its representations <i>no +realities</i>. [We seek no satisfaction of the kind: we know it to be a +deceit throughout!] The nearer it approaches the reality, and the farther +it removes us from all idea of fiction, the more perfect is its power.”</p> + +<p>The nearest possible <i>approach</i> to reality, is only necessary to the +success of fiction, to the pleasure of imagination. He himself has said: +“Imitated distress is never so perfect, but we can perceive it is +imitation!” Again, therefore, here is only Burke’s characteristic +confusion of ideas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>My own doctrine on this subject is already obvious from the remarks made +on others. <i>We never cease to know that tragic representation is a mere +deception; our reason is never imposed upon; our imagination is alone +engaged; we are perfectly conscious that it is so; and we have all the +sensibility, fine feeling, and generosity of pity, as well as the +satisfaction of being thereby raised wonderfully in our own esteem, at the +small cost of three shillings!</i></p> + +<p>It is not a little curious, that this should not have been evident to +those who have written so much about it. Dr. Campbell, alone, has +approached it. “So great,” he says, “is the anomaly which sometimes +displays itself in human characters, that it is not impossible to find +persons who are quickly made to cry at seeing a tragedy, or reading a +romance, which they know to be fictions, and yet are both inattentive and +unfeeling in respect of the actual objects of compassion who live in their +neighborhood, and are daily under their eye.... Men may be of a selfish, +contracted, and even avaricious disposition, who are not what we should +denominate hard-hearted, or unsusceptible of sympathetic feeling. Such +will gladly enjoy the luxury of pity (as Hawkesworth terms it) when it +nowise interferes with their more powerful passions; that is, when it +comes unaccompanied with a demand upon their pockets.”—This should have +led him to the simple truth, and should have prevented his framing the +most confused, unintelligible, and worthless hypothesis upon this +subject.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>ANATOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES.</h3> + +<p>To any inquiry respecting the beauty of woman, the replies are, in +general, various, inconsistent, or contradictory. The assertion might, +therefore, appear to be true, that, even under the same climate, beauty is +not always the same.</p> + +<p>Our vague perceptions, however, and our vague expressions respecting +beauty, will be found to be, in a great measure, owing to the inaccuracy +of our mode of examining it, and, in some measure, to the imperfect +nomenclature which we possess for describing it.</p> + +<p>Beauty, and even true taste, respecting it, are always the same; but, in +the first place, we observe beauty partially and imperfectly; and in the +second place, our actual preferences are dependant on our particular +wants, and will be found to differ only because these wants differ in +every individual, and even in the same individual at different periods of +life.</p> + +<p>The laws regulating beauty in woman, and taste respecting it in man, have +not been attempted to be explained, except in the worthless work alluded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +to in the advertisement. Yet nothing perhaps is more universally +interesting.</p> + +<p>As, in this view, the kinds of beauty demand the first and chief +attention, the following illustrations are necessary:—</p> + +<p>We observe a woman possessing one species of beauty:—Her face is +generally oblong; her neck is rather long and tapering: her shoulders, +without being angular, are sufficiently broad and definite; her bosom is +of moderate dimensions; her waist, remarkable for fine proportion, +resembles in some respects an inverted cone; her haunches are moderately +expanded; her thighs, proportional; her arms, as well as her limbs, are +rather long and tapering; her hands and feet are moderately small; her +complexion is often rather dark; and her hair is frequently abundant, +dark, and strong.—The whole figure is precise, striking, and brilliant. +Yet, has she few or none of the qualities of the succeeding species.</p> + +<p>We observe, next, another species of beauty:—Her face is generally round; +her eyes are generally of the softest azure; her neck is often rather +short; her shoulders are softly rounded, and owe any breadth they may +possess rather to the expanded chest, than to the size of the shoulders +themselves; her bosom, in its luxuriance, seems laterally to protrude on +the space occupied by the arms; her waist, though sufficiently marked, is, +as it were, encroached on by the enbonpoint of all the contiguous parts; +her haunches are greatly expanded; her thighs are large in proportion; but +her limbs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> and arms, tapering and becoming delicate, terminate in feet and +hands which, compared with the ample trunk, are peculiarly small; her +complexion has the rose and lily so exquisitely blended, that we are +surprised it should defy the usual operation of the elements; and she +boasts a luxuriant profusion of soft and fine flaxen or auburn hair.—The +whole figure is soft and voluptuous in the extreme. Yet has she not the +almost measured proportions and the brilliant air of the preceding +species; nor has she the qualities of the succeeding one.</p> + +<p>We observe, then, a beauty of a third species:—Her face is generally +oval; her high and pale forehead announces the intellectuality of her +character; her intensely expressive eye is full of sensibility; in her +lower features, modesty and dignity are often united; she has not the +expanded bosom, the general embonpoint, or the beautiful complexion, of +the second species; and she boasts easy and graceful motion, rather than +the elegant proportion of the first.—The whole figure is characterized by +intellectuality and grace.</p> + +<p>Such are the three species of beauty of which all the rest are varieties.</p> + +<p>Now, as it is in general one only of these species which characterizes any +one woman, and as each of these species is suited to the wants of, and is +consequently agreeable to, a different individual, it is obvious why the +common vague reports of the beauty of any woman are always so various, +inconsistent, or contradictory.</p> + +<p>In the more accurate study of this subject, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> indispensable that the +reader should understand the scientific principles on which the preceding +brief analysis of female beauty, as reducible to three species, is +founded.</p> + +<p>To attain this knowledge, and to acquire facility in the art of +distinguishing and judging of beauty in woman, a little general knowledge +of anatomy is absolutely essential. The writer begs, therefore, attention +to the following sketch. It may not at first seem interesting to the +general reader; but it is the sole basis of a scientific knowledge of +female beauty; the study of it during one hour is sufficient to apprehend +it in all its bearings; and it will obviate every future difficulty.</p> + +<p>In viewing the human organs in a general manner, a class of these organs +at once obtrudes itself upon our notice, from its consisting of an +apparatus of levers, from its performing motion from place to place or +locomotion, and from these motions being of the most obvious kind.—A +little more observation presents to us another class, which is +distinguished from the preceding by its consisting of cylindrical tubes, +by its transmitting and transmuting liquids, performing vascular action or +nutrition, and by its motions being barely apparent.—Farther +investigation discovers a third, which differs essentially from both +these, in its consisting of nervous particles, in its transmitting +impressions from external objects, performing nervous action or thought, +and in that action being altogether invisible.</p> + +<p>Thus, each of these classes of organs is distinguished from another by the +structure of its parts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> by the purposes which it serves, and by the +greater or less obviousness of its motions.</p> + +<p>The first consists of levers; the second, of cylindrical tubes; and the +third, of nervous particles. The first performs motion from place to place +or locomotion; the second transmits and transmutes liquids, performing +vascular action or nutrition; and the third transmits impressions from +external objects, performing nervous action or thought. The motion of the +first is extremely obvious; that of the second is barely apparent; and +that of the third is altogether invisible.</p> + +<p>Not one of them can be confounded with another: for, considering their +purposes only, it is evident that that which performs locomotion, neither +transmits liquids nor sensations; that which transmits liquids, neither +performs locomotion nor is the means of sensibility; and that which is the +means of sensibility, neither performs locomotion nor transmits liquids.</p> + +<p>Now, the organs employed in locomotion are the bones, ligaments, and +muscles; those employed in transmitting liquids or in nutrition, are the +absorbent, circulating, and secreting vessels; and those employed about +sensations or in thought, are the organs of sense, cerebrum, and cerebel, +with the nerves which connect them.</p> + +<p>The first class of organs may, therefore, be termed locomotive, or (from +their very obvious action) mechanical; the second, vascular or nutritive, +or (as even vegetables, from their possessing vessels, have life) they may +be termed vital; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> the third may be named nervous or thinking, or (as +mind results from them) mental.</p> + +<p>The human body, then, consists of organs of three kinds. By the first +kind, locomotive or mechanical action is effected; by the second, +nutritive or vital action is maintained; and by the third, thinking or +mental action is permitted.</p> + +<p>Anatomy is, therefore, divided into three parts, namely, that which +considers the mechanical or locomotive organs; that which considers the +nutritive or vital organs; and that which considers the thinking or mental +organs.</p> + +<p>Under the mechanical or locomotive organs are classed, first, the bones or +organs of support; second, the ligaments or organs of articulation; and +third, the muscles or organs of motion.</p> + +<p>Under the nutritive or vital organs are classed, first, the absorbent +vessels or organs of absorption; second, the bloodvessels, which derive +their contents from the absorbed lymph, or organs of circulation; and +third, the secreting vessels, which separate various matters from the +blood, or organs of secretion.<small><a name="f23.1" id="f23.1" href="#f23">[23]</a></small></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>Under the thinking or mental organs are classed, first, the organs of +sense, where impressions take place; second, the cerebrum or organ of +thought, properly so called, where these excite ideas, emotions, and +passions; and third, the cerebel or organ<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> of volition, where acts of the +will result from the last.<small><a name="f24.1" id="f24.1" href="#f24">[24]</a></small></p> + +<p>We may now more particularly notice the functions of these organs, which +are the subject of physiology.</p> + +<p>In the locomotive functions, the bones at once give support, and form +levers for motion; the ligaments form articulations, and afford the points +of support; and the muscles are the moving powers. To the first, are owing +all the symmetry and elegance of human form; to the second, its beautiful +flexibility; and to the third, all the brilliance and grace of motion +which fancy can inspire, or skill can execute.</p> + +<p>In the nutritive functions, the food, having passed into the mouth, is, +after mastication, aided by mixture with the saliva, thrown back, by the +tongue and contiguous parts, into the cavity behind, called fauces and +pharynx; this contracting, presses it into the œsophagus or gullet; +this also contracting, propels it into the stomach, which, after its due +digestion aided by the gastric juice, similarly contracting, transmits +whatever portion of it, now called chyme, is sufficiently comminuted to +pass through its lower opening, the pylorus, into the intestines; these, +at the commencement of which it receives the bile and pancreatic juice, +similarly pressing it on all sides, urge forward its most solid part to +the anus; while its liquid portion partly escapes from the pressure into +the mouths of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>absorbents. The absorbents arising by minute openings +from all the internal surfaces, and continuing a similar contractile +motion, transmit it, now called chyle, by all their gradually-enlarging +branches, and through their general trunk, the thoracic duct, where it is +blended with the lymph brought from other parts, into the great veins +contiguous to the heart, where it is mixed with the venous or returning +and dark-colored blood, and whence it flows into the anterior side of that +organ. The anterior side of the heart, forcibly repeating this +contraction, propels it, commixed with the venous blood, into the lungs, +which perform the office of respiration, and in some measure of +sanguification; there, giving off carbonaceous matter, and assuming a +vermilion hue and new vivifying properties, it flows back as arterial +blood, into the posterior side of the heart. The posterior side of the +heart, still similarly contracting, discharges it into the arteries; +these, maintaining a like contraction, carry it over all the system; and a +great portion of it, impregnated with carbon, and of a dark color, returns +through the veins in order to undergo the same course. Much, however, of +its gelatinous and fibrous parts is retained in the cells of the +parenchyma, or cellular, vascular, and nervous substance forming the basis +of the whole fabric, and constitutes nutrition, properly so called; while +other portions of it become entangled in the peculiarly-formed labyrinths +of the glands, and form secretion and excretion—the products of the +former contributing to the exercise of other functions, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> those of the +latter being rejected. As digestion precedes the first, so generation +follows the last of these functions, and not only continues the same +species of action, but propagates it widely to new existences in the +manner just described.</p> + +<p>In the thinking functions, the organs of sense receive external +impressions, which excite in them sensations; the cerebrum, having these +transmitted to it, performs the more complicated functions of mental +operation, whence result ideas, emotions, and passions; and the cerebel, +being similarly influenced, performs the function of volition, or causes +the acts of the will.</p> + +<p>It is not unusual to consider the body as being divided into the head, the +trunk, and the extremities; but, in consequence of the hitherto universal +neglect of the natural arrangement of the organs and functions into +locomotive, nutritive, and thinking, the beauty and interest which may be +attached to this division, have equally escaped the notice of anatomists.</p> + +<p>It is a curious fact, and strongly confirmative of the preceding +arrangements, that one of these parts, the extremities, consists almost +entirely of locomotive organs, namely, of bones, ligaments, and muscles; +that another, the trunk, consists of all the greater nutritive organs, +namely, absorbents, bloodvessels, and glands; and that the third, the +head, contains all the thinking organs, namely, the organs of sense, +cerebrum, and cerebel.<small><a name="f25.1" id="f25.1" href="#f25">[25]</a></small></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>It is a fact not less curious, nor less confirmative of the preceding +arrangements, that, of these parts, those which consist chiefly of +locomotive or mechanical organs—organs which, as to mere structure, and +considered apart from the influence of the nervous system over them, are +common to us with the lowest class of beings, namely, minerals<small><a name="f26.1" id="f26.1" href="#f26">[26]</a></small>—are +placed in the lowest situation, namely, the extremities; that which +consists chiefly of nutritive or vital organs—organs common to us with a +higher class of beings, namely, vegetables<small><a name="f27.1" id="f27.1" href="#f27">[27]</a></small>—is placed in a higher +situation, namely, the trunk; and that which consists chiefly of thinking +or mental organs—organs peculiar to the highest class of beings, namely, +animals<small><a name="f28.1" id="f28.1" href="#f28">[28]</a></small>—is placed in the highest situation, namely, the head.</p> + +<p>It is not less remarkable, that this analogy is supported even in its +minutest details; for, to choose the nutritive organs contained in the +trunk as an illustration, it is a fact, that those of absorption and +secretion, which are most common to us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> with plants, a lower class of +beings, have a lower situation—in the cavity of the abdomen; while those +of circulation, which are very imperfect in plants,<small><a name="f29.1" id="f29.1" href="#f29">[29]</a></small> and more peculiar +to animals, a higher class of beings, hold a higher situation—in the +cavity of the thorax.</p> + +<p>It is, moreover, worthy of remark, and still illustrative of the preceding +arrangements, that, in each of these three situations, the bones differ +both in, position and in form. In the extremities, they are situated +internally to the soft parts, and are generally of cylindrical form; in +the trunk, they begin to assume a more external situation and a flatter +form, because they protect nutritive and more important parts, which they +do not, however, altogether cover; and, in the head, they obtain the most +external situation and the flattest form, especially in its highest part, +because they protect thinking and most important organs, which, in some +parts, they completely invest.</p> + +<p>The loss of such general views is the consequence of arbitrary +methods.<small><a name="f30.1" id="f30.1" href="#f30">[30]</a></small></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>We may now apply these anatomical and physiological views to the art of +distinguishing and judging of beauty in woman.</p> + +<p>It is evidently the locomotive or mechanical system which is highly +developed in the beauty whose figure is precise, striking, and brilliant.</p> + +<p>It is evidently the nutritive or vital system which is highly developed in +the beauty whose figure is soft and voluptuous.</p> + +<p>It is not less evidently the thinking or mental system which is highly +developed in the beauty whose figure is characterized by intellectuality +and grace.</p> + +<p>Thus can anatomical principles alone at once illustrate and establish the +accuracy of the three species of beauty which I have analytically +described.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>OF THE AGES OF WOMAN IN RELATION TO BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>The variations of the organization of woman do not distinctly mark the +seasons of life. Many connected phenomena glide on imperceptibly; and we +can distinguish the strong characters of different and distinct ages, only +at periods remote from each other. Although, therefore, woman is +perpetually changing, it requires some care to discriminate the principal +epochs of her life.</p> + +<p>The first age of woman extends from birth to the period of puberty.</p> + +<p>In beginning the career of life, woman is not yet truly woman; the +characters of her sex are not yet decided; she is an equivocal being, who +does not differ from the male of the same age even by the delicacy of the +organs; and we observe between them a perfect identity of wants, +functions, and movements. Their existence is, then, purely individual; we +perceive none of the relations which afterward establish between them a +mutual dependance; each lives only for self.</p> + +<p>This conformity and independence of the sexes are the more remarkable, the +earlier the age and the less advanced the development.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Confining our view to woman alone, it is not only in dimensions that, at +this age, her person differs from that in which the growth is terminated: +it presents another model. The various parts have not, in relation to each +other, the same proportions.</p> + +<p>The head is much more voluminous; and this is not a result of the extent +of the face, for that is small and contracted, because the apparatus of +smell and of mastication are not yet developed. Nor is the head only more +voluminous; it is also more active, and forms a centre toward which is +directed all the effort of life.</p> + +<p>The spine of the back has not either the minuter prominences or the +general inflexions which favor the action of the extensor muscles, a +circumstance which is opposed to standing perpendicularly during the first +months. The infant consequently can only crawl like a quadruped.</p> + +<p>Little distinction can then be drawn, and that with difficulty, from the +comparative width of the haunches, and magnitude of the pelvis. That part +is scarcely more developed in the female than in the male; its general +form is the same; and its different diameters have similar relations to +each other.</p> + +<p>The length of the trunk is great in proportion to the limbs, which are +slightly and imperfectly developed.</p> + +<p>Owing to the great length of the chest, and the imperfection of the +inferior members, the middle of the body then corresponds to the region of +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> umbilicus. An infant having other proportions, would appear to be +deprived of the characters of its age.</p> + +<p>In the locomotive system, the muscles have not yet acted with sufficient +power and frequency to modify the direction of the bones, and to bestow a +peculiar character upon their combination in the skeleton. The fleshy and +other soft parts do not yet appear to differ from those of the male, +either as to form or as to relative volume.</p> + +<p>The vital functions of digestion, of circulation and respiration, of +nutrition, secretion, and excretion, are performed in the same manner. The +want of nourishment is unceasingly renewed, and the movements of the +pulse, and of inspiration and expiration, are rapidly performed, owing to +the extreme irritability of all the organs.</p> + +<p>The mental functions present the same resemblance; the ideas, the +appetites, the passions, have the greatest analogy; and similar moral +dispositions prevail. Little girls, it has been observed, have in some +measure the petulance of little boys, and these have in some measure the +mobility and the inconstancy of little girls.</p> + +<p>Owing to the pelvis not being yet developed, little girls walk nearly like +children of the other sex.</p> + +<p>These points of resemblance do not continue during a long period: the +female begins to acquire a distinct physiognomy, and traits which are +peculiar to her, long before we can discern any of the symptoms of +puberty; and although the especial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> marks which distinguish her sex do not +yet show themselves, the general forms which characterize it may be +perceived. These differences, however, are only slight modifications, more +easily felt than determined.</p> + +<p>The cartilaginous extremities of the bones appear to enlarge; and the +mucous substance, which ultimately gives the soft reliefs which +distinguish woman, is not yet secreted. She is now perhaps more easily +distinguished by the nature of her inclinations and the general character +of her mind: while man now seeks to make use of his strength, woman +endeavors to acquire agreeable arts. The movements, the gait, of the +little girl begin to change.</p> + +<p>These shades are so much the more sensible as the development is more +advanced. Still, woman, in advancing toward puberty, appears to remove +less than man from her primitive constitution; she always preserves +something of the character proper to children; and the texture of her +organs never loses all its original softness.</p> + +<p>At the near approach to puberty, woman becomes daily more perfect.</p> + +<p>We observe a predominance of the action of the lungs and the arteries; the +pelvis enlarges; the haunches are rounded; and the figure acquires +elegance.</p> + +<p>There is in particular a remarkable increase of the capacity of the +pelvis, of which the circumference at last presents the circular form; it +being no longer, as in the little girl and in man, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>anteroposterior +diameter which is the greatest, but the transverse one. It has been +observed that the same occurs in the females of the greater quadrupeds. +The pelvis, however, does not acquire, till the moment of perfect puberty, +its proper form and dimensions.</p> + +<p>The changes which the same cause produces at the surface, are a general +development of the cellular tissue, the delicacy of all the outlines, the +fineness and the animation of the skin, and the new state of the bosom.</p> + +<p>The fire of the eyes, and the altogether new expression of the +physiognomy, show that there now also exists the sensation of a new want, +which various circumstances may for a time enfeeble or silence, but can +never entirely stifle; and with it come those tastes, that direction of +the mind, and those habits, which are the effect of an internal power now +called into activity.</p> + +<p>The gait and bearing of woman are now no longer the same; and the voice +changes as well as the physiognomy.</p> + +<p>In all that has yet occurred, it will be observed that nutrition and +growth take place with great rapidity in woman. Her internal structure, +her external form, her faculties, are all developed promptly. It would +appear that the parts which compose her body, being less, less compact, +and less strong, than those of man, require less time to attain their +complete development.</p> + +<p>Woman consequently arrives earlier at the age of puberty, and her body is +commonly, at twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> years of age, as completely formed as that of a man +at thirty. Thus beauty and grace, as has been observed, seem to demand of +nature less labor and time than the attributes of force and grandeur.</p> + +<p>In many women, however, nutrition languishes even until the sexual organs +enter into action, and determine a revolution under the influence of which +growth is accomplished.</p> + +<p>Still it is certain that, for several years, the locomotive system +predominates in young women, even in figures promising the ultimate +development of the vital system in the highest degree.</p> + +<p>The second age of woman extends from puberty to the cessation of the +menses, or, we may say, from the period of full growth, the general time +of bearing children, to the time of ceasing to bear—generally perhaps +from twenty to forty.</p> + +<p>It is at the beginning of this period that woman has acquired all her +attributes, her most seducing graces. She is not now distinguished merely +by the organs which are the direct instruments of reproduction: many other +differences of structure, having a relation to her part in life, present +themselves to our view.</p> + +<p>At this maturer age, the whole figure is, in the female, smaller and +slenderer than in the male. The ancients accordingly gave seven heads and +a half to the Venus, and eight heads and some modules to the Apollo.</p> + +<p>The relations between the dimensions of the different parts differ also in +the two sexes.</p> + +<p>In woman, the head, shoulders, and chest, are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> small and compact, while +the haunches, the hips, the thighs, and the parts connected with the +abdomen, are ample and large. Hence, her body tapers upward, as her limbs +taper downward. And this is the most remarkable circumstance in her +general form.</p> + +<p>Owing to smaller stature, and to greater size of the abdominal region, the +middle point, which is at the pubis in the male, is situated higher in the +female. This is the next remarkable circumstance in a general view.</p> + +<p>The inferior members still continue shorter.</p> + +<p>In general, woman is not only less in stature, and different in her +general proportions, but her haunches are more apart, her hips more +elevated, her abdomen larger, her members more rounded, her soft parts +less compact, her forms more softened, her traits finer.</p> + +<p>During youth, especially, and among civilized nations, woman is farther +distinguished by the softness, the smoothness, the delicacy, and the +polish, of all the forms, by the gradual and easy transitions between all +the parts, by the number and the harmony of the undulating lines which +these present in every view, by the beautiful outline of the reliefs, and +by the fineness and the animation of the skin.</p> + +<p>The soft parts which enter into the composition of woman, and the cellular +tissue which serves to unite them, are also more delicate and more supple +than those of man.</p> + +<p>All these circumstances indicate very clearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> the passive state to which +nature has destined woman, and which will be fully illustrated in a future +volume.</p> + +<p>If, in a living body, any part liable to be distended had too much +firmness, or even elasticity, it might press against some essential organ; +and the liquids being impeded in their course, would in that case be +speedily altered, if the neighboring parts offered not flexible vessels +for their reception.</p> + +<p>Now, in the body of woman, certain parts are exposed to suffer great +distentions and compressions. It is therefore necessary that her organs +should be of such structure as to yield readily to these impressions, and +to supply each other when their respective functions are impeded.</p> + +<p>From this it follows, that woman never enjoys existence better, than when +a moderate plumpness bestows on her organs, without too much weakening +them, all the suppleness of which they are capable.</p> + +<p>This leads to the consideration of the natural mobility of the organs of +woman.</p> + +<p>Their mobility is a necessary consequence, in the first place, of their +littleness. The movements of all animals, appear to be executed with more +rapidity, the less their bulk. It has been observed, that the arteries of +the ox beat only thirty-five times, while those of the sheep beat sixty, +and that the pulse of women is smaller and more rapid than that of men.</p> + +<p>A second physical quality, which concurs to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> render more mobile the +various parts of woman, is their softness.</p> + +<p>A certain feebleness is the necessary consequence of these two +circumstances. But it is thence that spring woman’s suppleness and +lightness of movement, and her capacity for grace of attitude.</p> + +<p>It has been conjectured, that even the elements of the parts which +constitute woman, have a particular organization, on which depends the +elegance of the forms, the vivacity of the sensations, and the lightness +of the movements, which characterize her.</p> + +<p>The result of these circumstances is that, while man possesses force and +majesty, woman is distinguished by beauty and grace. The characteristics +of woman are less imposing and more amiable; they inspire less admiration +than love. As has been observed, a single trait of rudeness, a severe air, +or even the character of majesty, would injure the effect of womanly +beauty. Lucian admirably represents to us the god of love frightened at +the masculine air of Minerva.</p> + +<p>While man, by force and activity, surmounts the obstacles which embarrass +him, woman, by yielding, withdraws from their action, and adds to beauty, +a gentle and winning grace which places all the vaunted power of man at +her disposal.</p> + +<p>It is evidently the influence of the organs distinguishing the two sexes, +which is the primary cause of their peculiar beauty.</p> + +<p>As the liquid which, in man, is secreted in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>certain vessels for the +purpose of reproduction, communicates a general excitement and activity to +the character, so when, in woman, the periodical excretion appears, the +breasts expand, the eyes sparkle, the countenance becomes more expressive, +but at the same time more timid and reserved, and a character of +flexibility and grace distinguishes every motion.</p> + +<p>Conformably with this view, the appearance and the manners of eunuchs +approach to those of women, by the softness and feebleness of their +organization, as well as by their timidity, and by their acute voice.</p> + +<p>The very opposite is naturally the result of the extirpation of the +ovaries in women. Pott, giving an account of the case of a female, in whom +both the ovaries were extirpated, says, the person “has become thinner, +and more apparently muscular; her breasts, which were large, are gone; nor +has she ever menstruated since the operation, which is now some years.” +Haighton found that, by dividing the Fallopian tubes, which connect the +ovaries with the womb, sexual feelings were destroyed, and the ovaries +gradually wasted.</p> + +<p>The women, also, in whom the uterus and the ovaries remain inert during +life, approximate in forms and habits to men. It is stated, in the +Philosophical Transactions for 1805, that an adult female, in whom the +ovaries were defective, presented a corresponding defect in the state of +the constitution.</p> + +<p>To the same general principle, it has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>observed, we must refer the +partial growth of a beard on females in the decline of life, and the +circumstance that female-birds, when they have ceased to lay eggs, +occasionally assume the plumage, and, to a certain extent, the other +characters of the male.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of this cause, the first exercise of her new faculty +determines remarkable modifications in woman. Her neck swells and augments +in size—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Non illam nutrix orienti luce revisens<br /> +Hesterno collum poterit circumdare filo;<small><a name="f31.1" id="f31.1" href="#f31">[31]</a></small></p> + +<p>her voice assumes another expression; her moral habits totally change: and +many women owe to love and marriage more splendid beauty.</p> + +<p>The women thus happily constituted are not those of hot climates, but +those of cooler regions and calmer temperament, whose placid features and +more elastic forms announce a gentler and more passive love.</p> + +<p>Impassioned women, on the contrary, do not so long preserve their +freshness: the expansive force,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> from which the organs derived their form +and coloring, abates; and a less agreeable flaccidity succeeds to the +elasticity with which they were endowed, if the plumpness which adult age +commonly brings does not sustain them.</p> + +<p>During pregnancy and suckling, the firstmentioned class of women retain a +remarkable freshness and plumpness.</p> + +<p>The lastmentioned class of women most frequently become meager, and lose +their freshness during the continuance of these states.</p> + +<p>If, however, during these states, suitable precautions and preservative +cares be not employed, it is the first class who most suffer from traces +of maternity.</p> + +<p>Conception, pregnancy, delivery, and suckling, being renewed more or less +frequently during the second age, hasten debility in feeble and +ill-constituted women; especially if misery or an improper mode of life +increase the influence of these causes.</p> + +<p>In the third age of woman, extending generally from forty to sixty, the +physical form does not suddenly deteriorate; and, as has often been +observed, “when premature infirmities or misfortunes, the exercise of an +unfavorable profession, or a wrong employment of life, have not hastened +old age, women during the third age preserve many of the charms of the +preceding one.”</p> + +<p>At this period, in well-constituted women, the fat, being absorbed with +less activity, is accumulated in the cellular tissue under the skin and +elsewhere; and this effaces any wrinkles which might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> have begun to furrow +the skin, rounds the outlines anew, and again restores an air of youth and +freshness. Hence, this period is called “the age of return.”</p> + +<p>This plumpness, though juvenile lightness and freshness be wanting, +sustains the forms, and sometimes confers a majestic air, which, in women +otherwise favorably organized, still interests for a number of years.</p> + +<p>The shape certainly is no longer so elegant; the articulations have less +elasticity; the muscles are more feeble; the movements are less light; and +in plump women we observe those broken motions, and in meager ones that +stiffness, which mark the walk or the dance at that age.</p> + +<p>At this period occurs a remarkable alteration in the organs of voice. +Women, therefore, to whom singing is a profession, ought to limit its +exercise.</p> + +<p>When women pass happily from the third to the fourth age, their +constitution, as every one must have observed, changes entirely; it +becomes stronger: and nature abandons to individual life all the rest of +existence.</p> + +<p>Beauty, however, is no more; form and shape have disappeared; the +plumpness which supported the reliefs has abandoned them; the sinkings and +wrinkles are multiplied; the skin has lost its polish; color and freshness +have fled for ever.</p> + +<p>These injuries of time, it has been observed, commonly begin by the +abdomen, which loses its polish and its firmness; the hemispheres of the +bosom no longer sustain themselves; the clavicles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> project; the neck +becomes meager; all the reliefs are effaced; all the forms are altered +from roundness and softness to angularity and hardness.</p> + +<p>That which, amid these ruins, still survives for a long time, is the +entireness of the hair, the placidity or the fineness of the look, the air +of sentiment, the amiable expression of the countenance, and, in women of +elegant mind and great accomplishments, caressing manners and charming +graces, which almost make us forget youth and beauty.</p> + +<p>Finally, and especially in muscular or nervous women, the temperament +changes, and the constitution of woman approaches to that of man; the +organs become rigid; and, in some unhappy cases, a beard protrudes.</p> + +<p>Old age and decrepitude finally succeed.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>OF THE CAUSES OF BEAUTY IN WOMAN.</h3> + +<p>The crossing of races is often spoken of as a means of perfecting the form +of man, and of developing beauty; and we are told that it is in this +manner that the Persians have become a beautiful people, and that many +tribes of Tartar origin have been improved, especially the Turks, who now +present to us scarcely anything of the Mongol.</p> + +<p>In these general and vague statements, however, the mere crossing of +different races is always deemed sufficient; whereas, every improvement +depends on the circumstance that the organization of the races subjected +to this operation is duly suited to each other. It is in that way only, +that we can explain the following facts stated by Moreau:—</p> + +<p>In one of the great towns of the north of France, the women, half a +century ago, were rather ugly than pretty; but a detachment of the guards +being quartered there, and remaining during several years, the population +changed in appearance, and, favored by this circumstance, the town is now +indebted to strangers for the beauty of the most interesting portion of +its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The monks of Citeaux exercised an influence no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> less remarkable upon the +beauty of the inhabitants of the country around their monastery; and it +may be stated, as the result of actual observation, that the young +female-peasants of their neighborhood were much more beautiful than those +of other cantons. And, adds this writer, “there can be no doubt that the +same effect occurred in the different places whither religious houses +attracted foreign inmates, whom love and pleasure speedily united with the +indigenous inhabitants!”</p> + +<p>The other circumstances which contribute to female beauty, are, a mild +climate, a fertile soil, a generous but temperate diet, a regular mode of +life, favorable education, the guidance and suppression of passions, easy +manners, good moral, social, and political institutions, and occupations +which do not injure the beautiful proportions of the body.</p> + +<p>Beauty, accordingly, is more especially to be found in certain countries. +Thus, as has often been observed, the sanguine temperament is that of the +nations of the north; the phlegmatic is that of cold and moist countries; +and the bilious is that of the greater part of the inhabitants of southern +regions. Each of these has its degree and modification of beauty.</p> + +<p>The native country of beauty is not to be found either in regions where +cold freezes up the living juices, or in those where the animal structure +is withered by heat. A climate removed from the excessive influence of +both these causes constitutes an essential condition in the production of +beauty;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> and this, with its effect, we find between the 35th and 65th +degree of northern latitude, in Persia, the countries bordering upon +Caucasus, and principally Tchercassia, Georgia and Mongrelia, Turkey in +Europe and Asia, Greece, Italy, some part of Spain, a very small part of +France, England, Holland, some parts of Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, +and a part of Norway and even of Russia.</p> + +<p>Even under the same degree of latitude, it is observed that the position +of the place, its elevation, its vicinity to the sea, the direction of the +winds, the nature of the soil, and all the peculiarities of locality which +constitute the climate proper to each place, occasion great differences in +beauty.</p> + +<p>In relation to the causes of beauty, some observations which seem to be +important, arise out of the remarks of de Pauw on the Greeks.</p> + +<p>De Pauw endeavored to show, that, though the men of ancient Greece were +handsome, the women of that country were never beautiful. He thence +accounted for the excessive admiration which there prevailed of courtesans +from Ionia, &c.</p> + +<p>This, however, was so contrary to the notions formed of the beauty of that +people from what was known of their taste, that it was considered as a +paradox. Travellers, accordingly, sought for such beauty in the women of +modern Greece. They were disappointed in not finding it.</p> + +<p>What rendered this the more remarkable was, that in various places they +found the ancient and beautiful cast of countenance among the men, and not +among the women of that country—thus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> corroborating in all respects the +doctrine of de Pauw.</p> + +<p>On considering that doctrine, however, and comparing it with more extended +observations, it would seem to be only a particular application of a more +general law unknown to de Pauw—that, in most countries, one of the sexes +excels the other in beauty.</p> + +<p>Thus, in some parts of the highlands of Scotland, we find the men as +remarkable for beauty as the women for ugliness; while, in some eastern +counties of England, we find precisely the reverse. The strong features, +the dark curled hair and the muscular form, of the highlander, are as +unsuitable to the female sex, as the soft features, the flaxen hair, and +the short and tapering limbs, of the woman of the eastern coast, are +unsuitable to the male.</p> + +<p>If the soil, climate, and productions, of these countries be considered, +we discover the causes of the differences alluded to. The hardships of +mountain life are favorable to the stronger development of the locomotive +system, which ought more or less to characterize the male; and the +luxuriance of the plains is favorable to those developments of the +nutritive system, which ought to characterize the female.</p> + +<p>This is illustrated even in inferior animals. Oxen become large-bodied and +fat in low and rich soils, but are remarkable for shortness of legs; +while, in higher and drier situations, the bulk of the body is less, and +the limbs are stronger and more muscular.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>The quantity and quality of the aliments are another cause, not less +powerful in regard to beauty. Abundance, or rather a proper mediocrity, as +to nutritious food, contributes to perfection in this respect.</p> + +<p>Beauty is also, in some measure, a result of civilization. Women, +accordingly, of consummate beauty, are found only in civilized nations.</p> + +<p>Professions can rarely be said to favor beauty; but they do not impede its +development when their exercise does not compel to laborious employments +an organization suited only to sedentary occupations.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>OF THE STANDARD OF BEAUTY IN WOMAN.</h3> + +<p>The ideas of the beautiful vary in different individuals, and in different +nations. Hence, many men of talent have thought them altogether relative +and arbitrary.</p> + +<p>“Ask,” says Voltaire, “a Negro of Guinea [what is beauty]: the beautiful +is for him a black oily skin, deep-seated eyes, and a broad flat nose.”</p> + +<p>“Perfect beauty,” says Payne Knight, “taking perfect in its most strict, +and beauty in its most comprehensive signification, ought to be equally +pleasing to all; but of this, instances are scarcely to be found: for, as +to taking them, or, indeed, any examples for illustration, from the other +sex of our own species, it is extremely fallacious; as there can be little +doubt that all male animals think the females of their own species the +most beautiful productions of nature. At least we know this to be the case +among the different varieties of men, whose respective ideas of the beauty +of their females are as widely different as those of man, and any other +animal, can be. The sable Africans view with pity and contempt the marked +deformity of the Europeans; whose mouths are compressed, their noses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +pinched, their cheeks shrunk, their hair rendered lank and flimsy, their +bodies lengthened and emaciated, and their skins unnaturally bleached by +shade and seclusion, and the baneful influence of a cold humid climate.... +Who shall decide which party is right, or which is wrong; or whether the +black or white model be, according to the laws of nature, the most perfect +specimen of a perfect woman?... The sexual desires of brutes are probably +more strictly natural inclinations, and less changed or modified by the +influence of acquired ideas, or social habits, than those of any race of +mankind; but their desires seem, in general, to be excited by smell, +rather than by sight or contact. If, however, a boar can think a sow the +sweetest and most lovely of living creatures, we can have no difficulty in +believing that he also thinks her the most beautiful.”</p> + +<p>“Among the various reasons,” says Reynolds, “why we prefer one part of +nature’s works to another, the most general, I believe, is habit and +custom; custom makes, in a certain sense, white black, and black white; it +is custom alone determines our preference of the color of the Europeans to +the Ethiopians, and they, for the same reason, prefer their own color to +ours. I suppose nobody will doubt, if one of their painters were to paint +the goddess of beauty, but that he would represent her black, with thick +lips, flat nose, and woolly hair; and it seems to me, he would act very +unnaturally if he did not; for by what criterion will any one dispute the +propriety of his idea? We indeed say,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> that the form and color of the +European are preferable to those of the Ethiopian; but I know of no other +reason we have for it, but that we are more accustomed to it.”</p> + +<p>The coquetry of several tribes, it has been observed, leads them to +mutilate and disfigure themselves, to flatten their forehead, to enlarge +their mouth and ears, to blacken their skin, and cover it with the marks +of suffering.—We make ugliness in that way, says Montaigne.</p> + +<p>But, to confine our observations to individual nations, and these +civilized ones; we every day see irregular or even common figures +preferred to those which the enlightened judge deems beautiful.</p> + +<p>How, then, it is asked, amid these different tastes, these opposite +opinions, are we to admit ideas of absolute beauty?</p> + +<p>These are the strongest objections against all ideas of absolute and +essential beauty in woman.</p> + +<p>To establish, in opposition to these objections, a standard of womanly +beauty, equal talent has been employed; but the reasoning, though +sufficient for such objections, has been rather of a vague description. +As, however, the subject is of great importance, I shall endeavor to +abridge and concentrate the arguments of which it consists, before I point +out the surer method which is founded on the Elements of Beauty already +established.</p> + +<p>To refute these objections, it has been thought sufficient to examine the +chief conditions which are necessary, in order to appreciate properly the +impression of those combinations, which woman <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>presents, and to expose the +principal circumstances which are opposed to the accuracy of opinions, and +judgments respecting them.</p> + +<p>The conditions necessary to enable us to pronounce respecting the real +attributes of beauty, are, first, a temperate climate, under which nature +brings to perfection all her productions, and gives to their forms and +functions, generally, and to those of man in particular, all the +development of which they are capable, without excess in the action of +some, and defect in that of others;—secondly, in man in particular, a +brain capable of vigorous thought, sound judgment, and exquisite +taste;—and thirdly, a very advanced civilization, without which these +faculties cannot be duly exercised or attain any perfection.</p> + +<p>It is evident enough that none of these conditions are to be met with in +the whimsical judgments and tastes of many nations.</p> + +<p>The consequence of the absence of these conditions, in relation to the +uncivilized and ignorant inhabitants of hot climates, is marked in their +deeming characteristics of beauty, the thick lips of Negresses, the long +and pendent mammæ of the women in several nations both of Africa and +America, or the gross forms of those of Egypt.</p> + +<p>The consequence of the absence of these conditions, in relation to the +uncivilized and ignorant inhabitants of cold climates, is equally marked +in their deeming characteristics of beauty the short figures of the women +of icy regions, in which, deprived of the vivifying action of heat and +light, living beings appear only in a state of deformity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> and alteration; +and in their similarly deeming beautiful the obliquely-placed eyes of the +Chinese and Japanese, and the crushed nose of the Calmucs, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>Those who take these views, which are true, though somewhat vague and +inconclusive, should, I think, have seen and added, that the deviations +from beauty in the forms of the women of hot climates are commonly in +<i>excess</i>, owing to the great development of organs of sense or of sex; +while the deviations from beauty, in the forms of the women of cold +climates, are commonly in <i>defect</i>, owing to the imperfect development of +organs of sense, and of the general figure.</p> + +<p>This view renders it more clear that both these kinds of deviation are +deformities, incompatible with the consistent and harmonious development +of the whole. And without this view, the preceding arguments are indeed +too vague to be easily tenable.</p> + +<p>In relation more especially to the second of the preceding conditions, the +possession of a brain capable of vigorous thought, sound judgment, and +exquisite taste, Hume observes that the same excellence of faculties which +contributes to the improvement of reason, the same clearness of +conception, the same exactness of distinction, the same vivacity of +apprehension, are essential to the operations of true taste.</p> + +<p>Here, again, those who take these true, but vague and inconclusive views, +should, I think, have seen and added that this excellence of the thinking +faculties is incompatible with the obviously constricted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> brain, which is +a defect common both to the Negro and the Mongol—a <i>defect</i> which is +incompatible with beauty either of form or function, and which I have +shown, in my work on physiognomy, to be intimately connected with climate. +This renders the argument sufficiently strong.</p> + +<p>Those who employ these arguments as to a standard of beauty in woman, +proceed to show the modes in which defects of this kind unfit persons to +judge of beauty; and though their farther arguments are similarly vague, +they nevertheless tend to support the truth.</p> + +<p>If, say they, among the forms and the features which we compare, some are +associated by us with certain qualities or sentiments which please us, +they equally lead us to a predilection or prejudice, in consequence of +which the most common or the least beautiful figure is preferred to the +most perfect. In this case, the imagination has perverted the judgment.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann truly observes, that young people are most exposed to such +errors: placed under the influence of sentiment and of illusion, they +often regard, as very beautiful, women who have nothing capable of +charming, but an animated physiognomy, in which breathe desire, +voluptuousness, and languor. The results of this as to life may easily be +foreseen.</p> + +<p>Of the excess to which such prejudice may go, a good instance is adduced +in Descartes, who preferred women who squinted to the most perfect +beauties, because squinting was one of the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> remarkable features of +the woman who was the first object of his affections.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann observes that even artists themselves have not always an +exquisite sentiment of beauty: their first impressions have often an +influence which they cannot overcome, nor even weaken, especially when, at +a distance from the admirable productions of the ancients, they cannot +rectify their first judgments.</p> + +<p>Circumstances of profession, it is truly observed, may also lead to +associations of ideas capable of deceiving us in our opinions respecting +beauty. Men are apt to refer everything to their exclusive knowledge and +the mode of judging which it employs. The “what does that prove” of the +mathematician, when judging the finest products of imagination, has passed +into a proverb. And every one knows of that other cultivator of the same +science, who declared that he never could discover anything sublime in +Milton’s Paradise Lost, but that he could never read the queries at the +end of one of the books in Newton’s Optics, without his hair standing on +end and his blood running cold.</p> + +<p>The necessity of the third condition, namely, advanced civilization, to a +right judgment respecting a standard of beauty in woman, is evident, when +we consider that it requires a taste formed by the habit of bringing +things together and of comparing them.</p> + +<p>One accustomed to see, says Hume, “and examine, and weigh the several +performances, admired in different ages and nations, can alone rate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> the +merits of a work exhibited to his view, and assign its proper rank among +the productions of genius.”</p> + +<p>From all this, it is certainly evident—not merely that that which pleases +us is not always beautiful; that numerous causes may form so many sources +of diversity and of error on this subject; and that we cannot thence +conclude that the ideas of beauty are relative and arbitrary—but that +certain conditions are indispensable to form the judgment respecting +beauty; and that the principal of these conditions are, a temperate +climate and fertile soil, a well-developed brain, sound judgment, and +delicate taste, and a highly-advanced civilization.</p> + +<p>This is perfectly conformable with the practical fact that it was under a +most delightful climate, among a people of unrivalled judgment, genius, +and taste, and amid a civilization which the world has never since +witnessed, that the laws of Nature as to beauty were discovered, and +applied to the production of those immortal forms which the unfavorable +accidents occurring to the existence of all beings, have never permitted +Nature herself to combine in any one individual.</p> + +<p>Though I have endeavored to amend these arguments respecting a standard of +beauty in woman, I prefer those which may be founded on the doctrine I +have laid down respecting the Elements of Beauty. It will be found that +the greatest number of these elements are combined in the woman whom we +commonly deem the most beautiful.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>To illustrate this, it will be sufficient to examine their most striking +and distinctive characteristic, namely, their fair complexion, which is +intimately connected with all their other characteristics, and which gives +increased splendor and effect to their form and features.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable that even Alison, though the advocate of all beauty being +dependant on association, grants that the pure white of the countenance is +expressive to us, according to its different degrees, of purity, fineness, +gayety; that the dark complexion, on the other hand, is expressive to us +of melancholy, gloom, or sadness; and that so far is this from being a +fanciful relation, that it is generally admitted by those who have the +best opportunities of ascertaining it, the professors of medical science. +He also observes that black eyes are commonly united with the dark, and +blue eyes with the fair complexion; and that, in the color of the eyes, +blue, according to its different degrees, is expressive of softness, +gentleness, cheerfulness, or severity; and black, of thought, or gravity, +or of sadness.</p> + +<p>Even this, however, is less conclusive than the pathological or +physiological facts stated by Cheselden, as to the boy restored by him to +sight, namely, that the first view of a black object gave him great pain, +and that that of a negro-woman struck him with horror.</p> + +<p>Independently of this, white, as every one is aware, is the color which +reflects the greatest number of luminous rays; and, for that reason, it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>bestows the brilliance and splendor upon beautiful forms with which all +are charmed.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann, indeed, observes that the head of Scipio the elder, in the +Palazzo Rospigliosi, executed in basalt of a deep green, is very +beautiful. But, in that case, it is the form, not the color, of the head, +that is beautiful. While greenness of complexion would not be beautiful in +a man, it would certainly be hideously ugly in a woman.</p> + +<p>Moreover, while, in a dead black or any dark color of face, it cannot be +pretended that, considering its color only, we should have more than +blackness or darkness for admiration, it is evident that, in a fair +complexion, we have, in addition to its general brilliance or splendor, +the infinite variety of its teints, their exquisite blendings, and the +beautiful expression of every transient emotion.</p> + +<p>I have now only to expose the sophistry which Payne Knight has employed +upon this subject.</p> + +<p>“I am aware,” he says, “indeed, that it would be no easy task to persuade +a lover that the forms upon which he dotes with such rapture, are not +really beautiful, independent of the medium of affection, passion, and +appetite, through which he views them. But before he pronounces either the +infidel or the skeptic guilty of blasphemy against nature, let him take a +mould from the lovely features or lovely bosom of this masterpiece of +creation, and cast a plum-pudding in it (an object by no means disgusting +to most men’s appetite), and I think he will no longer be in raptures with +the form, whatever he may be with the substance.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Now, it happens that a grosser incongruity can scarcely be supposed than +that which exists between lovely features or a lovely bosom and a +plum-pudding, or between the sentiment of love and the propensity to +gluttony; and therefore to place the substance of the pudding, in which +internal composition is alone of importance, and shape of none, under the +form of features or a bosom, in which internal structure is unknown or +unthought of, and shape or other external properties are alone considered, +is a gross and offensive substitution, intended, not to enlighten judgment +respecting form, but to pervert it, and to degrade the higher object by +comparison with the lower one. The shape, moreover, is a true sign in the +one case, and a false one in the other.—Of nearly similar character is +the following:—</p> + +<p>“If a man, perfectly possessed both of feeling and sight—conversant with, +and sensible to the charms of women—were even to be in contact with what +he conceived to be the most beautiful and lovely of the sex, and at the +moment when he was going to embrace her, he was to discover that the parts +which he touched only were feminine or human; and that, in the rest of her +form, she was an animal of a different species, or a person of his own +sex, the total and instantaneous change of his sentiments from one extreme +to another, would abundantly convince him that his sexual desires depended +as little upon that abstract sense of touch, as upon that of sight.”</p> + +<p>That, in detecting an imposture of this kind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> admiration would give place +to disgust, only proves that the external qualities which were admired +were the natural and appropriate signs of the internal qualities expected +to be found under them, and that they now cease to interest only because +they have become, not naturally less the signs of these qualities, but +because they have by a mere trick been rendered insignificant, because +truth and nature have been violated, and because the mind feels only +disgust at the imposture. I cannot help saying that if Knight was in +earnest when he framed such arguments, his mind was sometimes dull as well +as perverse.</p> + +<p>“The redness of any morbid inflammation,” he says, “may display a +gradation of teint, which, in a pink or a rose, we should think as +beautiful as ‘the purple light of love and bloom of young desire;’ and the +cadaverous paleness of death or disease, a degree of whiteness, which, in +a piece of marble or alabaster, we should deem to be as pure, as that of +the most delicate skin of the fairest damsel of the frigid zone: +consequently, the mere visible beauty is in both the same; and the +difference consists entirely in mental sympathies, excited by certain +internal stimuli, and guided by habit.”</p> + +<p>There is here the same confusion of heterogeneous and inconsistent +objects, as in the preceding cases. To judge of beauty in simple objects, +each quality may be separately considered; and in this view, if the +inflammation presented the same teint as the pink or the rose, then, as a +mere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> teint, abstracted from every other quality of the respective +objects, it would be precisely as beautiful in the one as in the other; +but as the color of a rose on the human body would indicate that flow of +blood to the skin which can result only from excessive action, it ceases +to be considered intrinsically, and is regarded only as a sign of disease. +The same observations are applicable to the other case here adduced.</p> + +<p>“The African black,” he says, “when he first beholds an European +complexion, thinks both its red and white morbid and unnatural, and of +course disgusting. His sunburnt beauties express their modesty and +sensibility by variations in the sable teints of their countenances, which +are equally attractive to him, as the most delicate blush of red to us.”</p> + +<p>In treating of the Elements of Beauty, I have endeavored to show, that the +more those simpler elements of beauty, which characterize inanimate +bodies, are retained in more compound ones, the more beautiful these +become; but that the latter retain these elements in very different +degrees, dependant upon internal or external circumstances, and that such +elementary beauty is often sacrificed to the higher ones of life or mind. +Now, in the case of the African, he is born whitish, like the European, +but he speedily loses such beauty for that of adaptation, by his color, to +the hot climate in which he exists. The latter beauty is the higher and +more important one, and forms for the African a profitable exchange; but +the European is still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> more fortunate, because, in the region he inhabits, +the simple and elementary beauty is compatible with that of adaptation to +climate. The climate of Africa, the cerebral structure of its inhabitants, +and the degree of their civilization, are as unfavorable to the existence +of beauty as to the power of judging respecting it. What he adds as to +variation in sable countenances is a mere exaggeration.</p> + +<p>“Were it possible for a person to judge of the beauty of color in his own +species, upon the same principles and with the same impartiality as he +judges of it in other objects, both animal, vegetable, and mineral, there +can be no doubt that mixed teints would be preferred; and a pimpled face +have the same superiority over a smooth one, as a zebra has over an ass, a +variegated tulip over a plain one, or a column of jasper or porphyry over +one of a common red or white marble.”</p> + +<p>Here the same mistake is committed. Elementary beauty is preferred to that +of adaptation to climate, fitness for physiognomical expression, &c. +Knight’s other arguments all involve similar errors, and admit of similar +answers.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>THE THREE SPECIES OF FEMALE BEAUTY GENERALLY VIEWED.</h3> + +<p>These have been already briefly mentioned. They are repeated and +illustrated here.</p> + +<p>The view which is given of them will throw light on the celebrated +temperaments of the ancients. It will appear that all the disputes which +have occurred respecting these, have arisen from their being founded, not +on precise data, but on empirical observation, at a time when the great +truths of anatomy and physiology were unknown; that, to the rectification +of the doctrine of temperaments, the arrangement of these sciences, laid +down in a preceding chapter, is indispensable; that some of these +temperaments are comparatively simple, and consist in an excessive or a +defective action of locomotive, nutritive, or thinking organs; that +others, which have been confounded with these, are, on the contrary, +compound; and that, from this want of classification, their nature has +been imperfectly understood.</p> + +<p>To make this clear, it is necessary to lay before the reader a succinct +view of the doctrine of temperaments.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>The ancients classed individuals in one or other of four temperaments, +founded on the hypothesis of four humors, of which the blood was supposed +to be composed—the red part, phlegm, yellow and black bile. These were +regarded as the elements of the body, and their respective predominance +passed for the cause of the differences which it presented. Hence were +derived the names of the sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric, and the +melancholic temperament.</p> + +<p>Although the hypothesis on which this doctrine was founded is universally +discarded, the phenomena which observation had taught the ancients, and +which they had hypothetically connected with these elements, were so true, +that that classification has been more or less employed in all the +hypotheses which have since been invented to explain their cause; and +their nomenclature has continued in use to the present day.</p> + +<p>A temperament may be defined a peculiar state of the system, depending on +the relative proportion of its different masses, and the relative energy +of its different functions, by which it acquires a tendency to certain +actions.</p> + +<p>The predominance of any particular organ or system of organs, its excess +of force, extends its sphere of activity to all the other functions, and +modifies them in a peculiar manner. Thus, conforming in the illustration +to the preceding arrangement, in one person, the muscles are more +frequently employed than the brain; in another, the stomach or the organs +of reproduction are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> more employed than the muscles; and in a third, the +brain and nerves are more employed than either. This predominance or +excess establishes the temperament.</p> + +<p>The relative feebleness of any organ or system of organs, similarly forms +modifications not less important. Thus in one person, the organs of the +abdomen are less employed; in another, those of the chest; in a third, the +brain.</p> + +<p>Disease, it is observed, “commonly enters into the organization by these +feeble points: death even attacks them first; extends afterward from one +to another; and makes progress more or less rapid, according to the +importance of the organ primitively affected.”</p> + +<p>Temperaments, however, vary infinitely. It may be said that every +individual has a peculiar one, to which he owes his mode of existence and +his degree of health, ability, and happiness.</p> + +<p>The temperament, moreover, of each individual is not always characterized +by well-marked symptoms; and even where it has been strongly marked by +nature, education, age, the influence of climate, the exercise of +professions and trades, and various habits, produce in it infinite +changes.</p> + +<p>Temperaments also combine together, so that all men are, in some degree, +at once sanguine and bilious, or otherwise compound. Thus all intermediate +shades of temperament are produced; and it is often difficult, or, under +particular circumstances, impossible, to determine under which temperament +individuals may be classed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>The simple temperaments are therefore abstractions, which it is difficult +to realize; and the influence of any temperament is sometimes +undiscoverable except in some extraordinary circumstances of disorder or +disease, during which it may be observed.</p> + +<p>Cullen admits the four temperaments of Hippocrates, and remarks concerning +them, that it is probable they were first founded upon observation, and +afterward adapted to the theory of the ancients, since we find they “have +a real existence.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Prichard remarks, that “this division of temperaments is by no means a +fanciful distinction.”</p> + +<p>To the four temperaments of Hippocrates, Gregory adds a fifth, the nervous +temperament.</p> + +<p>Thus are formed five temperaments generally admitted, namely, 1st, the +phlegmatic or relaxed; 2d, the sanguine arterial; 3d, the sanguine venous +or bilious; 4th, the nervous; and, 5th, the muscular or athletic.</p> + +<p>Some writers join to these the partial temperaments which determine the +ascendency of the functions exercised by particular organs; whence +principally come the temperaments which they call the cerebral, +epigastric, abdominal, hepatic, genital, &c.</p> + +<p>As already said, it will in the sequel appear that some of these +temperaments are comparatively simple, that others are compound, and that +from this want of classification, their nature has been imperfectly +understood.<small><a name="f32.1" id="f32.1" href="#f32">[32]</a></small></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>FIRST SPECIES OF BEAUTY—BEAUTY OF THE LOCOMOTIVE SYSTEM.</h3> + +<p>The average stature of woman, as already said, is two or three inches less +than that of man.</p> + +<p>The bones of woman remain always smaller than those of man; the +cylindrical ones being more slender, and the flat ones thinner, while the +former are also rounder. The muscles render the surfaces of the bones less +uneven; the projections of the latter are less; and all their cavities and +impressions have less depth. The bones of woman have likewise less +hardness than those of man.</p> + +<p>Such being the solid and fundamental parts of this system in woman, the +most remarkable circumstances in their combination should next be noticed.</p> + +<p>In woman, the magnitude of the pelvis or lower part of the trunk, has the +greatest influence on the apparent proportion of parts, and on the general +figure.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable differences between the two sexes, in relation to this +system, are consequently those presented by the inferior and superior part +of the trunk in each. The breast and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> haunches are in an inverse +proportion in the two sexes. Man has the breast larger and wider than that +of woman: woman has the haunches less circumscribed than those of man.</p> + +<p>The upper part of the body is also less prominent, and the lower part more +prominent, in woman than in man; and therefore, when they stand upright, +or lie on the back, the breast is most prominent in the male, and the +pubes in the female. The indication this affords of the fitness of woman +for impregnation, gestation, and parturition, is obvious.</p> + +<p>From the same cause, the back of woman is more hollow.</p> + +<p>Still farther to increase the capacity of the lower part of the body, +woman has the loins more extended than man. This portion of her body is in +every way enlarged at the expense of neighboring parts. Hence, the chest +is shorter above; and the thighs and legs are shorter below.</p> + +<p>The thigh-bones of woman are also more separated superiorly; the knees are +more approximated; the feet are smaller; and the base of support is less +extended.</p> + +<p>The reader desirous of thoroughly understanding these matters, should +compare the beautiful plates of the male and female skeletons by Albinus +and Sœmmerring.</p> + +<p>Beauty of the locomotive system in woman, depends especially upon these +fundamental facts, and those tendencies of structure which thus +distinguish her from man.</p> + +<p>In the woman possessing <span class="smcaplc">THIS SPECIES</span> of beauty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +therefore, the face is generally somewhat bony and oblong;—the neck, less connected with the +nutritive system, is rather long and tapering;—the shoulders, without +being angular, are sufficiently broad and definite for muscular +attachments;—the bosom, a vital organ, is of but moderate +dimensions;—the waist, enclosing smaller nutritive organs, is remarkable +for fine proportion, and resembles, in some respects, an inverted +cone;—the haunches, for the same reason, are but moderately +expanded;—the thighs are proportional;—the arms, as well as the limbs, +being formed chiefly of locomotive organs, are rather long and moderately +tapering;—the hands and feet are moderately small;—the complexion, owing +to the inferiority of the nutritive system, is often rather dark;—and the +hair is frequently dark and strong.—The whole figure is precise, +striking, and often brilliant.—From its proportions, it sometimes seems +almost aerial; and we would imagine, that, if our hands were placed under +the lateral parts of the tapering waist of a woman thus characterized, the +slightest pressure would suffice to throw her into the air.</p> + +<p>To this class belong generally the more firm, vigorous, and even +actively-impassioned women: though it may doubtless boast many of greatly +modified character.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>It may here be observed, that the varieties or modifications of each +species of beauty naturally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> correspond with the greater or less +development of some one of the various organs on which the species is +founded. Thus, the modifications of beauty of the locomotive system +correspond with the greater or less development of the bones, the +ligaments, or the muscles; those of the nutritive system correspond with +the greater or less development of the absorbents, the bloodvessels, or +the glands; and those of the thinking system correspond with the greater +or less development of the organs of sense, the brain, or the cerebel. A +little reflection will show, that some of these modifications will be +more, and others less beautiful.</p> + +<p>To understand the present variety, the bony structure on which it +especially depends, must now be more minutely described.</p> + +<p>Commencing with the trunk of the body—the chest in woman is shorter but +more expanded; the breast-bone is shorter but wider; the two upper ribs +are flatter; the collar-bones are more straight or less curved, and do not +present that prominent relief which appears on the chest of man; the +shoulders are carried farther back, and project less from the trunk.</p> + +<p>The haunches, as already stated, are proportionally wider in woman than in +man, and the interior cavity of the pelvis, which is between them, being +adapted to gestation, is more capacious. This greater capacity of the +pelvis arises from the lateral parts having in woman more convexity +outward; from the bones called ossa pubis, which form the anterior part, +touching at a smaller number of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> points, and running obliquely or forming +a greater angle, to enlarge the space which is between them and the +inferior extremity of the posterior part of the pelvis; from the arch of +the pubis being larger; from the greater concavity and breadth of the os +sacrum or posterior bone of the pelvis, its posterior part forming a +greater prominence outward; and from the whole pelvis being thus wider and +less deep, its circumference approaching more to the circular form. The +cavities, it may be added, in which the heads of the thigh-bones are +received, are of course farther apart: they are also oblique and less +deep.</p> + +<p>The arms of woman are shorter than in man.—As these members are well +marked in beauty of the locomotive system, they may the more fully be +considered here.—The arms, and especially their extremities, are +susceptible of a degree of beauty of which we see few examples. Their +bases, the bones, ligaments, and muscles, belong to the locomotive system; +and their fundamental beauty consequently depends upon its proportions; +but to the nutritive system are owing the circumstances that, in woman, +the arm is fatter and more rounded, has softer forms and more flowing and +purer outlines. The hand in woman is smaller, more plump, more soft, and +more white. It is peculiarly beautiful when full; when it is gently +dimpled over the first joints; when the fingers are long, round, tapering +toward the ends; when the other joints are marked by slight reliefs and +shadows; and when the fingers are delicate and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> flexible. Beauty of the +hand becomes the more precious, because it is the principal organ of a +sense which may be considered as the most valuable of all.</p> + +<p>In regard to the lower extremities, it has been observed, that the lateral +convexity of the pelvis causes the bones of the thighs attached to them to +be farther separated from each other; and this separation of the bones of +the thighs causes an increase of the size of the haunches. It is over the +posterior part of the space thus produced, that we observe the reliefs +which the inferior members present superiorly, and which unite them with +the trunk, by forms so beautifully rounded. The thighs are also +proportionally larger, on account of this separation: they are more +rounded, as well as much more voluminous: they are also more curved before +than in man. At their inferior part, they approximate; and the knees +project a little inward. It has been truly observed, that this +conformation manifests, relatively to gestation and parturition, +advantages of which the exterior expression is not found in the women who +are commonly regarded as well made, and who, however, are not so, if the +best conformation or beauty result from a direct and well-marked relation +between the form of the organs and their functions. It is owing to the +thighs of woman being thus carried more inward when she walks, that the +change of the point of gravity which marks each step, is in her much more +remarkable. All the other parts of the inferior members are in general +distinguished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> by forms more softly rounded; the leg is remarkable for its +delicacy; the long line of the anterior bone is entirely hid under its +envelope; its inferior part is shaped with more elegance; the foot is +smaller; and the base of support is less extended. The feet, like the +hands, are susceptible of a kind of beauty of which nature is sparing.</p> + +<p>From all this it appears that the only bones which nature tends to enlarge +in woman are those of the pelvis; that all the rest are small; and that +they proportionally diminish in size, as we pass from that central part to +the extremities.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">FIRST MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of the bones, those of the pelvis excepted, is +proportionally small.</p> + +<p>This character will be especially apparent where the long bones approach +the surface; as in the arm immediately above the wrist, and, in the leg, +immediately above the ankle. Its effect will be proportionally delicate +and feminine.</p> + +<p>Various subordinate modifications of this kind of beauty are found in +various countries, and under the influence of various circumstances.</p> + +<p>The women of Rome, we are told, present beauty of the shoulders in the +highest degree, when they arrive at that period of life in which plumpness +succeeds to juvenile elasticity.</p> + +<p>It has been suggested, that the Greek or Ionian women, whose arms were of +so perfect a form, owed that beauty in some measure to the custom of +leaving them nude, or covered only by loose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> drapery: as in that case, no +pressure constricted the roundness of the fleshy parts, and prevented +their development; no ligature, binding the upper part of the arm, altered +the color of the skin; and the arm, being always uncovered, received at +the toilet the same attention as other parts. Hence, it is supposed +antique statuary has left us such admirable models of the beauty of this +part.</p> + +<p>It is certainly not improbable that we may attribute the absence of this +beauty, in some measure, to a custom which, in many cases, medicine may +approve, but which is unfavorable to the arm, that of wearing long +sleeves; but want of exercise is its great cause.</p> + +<p>The form of the hand often announces the occupation of the person to whom +it belongs, and sometimes even her particular capabilities. There +certainly are hands that we may call intellectual; and there are others +that we may call foolish or stupid. Of the hand, Lavater says, that, +whether in movement or in repose, its expression cannot be mistaken: its +most tranquil position indicates our natural dispositions; its flexions, +our actions and our passions.</p> + +<p>The ancients, it has been observed, attached much importance to the form +of the feet: the philosophers did not neglect it in the general view of +the physiognomy; and the historians as well as the poets made mention of +their beauty, in speaking of Polyxene, Aspasia, and others; as they did of +their deformities in speaking of the emperor Domitian.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>Perfection or deformity of the feet is no doubt in general hereditary; but +good management will preserve the former of these, and repair the latter. +We commonly deform these parts by means of our shoes: the second toe, +observes a writer on this subject, which naturally projects most, as we +see from the antique, is arrested in its development, and the foot, which +ought, in the outline of its extremity, to approach to the elegant form of +the ellipsis, is rounded without beauty, and is disfigured by our +ridiculous compressions.<small><a name="f33.1" id="f33.1" href="#f33">[33]</a></small></p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>The joints generally are small in woman, and especially so in the +extremities. The elbow joint is softly rounded; and the various joints of +the fingers are marked chiefly by little reliefs and faint shadows. The +articulation of the knee is feebly indicated; the ankles are disposed in +such a manner as to offer only agreeable outlines; and there are dimples +over the first joints of the toes, with exceedingly gentle indications of +the other joints.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">SECOND MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of the ligaments and the articulations they form, is +proportionally small.</p> + +<p>This conformation will be especially apparent—in the arm, at the +wrist—and, in the leg, at the ankle. Its effect will be proportionally +handsome.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span><i>Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>The muscles of women are more slender and feeble than those of man; their +bundles are rounder; their fibres are finer, more humid, soft, and +delicate, and less compact; their central parts or bellies are less +prominent; their reliefs do not appear in any strength at the surface of +the body; but being, on the contrary, surrounded on all sides by a loose +cellular tissue, they only render that surface beautifully rounded.</p> + +<p>Although, however, the muscular system of woman is weaker, and the muscles +proportionally smaller, yet, as already said, in some parts the muscular +system is more developed than in man. This, owing to the magnitude of the +pelvis, is most remarkable about the thighs. The muscles of these parts +having larger origins from the pelvis, and being less compressed by +reciprocal contact, have more liberty to extend themselves. It is from +this, that results much of the delicacy of the female form, as well as the +ease, suppleness, and capability of grace in its movements.</p> + +<p>It is otherwise in all parts remote from the pelvis. Women, accordingly, +can less be said to have calves, than legs which, like their arms and +fingers, gently taper.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">THIRD MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of the muscles is proportionally large around the +pelvis, and delicate elsewhere.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>This conformation being concealed by the drapery, may nevertheless be +conjectured from the imperfect view of the hip, or of the calf of the leg, +or more accurately by means of the external indications of forms which are +given in a subsequent chapter. Its effect will be proportionally elegant.</p> + +<p>Woman’s power of muscular motion being thus limited to the vicinity of the +pelvis, that of her extremities is generally feeble.</p> + +<p>Other causes contribute to this. Thus, with regard to the upper +extremities, it has been observed, that the collar-bone, not separating so +much the arm from the axis of the body, the extent of its movements is +limited; and this circumstance explains why women, who wish to overcome +great resistances with the superior members, experience difficulty in +doing so—why, for example, when they wish to throw a stone, they are +obliged to turn the body on the foot opposite to the arm with which they +throw.</p> + +<p>Thus also the largeness of the pelvis, and the approximation of the knees, +influence the gait of woman, and render it vacillating and unsteady. +Conscious of this, women, in countries where the nutritive system in +general and the pelvis in particular are large, affect a greater degree of +this vacillation and unsteadiness. An example of this is seen in the +lateral and rotary motion which is given to the pelvis in walking, by +certain classes of the women of London.</p> + +<p>For the same reason, united to a smaller foot, and some other +circumstances, women, it is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>observed, who execute gentle and light +movements with so much skill, do not attempt with advantage great +evolutions, run with difficulty and without grace, and fly—in order to be +caught, as Rousseau has said.</p> + +<p>In woman, however, the muscular fibre is thus soft, yielding, feeble, and +incapable of great evolutions, because it is necessary that it should +easily adapt itself to remarkable changes.</p> + +<p>From all this, from women having more address in the use of their fingers, +from their aptitude for little and light domestic works, the care of +children, and sedentary occupations, it is evident that they cannot devote +themselves to toilsome labors without struggling against their +organization, and suffering proportionally.</p> + +<p>The voice being connected with the motive organs, it may here be noticed +that the larynx or flute part of the throat in woman is more contracted +and less prominent than in man; that the glottis does not enlarge in the +same proportion; that the tongue-bone is much smaller; and that the +tongue, its muscles, and the organs of speech in general, being, like all +the other parts, more mobile, young girls articulate and pronounce much +more quickly. Their voice is also so much more acute, that if man and +woman sing in unison, there is always between them the relation of an +octave, which forms the most natural and most agreeable consonance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>It is evidently the <span class="smcaplc">UNION</span> of all that is good in these varieties which +renders beauty in the locomotive system perfect.</p> + +<p>This is perfectly represented in the Diana of Grecian sculpture, in which, +with admirable taste, it is neither the nutritive nor the thinking, but +the locomotive system, which is developed.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>I have already said, that the temperaments of the ancients are only +partial views of some of the varieties I am now describing. The <i>athletic +temperament</i> falls under the <i>last of these varieties</i>; and it is the only +one that falls under this species. Happily, it does not occur in woman.</p> + +<p>This temperament results from a great development of the bones and +muscles, and it is that of mere physical strength. It is marked by all the +outward signs of strength: the head is small, the neck thick behind, the +shoulders broad, the chest expanded, the haunches firm, the intervals of +the muscles deeply marked, the tendons apparent through the skin, and all +the joints not covered by muscles, seemingly small.</p> + +<p>In this temperament, muscular strength prevails over the functions of the +other organs, and especially usurps the energies necessary to the +production of thought; the perceptions are deficient in quickness, +delicacy, accuracy, and strength; and all the mental functions are with +difficulty excited; but the body is capable of great exertion, and it +surmounts great physical resistance when roused.</p> + +<p>The Farnese Hercules, says a French physiologist,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> exhibits a model of the +physical attributes of this constitution; and that which fabulous +antiquity relates of the exploits of this demi-god, gives us the idea of +the moral dispositions that accompany it. In the history of his twelve +labors, without reflection, and as by instinct, we see him courageous, +because he is strong, seeking obstacles to conquer them, certain of +overwhelming whatever resists him, but joining to such strength so little +subtlety, that he is cheated by all the kings he serves, and by all the +women he loves.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<h3>SECOND SPECIES OF BEAUTY—BEAUTY OF THE NUTRITIVE SYSTEM.</h3> + +<p>With the vital system of woman, the capacity of the pelvis, and the +consequent breadth of the haunches, are still more connected than with the +locomotive system; for, with these, all those functions which are most +essentially feminine—impregnation, gestation, and parturition—are +intimately connected.</p> + +<p>Camper, in a memoir on physical beauty, read to the Academy of Design, at +Amsterdam,<small><a name="f34.1" id="f34.1" href="#f34">[34]</a></small> showed, that, in tracing the forms of the male and female +within two elliptical areas of equal size, the female pelvis extended +beyond the ellipsis, while the shoulders were within; and the male +shoulders reached beyond their ellipsis, while the pelvis was within.—The +pelvis of the African woman is said by some to be greater than that of the +European.</p> + +<p>The abdominal and lumbar portion of the trunk, as already said, is longer +in woman. In persons above the common stature, there is almost half a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +face more in the part of the body which is between the mammæ and the +bifurcation of the trunk.</p> + +<p>The abdomen, placed below the chest, has more projection and roundness in +woman than in man: but it has little fulness in a figure capable of +serving as a model; and the slightest alteration in its outlines or its +polish is injurious.</p> + +<p>The waist, which is most distinctly marked in the back and loins, owes all +its advantages to its elegance, softness, and flexibility.</p> + +<p>The neck should, by the gentlest curvature, form an almost insensible +transition between the body and the head. It should also present fulness +sufficient to conceal the projection of the flute part of the throat in +front, and of the two large muscles which descend from behind the ears +toward the pit above the breast-bone.<small><a name="f35.1" id="f35.1" href="#f35">[35]</a></small></p> + +<p>Over all these parts, the predominance of the cellular tissue, and the +soft and moderate plumpness which is connected with it, are a remarkable +characteristic of the vital system in woman. While this facilitates the +adaptation of the locomotive system to every change, it at the same time +obliterates the projection of the muscles, and invests the whole figure +with rounded and beautiful forms.</p> + +<p>It has been well observed that the principal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>effect of such forms upon +the observer must be referred to the faculties which they reveal; for, as +remarked by Roussel, if we examine the greater part of the attributes +which constitute beauty, if reason analyze that which instinct judges at a +glance, we shall find that these attributes have a reference to real +advantages for the species. A light shape, supple movements, whence spring +brilliance and grace, are qualities which please, because they announce +the good condition of the individual who possesses them, and the greater +degree of aptitude for the functions which that individual ought to +fulfil.</p> + +<p>Beauty, then, of the nutritive system in woman, depends especially upon +these fundamental facts, and those tendencies of structure which thus +distinguish her from man.</p> + +<p>In the woman possessing <span class="smcaplc">THIS SPECIES</span> of beauty, therefore, the face is +generally rounded, to give greater room to the cavities connected with +nutrition;—the eyes are generally of the softest azure, which is +similarly associated;—the neck is often rather short, in order intimately +to connect the head with the nutritive organs in the trunk;—the shoulders +are softly rounded, and owe any breadth they may possess rather to the +expanded chest, containing these organs, than to any bony or muscular size +of the shoulders themselves;—the bosom, a vital organ, in its luxuriance +seems laterally to protrude on the space occupied by the arms;—the waist, +though sufficiently marked, is, as it were, encroached on by that +plumpness of all the contiguous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> parts, which the powerful nutritive +system affords;—the haunches are greatly expanded for the vital purposes +of gestation and parturition;—the thighs are large in proportion;—but +the locomotive organs, the limbs and arms, tapering and becoming delicate, +terminate in feet and hands which, compared with the ample trunk, are +peculiarly small;—the complexion, dependant upon nutrition, has the rose +and lily so exquisitely blended, that we are surprised it should defy the +usual operation of the elements;—and there is a luxuriant profusion of +soft and fine flaxen or auburn hair.—The whole figure is soft and +voluptuous in the extreme.</p> + +<p>To this class belong all the more feminine, soft, and exquisitely-graceful +women.</p> + +<p>The kind of beauty thus characterized is seen chiefly in the Saxon races +of our eastern coast; and it is certainly more frequent in women of short +stature.</p> + +<p>The vital system is peculiarly the system of woman; and so truly is this +the case, that any great employment, either of the locomotive or mental +organs, deranges the peculiar functions of woman, and destroys the +characteristics of her sex.</p> + +<p>Women who greatly occupy the locomotive organs, acquire a coarse and +masculine appearance; and so well is this incompatibility of power, in the +use of locomotive organs with the exercise of vital ones, known to the +best female dancers, that, during the time of their engagements, they +generally live apart from their husbands.</p> + +<p>As to intellectual ladies, they either seldom <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>become mothers, or they +become intellectual when they cease to be mothers.</p> + +<p>These few facts are worth a thousand hypotheses and dreams, however +amiable they may be.</p> + +<p>The vital system is relatively largest in little women, especially after +they have been mothers. The shorter stature of woman ensures, indeed, in +almost all, a relative excess of the vital system after, if not before, +they become mothers; for, whatever the stature, the mammæ, abdomen, &c., +necessarily expand. In those of short stature, these parts, of course, +become nearly as large as in the tall; and this circumstance causes them +to touch on the limits of each other in little women.</p> + +<p>As, in pregnancy and suckling, the abdomen and mammæ necessarily expand, +and as they would afterward collapse and become wrinkled, were not a +certain degree of plumpness acquired, that acquisition is essential to +beauty in mothers. Meagerness in them, accordingly, becomes deformity.</p> + +<p>A French writer indeed says: “Most of our fashionables are extremely +slender; they have constituted this an essential to beauty; leanness is in +France necessary to the <i>air élégant</i>.” It must be remembered, however, +that the vital system—that which we have just said is peculiarly the +system of woman—is, in its most beautiful parts, peculiarly defective in +France; and that, owing in a great measure to that circumstance, the women +of France are among the ugliest in Europe.—But of that in its proper +place.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span><i>First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>It may here be observed, that the varieties of beauty of the locomotive +system, and also those of beauty of the mental system, are easily +explicable, because these systems are, in some respects, more limited and +simple. The varieties of beauty of the vital system are, on the contrary, +more difficult of explanation, because that system is, in some respects, +more diffused and complicated.</p> + +<p>Even the preparatory vital organs and functions differ somewhat in the two +sexes.</p> + +<p>Woman has frequently a smaller number of molar teeth than man; those +called wisdom teeth not always appearing. Mastication is also less +energetic in woman.</p> + +<p>The stomach, in woman, is much smaller; the appetite for food is less; +hunger does not appear to press her so imperiously; and her consumption of +food is much less considerable.<small><a name="f36.1" id="f36.1" href="#f36">[36]</a></small> Hence, indubitable cases of long +abstinence from food, have generally occurred in females.</p> + +<p>In the choice and the preference of certain aliments, woman also differs +much from man. In general, women prefer light and agreeable food, which +flatters the palate by its perfume and its savor. Their appetites are also +much more varied.</p> + +<p>Women, whom vicious habits have not depraved,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> use also beverages less +abundantly than men. Fermented, vinous, and spirituous beverages are +indeed used only by the monsters engendered in the corruptions of +towns—amid the insane dissipation of the rich, or the wretched and +pitiable suffering of the poor; and both are then brought to one +humiliating level, marked by the red and pimpled, or the pallid face, the +swimming eye, the haggard features, the pestilential breath. The +scarf-skin in these cases divides all that may be worthy from all that is +utterly worthless: the worthy part may be external to the cuticle, in +substantial, though polluted clothing; the worthless is the yet living +portion, which, whether called body or soul, is no longer worth picking +off a dunghill.<small><a name="f37.1" id="f37.1" href="#f37">[37]</a></small></p> + +<p>Digestion in woman is made, however, with great rapidity; and the whole +canal interested in that process, possesses great irritability.</p> + +<p>The absorbent vessels in woman are much more developed, and seem to enjoy +a more active vitality. The circumstances of pregnancy and suckling, +appear also to augment the energy of these vessels.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">FIRST MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the digestive and absorbent system is small but active; for the +great purpose of life in woman is secretion, whether it regard the +formation of the superficial adipose substance which invests her with +beautiful and attractive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> forms, or the nutrition of the new being which +is the object of her attractions and of her life.</p> + +<p>Hence it is, that women naturally and instinctively affect abstemiousness +and delicacy of appetite. Hence it is, that they compress the waist, and +endeavor to render it slender.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>Women have, in greater abundance than men, several of the fluids which +enter into the composition of the body. They appear to have a greater +quantity of blood; and they certainly have more frequent and more +considerable hemorrhages. There is less force in the circulation and +respiration; but the heart beats more rapidly. The pulse also is less +full, but it is quicker.</p> + +<p>In woman, the purer lily and more vivid rose of complexion, depend on +various causes.</p> + +<p>It would appear that, in women, the blood is in general carried less +abundantly to the surface and to the extremities, where also the white +vessels are more developed; and that, to this, as well as to the subjacent +adipose substance, the skin owes its whiteness.</p> + +<p>In youth, however, one of the constituent parts of the skin, the reticular +tissue, or whatever the substance under the scarf-skin may be called, +appears to be more expanded, especially in women; and it would seem that +this tissue is then filled with a blood which is less dark, and which +forms the coloring of youth. This, differently modified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> by the +scarf-skin, gives the blue, the purple, <ins class="correction" title="original: and and">and</ins> all the teints formed by these +and the color of the skin. Where the vessels are more patent, and the skin +more thin, delicate, and transparent, as in the cheeks, the hue of the +rose is cast over that of the lily. In addition to this, the slightest +emotions of surprise, of pleasure, of love, of shame, of fear, often +diversify all these teints.</p> + +<p>Lightness of complexion, however, is probably dependant more particularly +on the arterial circulation, and darkness of complexion on the venous +circulation; for we know that in fairer woman the arteries possess greater +energy, while in darker man the veins are more developed, larger, and +fuller.</p> + +<p>Farther confirmation of this is afforded by an observation, which +physiologists have neglected to make, that the kidneys, receiving arterial +blood, are the artery-relieving glands, while the liver, receiving venous +blood, is the vein-relieving gland. Now, it is certain that, in cold +climates, the urinary secretion and fairness prevail; while, in hot +climates, the hepatic secretion and darkness prevail. Many physiologists +have indeed made the insulated remark, that the dark complexion has much +to do with the hepatic secretion. The more abundant urinary and hepatic +secretions, however, may not be the causes, but only concomitant effects +of the same cause with fairness and darkness of complexion.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">SECOND MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the circulating vessels,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> being moderately active and finely +ramified, bestow upon the skin a whiteness, a transparency, and a +complexion, which are necessary to beauty.</p> + +<p>The whiteness, the transparency, and the color of the skin, have, in all +highly civilized nations, been deemed essential conditions of beauty.</p> + +<p>The ancients regarded whiteness, in particular, as the distinctive +character of beauty; and they estimated that character so highly, that the +name of Venus, from the Celtic <i>ven</i>, <i>ben</i>, or <i>ban</i>, signifies white, or +whiteness; and Venus herself is said to be fair and golden-haired.</p> + +<p>Among the civilized moderns, also a taste which women seek always to +satisfy, is that for whiteness of the skin: hence, the white lily, +new-fallen snow, white marble, or alabaster, are the images which poetry +employs, when the color of a woman is its subject. So greatly, indeed, +does whiteness contribute to beauty, that many women deemed beautiful by +us, have little other right to that epithet except what they derive from a +beautiful skin.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>The branches of the great artery of the body, the aorta, supplying the +abdomen and pelvis, are larger in woman than in man, as well as more +habitually liable to variation in the quantity of their contents. The +quantity of blood, also, which passes to the abdomen, is greater.</p> + +<p>At the same time, the excretions are generally less in woman. Hippocrates +says: “<i>Nam corpus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> muliebre minus dissipatur quam virile</i>;” the +expenditure of the body of woman is less than that of man.</p> + +<p>It is evident, then, that the secretions, nutrition, in particular, must +be greater. We actually know them to be so.</p> + +<p>But the nourishment of the organs concerned in locomotion is less active, +and that of the cellular and adipose substance is generally more active, +than in man. And on this, important consequences depend.</p> + +<p>Woman is subject to crises which would destroy all her organs, if they +offered too powerful a resistance. Some parts of her body are exposed to +great shocks, to alternate extensions, compressions, and reductions, which +could not take place with impunity, but by means of this predominance of +the cellular and adipose structure.</p> + +<p>The cellular expansion, the general basis of the structure, appears then +to be more abundant in woman, more lax and yielding, more dilated and +fuller of liquids; and it is by yielding gradually, by decomposing and +weakening shocks by means of the general suppleness of the different +organs, thus procured, that nature seems, in woman, to avoid, or to +destroy, every hurtful effort.</p> + +<p>It is observed, moreover, that certain parts, naturally more loose, +receive into all their vessels a more considerable quantity of liquid, and +assume a particular enlargement, at the moment when their sympathy with +the uterus causes them to enter into action in concert with it; and it is +also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> observed that they dilate more easily during pregnancy.</p> + +<p>It is thus, then, that nature gives to all the parts of woman that +suppleness which renders her capable of easily yielding to the great +revolutions which affect her organization in regard to reproduction, as +well as mark the different periods of her life.</p> + +<p>The great development of the cellular and fatty tissue in woman is +illustrated by the remarkable fact, that anciently the Romans, in order to +burn the bodies of dead men, were obliged to join to them those of women, +the fat of which greatly facilitated combustion.</p> + +<p>Now, with the great purposes described above, beauty is naturally +associated. It is principally this excess of the cellular and fatty +tissues which gives to the members of woman those round and beautiful +outlines, that soft and polished surface, which the body of man does not +possess.</p> + +<p>In every part, however, of the human figure, as observed by Reynolds, +“when not spoiled by too great corpulency, will be found distinctness, the +parts never appearing uncertain or confused, or as a musician would say, +slurred; and all those smaller parts which are comprehended in the larger +compartment are still found to be there, however marked.”</p> + +<p>Now, while all this is the case, it appears that the true skin is much +thinner and more delicate in woman than in man, and that it derives more +or less of its clear whiteness from the quantity of fat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> which is below +it; for meagerness inevitably tarnishes and dries it. Hence, to possess a +fine, soft, white, and fresh skin, it is also indispensable to possess +plumpness.</p> + +<p>In relation to this purer white, it must also be observed, that +transpiration, which might soil it, appears to be much less abundant in +woman; and that the liver or vein-relieving gland, is very large. The +excretions of the skin in women are indeed chiefly limited to certain +parts; and it is thence that it has, in various parts, an odor which a +French writer observes “it is difficult to describe, but which an +exercised sense of smell easily succeeds in distinguishing in women who +fully enjoy all the attributes of their sex, and who are women even in the +atmosphere which exhales from them.”</p> + +<p>While the skin is thus more white in women, it is also more transparent. +The reticular tissue, or substance interposed between the true skin and +scarf-skin, appears to have more clearness and turgescence, especially on +the face, where, under the influence of various emotions, it easily +permits a passage to the blood, as we see in blushing. It is in youth that +this turgescence and clearness are most evident.</p> + +<p>Hence, the skin in woman less conceals the veins, of which the color, only +enfeebled or modified by the skin, “gives all those shades of azure which +the charmed eye follows with so much pleasure on the surface of the bosom +and of all the parts where the skin has least of thickness.”</p> + +<p>All this constitutes freshness, or animation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> which is nearly synonymous +with health, and without which there is no beauty. When that quality, as +observed by Roussel, “is wanting, all other attractions strike but feebly, +because the prompt judgment, which instinct suggests, warns us that the +woman whose person does not present all the characters of perfect health, +is in a disposition little favorable to the plan of nature, relatively to +the maintenance of the species.”</p> + +<p>The whiteness and the animation of the skin, however, do not alone +constitute its beauty: there is still another quality which is absolutely +necessary to it. This is the softness and the polish which, as the reader +has seen, is one of the first conditions of physical beauty. In woman, +this is probably derived from a slight degree of oleaginous secretion. +Hence, she has few asperities of the skin, especially on the surface of +the bosom, and other parts, where the skin is excessively smooth.</p> + +<p>Brown women, who probably have more of this oleaginous secretion, are said +to possess in a greater degree the polish of skin which gives impressions +so agreeable to the organ of touch; and hence, Winckelmann has said that +persons who prefer brown women to fair ones allow themselves to be +captivated by the touch rather than the sight. There is reason, however, +to doubt the accuracy of this. Brown women appear to have greater +softness, but less smoothness of skin.</p> + +<p>The body of woman is nearly deprived of hairs upon all parts, except the +head, axillæ, &c.; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> the hair of her head is generally long, fine, and +flexible.</p> + +<p>The quantity and the color of the hair are always in relation to the +constitution of the individual to which it belongs, and generally to the +temperature of the place. The people of northern countries have the hair +of a silken fineness and of surprising length.</p> + +<p>The hair which is most admired is not only very fine and flexible, but +light colored. Fair golden hair was, of all its teints, that which the +ancient artists preferred.</p> + +<p>In woman, the hair of the head whitens and falls later than in man.</p> + +<p>It is curious that, in regard to the hair, the distinctive characters of +the sexes should not always have been preserved. Though nature gives long +hair to woman, it has sometimes been the fashion to wear it short; and +though man has naturally shorter hair, it has sometimes been the fashion +to cherish its growth, and to shave the beard from his face. The latter +has especially been the case in degenerate and effeminate times; and this +has sometimes been accompanied by remarkable consequences.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest misfortunes, says a French writer, which France ever +had to lament, the divorce of Louis le Jeune from Elinor of Guyenne, +resulted from the fashion, which this prince wished to introduce, of +shaving his chin and cropping his head. The queen, his wife, who appears +to have possessed, with a masculine beauty, considerable acuteness of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +intellect, observed with some displeasure, that she imagined herself to +have espoused a monarch, not a monk. The obstinacy of Louis in shaving +himself, and the horror conceived by Elinor at the sight of a beardless +chin, occasioned France the loss of those fine provinces which constituted +the dowry of this princess; and which, devolving to England by a second +marriage, became the source of wars which desolated France during four +hundred years.</p> + +<p>The habit of wearing the beard is a manly and noble one. Nature made it +distinctive of the male and female; and its abandonment has commonly been +accompanied not only by periods of general effeminacy, but even by the +decline and fall of states. They were bearded Romans who conquered the +then beardless Greeks; they were bearded Goths who vanquished the then +beardless Romans; and they are bearded Tartars who now promise once more +to inundate the regions occupied by the shaven and effeminate people of +western Europe.</p> + +<p>In farther illustration of the manliness of this habit we may observe, +that throughout Europe, wars have generally led to its temporary and +partial introduction, as at the present day. Those assuredly blunder, who +ridicule the wearing of the beard. Silly affectation, on the contrary, is +imputable only to those who, by removing the beard, take the trouble so +far to emasculate themselves! and who think themselves beautified by an +unnatural imitation of the smoother face of woman!</p> + +<p>As appendages of the skin, the nails may here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> be noticed. Their beauty +consists in their figure, their surface, and their color.</p> + +<p>By their figure, they serve as a defence to the delicate extremities of +the fingers, which would otherwise be easily hurt against hard bodies. +They form at once shields and supporting arches to the fingers; and they +give facility in laying hold of bodies which would escape from their +smallness. They ought accordingly to be arched, and to extend as far as +the flesh which terminates the fingers.—The form of the nails depends +much on the care employed in cutting them during infancy, and still more +on the mode of employing the hand.</p> + +<p>The nails ought also to be smooth and polished, somewhat transparent, and +rose-colored. Their rosy color seems to show that their texture has less +density and more transparence.</p> + +<p>It is in this view of the nutritive system and the characteristics which +render it beautiful, and especially after this portion of it which regards +the organs and functions of secretion, that the mammæ and their beauty +should be considered.</p> + +<p>In woman, the bust is smaller and more rounded than in man; and it is +distinguished by the volume and the elegant form of the bosom.</p> + +<p>The external and elevated position of the mammæ is by far the most +suitable for a nursling, which, no longer deriving subsistence from within +the mother, nor yet able of itself to find it without, must be gently and +softly borne toward her; an admirable position, says a French writer, +“which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> in keeping the infant under the eyes and in the arms of the +mother, establishes between them an interesting exchange of tenderness, of +cares, and of innocent caresses, which enables the one the better to +express its wants, and the other to enjoy the sacrifices which she makes, +in continually contemplating their object.”</p> + +<p>According to Buffon, in order that the mammæ be well placed, it is +necessary that the space between them should be as great as that from the +mammæ to the middle of the depression between the clavicles, so that these +three points form an equilateral triangle.</p> + +<p>The two portions of the mammæ should be well detached. The whole presents, +in beautiful models, more elegance than volume; and the areola, it may be +observed, is red in fair women and deeper colored in brown ones.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann observes that, in the antique statues, the mammæ terminate +gently in a point, and that they have always virginal forms, as a +consequence of the system of the ancient artists, which consists in not +recalling in the ideal the wants and the accidents of humanity.</p> + +<p>Finally on this particular head, I must observe that the reproduction of +the species is, in woman, the most important object of life, and that +every thing in her physical organization has evident reference to it. Of +all the passions in woman, says Richerand, “love has the greatest sway: it +has even been said to be her only passion. All the others are modified by +it, and receive from it a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> peculiar cast, which distinguishes them from +those of man.... Fontenelle used to say of the devotion of some women, +‘One may see that love has been here.’ It has been said, in speaking of +St. Theresa, ‘<i>To love God, is still to love</i>.’ Thomas maintains that, +‘With women a man is more than a nation.’—‘Love,’ says Madame de Stael, +‘is but an episode in the life of man; it is the whole history of the life +of woman.’”</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">THIRD MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the secreting vessels being active, not only cause the plumpness, +&c., necessary to beauty, but furnish the mammary and uterine secretions, +on which progeny is dependant. This must inevitably be followed by +moderate excretions.</p> + +<p>It should not pass unobserved that there exist, in some women, a fair skin +and dark hair, forming a rather extraordinary and striking combination. As +such women have the skin remarkably smooth and moist, this is probably +connected with some peculiarity of secretion and excretion.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>It is evidently the <span class="smcaplc">UNION</span> of all that is good in these varieties which +renders beauty in the vital system perfect.</p> + +<p>This union is nowhere so frequently to be seen, as in England and in +Holland.</p> + +<p>It is curious that cleanliness among women seems necessarily to increase +with the development of this system; and that, in general slovenliness and +filth increase as we pass from England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> and Holland, toward France, Italy, +Spain, and Portugal, even among women of the highest condition.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Of the temperaments of the ancients, which, as already said, are only +partial views of some of the varieties I am now describing, two, the +<i>phlegmatic temperament</i> and the <i>sanguine temperament</i>, appear to belong +fundamentally to <i>this species</i>. It has been supposed, that the first +affects the absorbent, the second the circulating system. They appear to +me to be exactly opposite affections of the whole nutritive system at +least.</p> + +<p>The phlegmatic temperament may exist in both sexes. The causes which tend +to develop it, are infancy, humidity with cold, the absence of light, +indolence, and the feeble influence of the reproductive functions upon the +general system.</p> + +<p>In this temperament, there exists an excess in the proportions of the +absorbent vessels; the pulse is weak, slow, and soft; there is a +turgescence of the cellular tissue, and a more marked development of the +glands; the internal stimulants, having less energy than in the other +temperaments, life is less active, and all its actions are more or less +languid; even the uterus is not endowed with suitable energy.</p> + +<p>But these characteristics are not confined to the nutritive system: they +extend to the thinking one. The attention is not continuous; the +perceptions succeed with some difficulty; the memory is not to be trusted; +the imagination is weak; and the propensities, the appetites, and the +passions, are so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> languid, as to be scarcely capable of troubling the +quietude and the indolence which depend on such a constitution.</p> + +<p>These characteristics of the phlegmatic temperament, present to us forms +more rounded and less expressive, a general softness, a feeble color of +the skin, a sort of etiolation, a pale countenance, a light and abundant +hair, and, generally, an insurmountable inclination to sloth, averse alike +to labors of the mind and body.</p> + +<p>It has been observed, that the sanguine temperament, so generally met with +among northern nations, is the necessary consequence of the continual and +very energetic reaction of the powers of circulation, against the effects +of external cold; that it is only by the constant activity of the heart +and vessels that calorification can be effected with the necessary vigor: +and that the effects of this redoubled action are the same to the organs +of circulation as to the muscles, under the influence of volition; +exertion in both increasing the power of the organs exerted.</p> + +<p>In the sanguine temperament, the lymphatic, circulating, and secreting +systems appear to be in a sort of equilibrium; the chest is larger, and +the lungs more voluminous; the circulation is more rapid, the arterial +predominance is obvious; the pulse is sharp, frequent, and regular; the +complexion is ruddy; all the vital actions are extremely easy; and the +health is rarely altered.</p> + +<p>The mental functions correspond. The conception is quick; the memory is +prompt; the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>imagination is lively; the judgment has more readiness than +depth and extent; the mind, easily affected by the impressions of outward +objects, passes rapidly from one idea to another; the tastes, +propensities, appetites, passions, are equally ephemeral; and there is +much activity, but the strength is soon exhausted.</p> + +<p>In persons of this temperament, the countenance is animated; the hair is +fair, and inclining to chestnut; the shape is good; the form is softened, +though distinct; and the muscles are of tolerable consistence, and +moderate development. The whole appearance is generally so amiable, that +this temperament may be called that of health, beauty, and happiness.</p> + +<p>In the women who present the attributes of their sex with the greatest +unity, we distinguish, especially during youth and adult age, the traits +of the sanguine temperament, which may be regarded as the most suitable to +the organization of woman.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>THIRD SPECIES OF BEAUTY—BEAUTY OF THE THINKING SYSTEM.</h3> + +<p>In woman, the organs of sense are proportionally larger, and the +sensibility is more quick and delicate than in man.</p> + +<p>Hence, also, the mental quickness and delicacy of woman are greater. Her +perceptions succeed with rapidity and intenseness; and the last of them +generally predominates. In well-organized women, accordingly, the forehead +and the observing faculties are peculiarly developed.</p> + +<p>The general nervous system of woman is likewise far more mobile than that +of man.</p> + +<p>Beauty of the thinking system in woman depends especially upon these +fundamental facts, and those tendencies of structure, which thus +distinguish her from man.</p> + +<p>In the woman possessing <span class="smcaplc">THIS SPECIES</span> of beauty, accordingly, the greater +development of its upper part gives to the head, in every view, a pyriform +appearance;—the face is generally oval;—the high and pale forehead +announces the excellence of the observing faculties;—the intensely +expressive eye is full of sensibility;—in the lower features, modesty and +dignity are often united;—she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> has not the expanded bosom, the general +plumpness, or the beautiful complexion, of the second species of +beauty;—and she boasts easy and graceful motion, rather than the elegant +proportion of the first.—The whole figure is characterized by +intellectuality and grace.</p> + +<p>This species of beauty is less proper to woman, less feminine, than the +preceding. It is not the intellectual system, but the vital one, which is, +and ought to be most developed in woman.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>In woman, the nervous extremities appear to be larger than in man; a pulpy +appearance is more remarkable in them; and the papillæ in which they +terminate, appear to have less rigidity.</p> + +<p>The organs of sense are proportionally larger, and more delicately +outlined. There is indeed in woman more development in the organs of +sensation, than in that of understanding, reasoning, and judging; while +the contrary is the case in man. The sensations, accordingly, are in woman +more acute, and their minute differences are more easily discerned. Man +reflects more than he feels: woman always feels more than she reflects.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">FIRST MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of the organs of sense is proportionally large, and +the sensibility greater.</p> + +<p>It ought to be observed, that though, in woman, when well organized, the +whole head is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>proportionally less than in man, yet, the organs of sense +will be found to be proportionally larger. This sufficiently indicates the +importance of such proportional development. Upon it, indeed, depend that +increased sensibility and quickness of observation, which are essential to +the female character.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Second Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>Of all parts of the brain in woman, when well formed, the forehead, +especially, is found to be large. Without this, she would have sensibility +without observation, a most unhappy condition of the nervous system.</p> + +<p>In woman, the brain partakes of the softness of all the other parts of her +structure. The cellular tissue which covers it, and which descends between +its convolutions, is more abundant, mucous, and loose.</p> + +<p>The mind, correspondingly, is more impressed by any new object of thought; +the whole nervous system is more extensively affected by impressions on +the brain; the propensity to emotion is stronger, and women are more +habitually under its influence.</p> + +<p>The intimate connexion of the thinking, with a peculiar modification of +the reproductive faculties, inspires in woman the want of maternity, which +is more powerful than life, and which renders her capable of every +sacrifice. Associated with this, are her affection, tenderness, and +compassion.</p> + +<p>Upon the whole, sensibility in woman is greater than understanding; the +involuntary play of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> imagination, more active than its regulated +combinations; and passion, generally of the gentler kind, predominates +rather than resolve or determination. She has, therefore, more finesse and +activity, than depth or force of thought; and her nervous system is also +more frequently deranged by accidents unknown to man.</p> + +<p>The extent of the brain, anteriorly, is measured by the different degrees +of the opening of an angle, which Camper has called the facial angle; and +so far it is favorable to woman well conformed; but it gives no notion of +the magnitude of the brain superiorly, posteriorly, or laterally.<small><a name="f38.1" id="f38.1" href="#f38">[38]</a></small></p> + +<p>The brain of woman, however, in general, extends a good deal posteriorly +as well as anteriorly, though it narrows in the former of these +directions; and, to the proportional length thus acquired, is owing that +intensity in her functions, which I have just described. Superiorly, +centrally, and laterally, the brain of woman is generally much less than +that of man; and hence the want of elevation, depth, and endurance, in her +mental faculties.<small><a name="f39.1" id="f39.1" href="#f39">[39]</a></small></p> + +<p>Upon the whole, the brain of woman is less than that of man, and it is +especially less in its superior, central, and, intellectually considered, +more important portions.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">SECOND MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> the brain is proportionally small. This is an +evident corollary from what we have just stated as to the first +modification of this species; for it is not possible that the organs of +sense should be proportionally large, without the rest of the head being +proportionally small.</p> + +<p>This is not quite conformable with the wishes of phrenology; but we must +leave any dispute between that art and nature to its own issue. A Venus, +moreover, with a small, yet beautifully proportioned head, is often seen +to be the mother of a boy who has a large head; the difference of sex +causing a vast modification and difference of development.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Third Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>From what has been already said, it may be concluded that, in action or +conduct, women are less guided by intellect, and are more biased by +feeling and emotion; and it may also be concluded, that all their +movements to fulfil the purposes of feeling and emotion, are made in a +manner more easy and more prompt, though less sustained. This is increased +by the ready obedience of the muscular fibre, and the relative shortness +of the stature.</p> + +<p>This more easy and less forcible action is perfectly conformable +physically with the small and elongated form of the cerebel, or organ of +the will, in woman; as it is morally with the part which woman performs in +life, and her desire to please, while it is that of man to protect and to +defend.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>Conformably with the smaller size of the cerebel, and especially with its +smaller breadth (the influence of which is explained in the work last +referred to), the disposition of woman to sustained exertion, whether +mental or bodily, is much less; and hence the character “<i>varium et +mutabile semper fœmina</i>.”</p> + +<p>It is, then, the prompt and easily-affected sensibility of woman, not her +understanding or force of mind, which renders her so eminently fit to be +interested in infancy, which enables her to surmount maternal pains by the +sentiment of affection and pity, and which makes agreeable to her the +cares and the details of housekeeping; and it is this which sometimes +renders nothing too irksome or too painful for a mother, a wife, or a +mistress, to endure.</p> + +<p>Hence, the constitution of woman is perfectly adapted to these functions; +hence, her existence is more sedentary than man’s; hence, she has more +gentleness of character than he; and hence, she is less acquainted with +great crimes.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">THIRD MODIFICATION</span>, therefore, of this species of beauty, is that in +which the development of the cerebel or organ of the will, as well as the +muscles which it actuates, is proportionally small.</p> + +<p>The situation of this considerable organ is in the back and lower part of +the head, and may be pretty accurately indicated by saying, that a line +passing through it would complete, posteriorly, a longer line passing +backward from the nose through the lower part of the ear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>When this organ, which is that of the will, is high, and more especially +when it is large, a determination and force seem to be given by it to the +character, which render it the reverse of feminine.</p> + +<p>Having spoken here of the ready exercise of the will in woman, and its +adaptation to her wish to please, it seems to be here that some +circumstances dependant on these should be noticed.</p> + +<p>With this ready exercise of the will and desire to please, are evidently +connected the light carelessness, the graceful ease, and the gentle +softness, which add so much to the power of beauty. Hence, artists give to +woman the bending form which associates so well with all her +characteristics; for all feel with Hogarth that undulating lines are more +or less formed in all movements executed with the intention of expressing +sentiments of courtesy, respect, benevolence, or love.</p> + +<p>But it is grace that we must especially consider here—grace which +directly emanates from this ready exercise of the will and desire to +please, especially when combined with observing faculties so perfect and +so perpetually active as those of woman.</p> + +<p>“Gracefulness,” says Burke, “is an idea not very different from beauty; it +consists in much the same thing.... Gracefulness is an idea belonging to +posture and motion. In both these, to be graceful, it is requisite that +there be no appearance of difficulty; there is required a small inflexion +of the body; and a composure of the parts in such a manner, as not to +encumber each other, nor to appear divided by sharp and sudden angles. In +this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> ease, this roundness, this delicacy of attitude and motion, it is +that all the magic of grace consists, and what is called ‘<i>je ne scais +quoi</i>.’”</p> + +<p>It is not in these mere physical qualities, that all the magic of grace +consists, which, in the state of Burke’s knowledge, he might indeed well +call “<i>je ne scais quoi</i>!” Let the reader hear what is said on this +subject by a man who could look a little deeper than Burke, and who owed +no fame to the little art of substituting a flash of words for depth of +thought, and serving by it a venal purpose as little as the art itself.</p> + +<p>“What grace,” says Smith, “what noble propriety do we not feel in the +conduct of those who exert that recollection and self-command which +constitute the dignity of every passion, and which bring it down to what +others can enter into! We are disgusted with that clamorous grief, which, +without any delicacy, calls upon our compassion with sighs and tears, and +importunate lamentation. But we reverence that reserved, that silent and +majestic sorrow, which discovers itself only in the swelling of the eyes, +in the quivering of the lips and cheeks, and in the distant, but affecting +address of the whole behavior. It imposes the like silence upon us; we +regard it with respectful attention, and watch over our whole behavior, +lest, by any impropriety, we should disturb that concerted tranquillity +which it requires so great an effort to support.” This is eloquence, +indeed.</p> + +<p>Alison duly appreciates this earliest definition of grace. “It is,” he +says, “this ‘recollection and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> self-command,’ which in such scenes +constitute what even in common language is called the graceful in behavior +or deportment; and it is the expression of the same qualities in the +attitude and gesture, which constitutes, in my apprehension, the grace of +such gestures or attitudes.... Wherever, in the movements of the form, +self-command or self-possession is expressed, some degree of grace, at +least, is always produced.... Whenever in such motions grace is actually +perceived, I think it will always be found to be in slow, and, if I may +use the expression, in restrained or measured motions.</p> + +<p>“The motions of the horse, when wild in the pasture, are beautiful; when +urged to his speed, and straining for victory, they may be felt as +sublime; but it is chiefly in movements of a different kind that we feel +them as graceful, when, in the impatience of the field, or in the +curvetting of the manege, he seems to be conscious of all the powers with +which he is animated, and yet to restrain them, from some principle of +beneficence or of dignity. Every movement of the stag almost is beautiful, +from the fineness of his form and the ease of his gestures; yet it is not +in these or in the heat of the chase that he is graceful: it is when he +pauses upon some eminence in the pursuit, when he erects his crested head, +and when, looking with disdain upon the enemy who follows, he bounds to +the freedom of his hills. It is not, in the same manner, in the rapid +speed of the eagle when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> darts upon his prey, that we perceive the +grace of which his motions are capable. It is when he soars slowly upward +to the sun, or when he wheels with easy and continuous motion in airy +circles in the sky.</p> + +<p>“In the personification which we naturally give to all inanimate objects +which are susceptible of movement, we may easily perceive the influence of +the same association. We speak commonly, for instance, of the graceful +motions of trees, and of the graceful movements of a river. It is never, +however, when these motions are violent or extreme, that we apply to them +the term of grace. It is the gentle waving of the tree in slow and +measured cadence which is graceful, not the tossing of its branches amid +the storm. It is the slow and easy winding which is graceful in the +movements of the river, and not the burst of the cataract, or the fury of +the torrent.</p> + +<p>“It is only in the perfection of the human system, in the age when the +form has assumed all its powers, and the mind is awake to the +consciousness of all the capacities it possesses, and the lofty +obligations they impose, that the reign of physical grace commences; and +that the form is capable of expressing, under the dominion of every +passion or emotion, the high and habitual superiority which it possesses, +either to the allurements of pleasure or the apprehensions of pain. It is +this age, accordingly, which the artists of antiquity have uniformly +represented, when they sought to display the perfection of grace, and when +they succeeded in leaving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> their compositions as models of this perfection +to every succeeding age.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>It is evidently the <span class="smcaplc">UNION</span> of all that is good in the varieties now +described which renders beauty, in the thinking system, perfect.</p> + +<p>This is well illustrated in the Minerva of the Giustiniani gallery, which, +in this respect, is scarcely the less valuable because it is draped, for +it is the head that ever bears the greatest impress of intellectuality.</p> + +<p>This union is by no means perfect in the English female head, although, +from the considerable development of the forehead and the moderate one of +the backhead, the general form of that head is beautiful. As to the French +female head, a Frenchman, writing under the name of Count Stendhal, +scruples not to say: “The form of the head in Paris is ugly; the cranium +approaches to that of the ape; and this occasions the women to have the +appearance of age very early in life.” The women of Paris differ not, in +this respect, from those of France generally. Nearly all have the +character here described.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>It is under this species that the <i>nervous temperament</i> falls, which is +constituted by great sensibility and corresponding mobility, and therefore +belongs to the <i>first and the last of those varieties</i>; a temperament +chiefly to be found among women.</p> + +<p>This temperament scarcely exists in the athletic, is weak in the +phlegmatic, is moderate in the sanguine, and is rather active in the +bilious.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>It is characterized by the smallness and the emaciation of the muscles, +the quickness and intensity of the sensations, and the suddenness and +fickleness of the determinations.</p> + +<p>It is seldom natural, but commonly depends on a sedentary and inactive +life, on a diseased condition of the brain produced by reading works of +imagination, and on habits of sensual indulgence. In confirmation of this, +we are told that the Roman ladies became subject to nervous affections +only in consequence of those depraved manners which marked the decline of +the empire; and that these affections were extremely common in France in +the licentious times preceding the fall of the corrupt and corrupting +monarchy.</p> + +<p>Another partial view falling under this species, and properly under the +<i>second variety</i>, is the <i>cerebral temperament</i>, which results from the +energy and influence of the brain.</p> + +<p>This temperament, being thus determined by an excess in the power of the +brain, has been called the temperament of genius. When it is increased by +education and habits, the other organs are generally more feeble.</p> + +<p>In woman, the cerebral temperament is more particularly characterized by a +predominance of imagination, which is evidently dependant on the +organization which has already been described.</p> + +<p>It has been truly observed, that to contribute to the perfection of reason +as well as to the preservation of health, the brain ought to be exercised +and developed in every direction; that the mere <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>exercise of memory +carried too far renders persons foolish; that the predominance of +imagination disposes to nervous affections, and even to alienation; that +meditation alters the digestive functions; and that the dry and minute +contention which business requires, disposes, when joined to a defect of +exercise (and I may add the vinous excesses in which men of business +indulge), to apoplexy and to paralysis.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3>BEAUTY OF THE FACE IN PARTICULAR.</h3> + +<p>“It is probable,” says Dr. Prichard, “that the natural idea of the +beautiful in the human person has been more or less distorted in almost +every nation. Peculiar characters of countenance, in many countries, +accidentally enter into the ideal standard. This observation has been made +particularly of the negroes of Africa, who are said to consider a flat +nose and thick lips as principal ingredients of beauty; and we are +informed by Pallas that the Kalmucs<small><a name="f40.1" id="f40.1" href="#f40">[40]</a></small> esteem no face as handsome, which +has not the eyes in angular position, and the other characteristics of +their race. The Aztecs of Mexico have ever preferred a depressed +forehead,<small><a name="f41.1" id="f41.1" href="#f41">[41]</a></small> which forms the strongest contrast to the majestic contour +of the Grecian busts: the former represented their divinities with a head +more flattened than it is ever seen among the Caribs, and the Greeks, on +the contrary, gave to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> their gods and heroes a still more unnatural +elevation.”</p> + +<p>Knowing, as the reader now does, what constitutes the worth, the dignity, +and the beauty, of the various organs, this statement tends to show the +value of that standard of beauty which we owe to the Greeks. I proceed to +illustrate it in regard to the <span class="smcaplc">FACE</span>.</p> + +<p>The beauty of the human countenance is described by various writers, as +including the beauty of form, in the various features of the face; the +beauty of color, in the shades of the complexion; the beauty of character, +in some distinctive and permanent relations; and the beauty of expression, +in some immediate and temporary feeling.</p> + +<p>In regard to the form of the face, considered as a whole, the opening of +the facial angle of Camper, in measuring geometrically the extent of the +upper part of the head, marks the development of the brain or organ of +thought, and shows the proportion which it bears to the middle and lower +part of the face, or to the organs of sense and expression.</p> + +<p>This development of the upper part of the head contributes essentially to +beauty, by giving to the whole head that pyriform appearance already +described, by which in every view it is larger at the superior part, +diminishes gradually as it descends, and terminates by the agreeable +outline of the chin.</p> + +<p>In the most beautiful race of men, the facial angle extends to eighty-five +degrees, acquiring an <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>increase of ten degrees above the inferior +varieties; the face is diminished; the eyes are better placed; the nose +assumes a more elegant form; and all appearance of muzzle vanishes.</p> + +<p>In the Greek ideal head, the development presenting a facial angle of +ninety degrees, confers the highest beauty of the form of the head, the +majesty of the forehead, the position of the eyes upon a line which +divides the face into two equal parts, the elegant projection of the nose, +the absence of all tumidity of the lips.—But of that, in the sequel.</p> + +<p>In the face, generally, as observed by Winckelmann, beauty of form depends +greatly upon the profile, and particularly on the line described by the +forehead and nose, by the greater or less degree of the concavity or +declivity of which, beauty is increased or diminished. The nearer the +profile approaches to a straight line, the more majestic, and at the same +time softer, does the countenance appear, the unity and simplicity of this +line being, as in everything else, the cause of this grand, yet soft +harmony.</p> + +<p>The face being the seat of several organs, each must be examined in its +turn.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann observes, that “a large high <span class="smcaplc">FOREHEAD</span> [an excess, in this +respect] was regarded by the ancients as a deformity.”—And “Arnobius +says, that those women who had a high forehead, covered a part of it with +a fillet.” The reason of this will afterward be pointed out.</p> + +<p>The sense of <span class="smcaplc">TOUCH</span> resides in all parts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +face, but especially in the lips. It is most perfect, however, at the tips of the fingers.</p> + +<p>A thinner skin permits to the touch of woman, more vivacity, delicacy, and +profoundness. It seizes the details which generally escape the touch of +man. It is more easily hurt by hard, rough and angular, cold or hot +bodies.</p> + +<p>Hence, woman requires vestments which are light and smooth; and she enjoys +more than man the pleasure of reposing on flocculent substances which +softly resist her pressure.</p> + +<p>In the face, the lips are peculiarly the organ of touch.</p> + +<p>Of all the organs of sense, the mouth admits, I believe, of the greatest +beauty and the greatest deformity. Considered in repose, nothing certainly +is more lovely than this organ when beautifully formed in a beautiful +woman. And in action, during speech, the simplest words passing through it +receive a charm altogether peculiar.</p> + +<p>The mouth ought to be small, and not to extend much beyond the nostrils: a +large mouth and thick lips are contrary to beauty. The curve of the upper +lip is said to have served as a model to the ancient artists for the bow +of Love. The lower lip should be most developed, rounded and turned +outward; so as to produce, between it and the chin, that beautiful hollow +which assists so much in giving the latter a more perfect rotundity. Both, +but especially the upper, should become thin toward the angle of the +mouth.</p> + +<p>Although we see many lips without evident and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> offensive defects, there +are very few of them really beautiful; and indeed it is only persons of +great delicacy and of refined taste who attach the highest value to +perfect beauty of the lips.</p> + +<p>Lips of beautiful form and of vermillion hue, teeth which are small, +equal, slightly rounded, white, clean, and well arranged, and a pure +breath, are the circumstances which constitute a beautiful mouth.</p> + +<p>The sense of <span class="smcaplc">TASTE</span> is more delicate and more exquisite in woman than in +man. She accordingly seeks for savors which are less rough and irritating +than those which are agreeable to him.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcaplc">NOSE</span> is the most prominent and conspicuous feature of the face; it is +the central fixed point around which are arranged all its other parts; and +it is thus essential to the regularity of the features. When these, +moreover, are in action, the nose, by its immobility, marks the degree of +change which they undergo, and renders intelligible all the movements +produced by admiration, joy, sadness, fear, &c.</p> + +<p>To perfect beauty of the nose, it is necessary that it should be nearly in +the same direction with the forehead, and should unite with that part, +without leaving more than a slight inflexion to be seen. This constitutes +the Greek profile; and the various degrees of deviation from it +constitute, as to this organ, the various degenerations from beauty the +most consummate to ugliness the most disgusting.</p> + +<p>Nature says Winckelmann, is sparing of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> beauty both in burning +climates and in frozen regions.<small><a name="f42.1" id="f42.1" href="#f42">[42]</a></small></p> + +<p>The same writer says: “The flat compressed nose of the Kalmucs, Chinese, +and other distant nations, is also a defect, because it destroys the +harmony of forms, according to which all the other parts are constructed: +nor is there any reason why nature should compress and hollow it, instead +of continuing the straight line begun in the forehead.” The fact is true; +the reasoning false, as will be seen in a subsequent chapter, to which +this point properly belongs.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of passion, the nostrils expand and are drawn upward; +and these two motions are the only ones of which the lower and moveable +part of the nose is capable.</p> + +<p>The sense of smell, like that of taste, is more delicate and more +exquisite in woman than in man. Woman accordingly enjoys more, and suffers +more, by that sense than man does; and its influence is said to dispose +her more than man to those pleasures which have remarkable relations to +that sense.</p> + +<p>To beauty of the <span class="smcaplc">EYE</span>, magnitude and elongated form contribute more perhaps +than color: if its form be bad, no color will render it beautiful. In +woman, however, the most beautiful eyes, in relation to color, are those +which appear to be blue,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> hazel, or black. But no color of the eye is +beautiful without clearness in every part.</p> + +<p>“The more obliquely, and at an angle to each other,” says Winckelmann, +“that the eyes are placed, as in cats, the more their position is removed +from the base, or from the fundamental lines of the human face, which form +a cross that divides it into four parts, the nose dividing it +perpendicularly into two equal parts, and the eyes dividing it +horizontally. When the eyes are placed obliquely, they form an angle with +a line parallel to that which we suppose to pass through their centre. And +this indeed is doubtless the reason why it displeases us to see a mouth +which goes awry, because it generally offends the eye to see two lines +diverging from each other without any reason. Thus eyes placed obliquely, +as may be seen sometimes among ourselves, and commonly among the Chinese, +Japanese, and in Egyptian heads, are an irregularity and a deformity.”</p> + +<p>Here, again, Winckelmann’s fact is true, and his reasoning false, or +rather, perhaps, superficial. The real cause of the deformity of +obliquely-placed eyes is, that the vital parts of the head preponderate. +The cavities of the upper jaw, which open into the internal nose, are, in +the Mongelic races, so large, that they raise the cheek-bones, throw the +orbit upward at its lateral part, and encroach apparently upon the space +which should contain a nobler organ, the brain. The causes assigned by +Winckelmann are but consequences of this.</p> + +<p>The eyelids in woman, when well formed, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>present the gentlest inflexions. +The eyelashes, when long and silky, form a sign of gentleness, and +sometimes of softness. The eyebrows ought to be furnished with fine hairs, +arched, and separated: if they are too thin, they do not sufficiently +protect the organ of sight: if they unite, they render the physiognomy +sombre; their too-marked approximation, and their extreme separation, are +real deformities.</p> + +<p>The sense of sight in woman is rapid and active; yet, in her, the slow and +languid motion of the eye is generally employed, and is more beautiful +than a brisk one. Woman requires a mild light, and colors of moderate +vividness, rather than otherwise.</p> + +<p>The beauty of the <span class="smcaplc">EAR</span> is too little regarded. To an experienced eye it +presents great beauties, and great deformities, in form, magnitude, and +projection.</p> + +<p>The size and prominence of the ear, which characterize several nomadic +tribes, are contrary to beauty, not merely because they alter the +regularity of the oval of the head, and surcharge its outline with +prominences, but because they are in themselves ugly, indicating rather +the coarse strength common to inferior animals than the delicacy to be +found in man.</p> + +<p>In woman, the ear is also more delicate, more sensible, but more feeble, +than in man. Strong sounds, loud noises, which may be agreeable to the ear +of man, are offensive to her. She prefers soft<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> and tender, gay, or +pathetic music, to every other; and whatever may be the perfection of her +musical education, she also prefers sweet and tender melody to the most +complicated Sclavonic harmony.</p> + +<p>Such are the organs of sense or those of impression, which form the first +and most important portion of the face of woman.—The organs of +expression, the <span class="smcaplc">MUSCLES</span> of the face, on the contrary, are feeble in her; +and correspondingly feeble and rounded are the bony points to which they +are attached.</p> + +<p>Woman presents very little prominence of the frontal sinuses; the +cheek-bones display beautiful curves; the edges of the alveoli containing +the teeth are much more elliptical than in man; and the chin is softly +rounded. Of the chin, it should be observed that it is a distinctive +character of the human species, and is not found in any other animal. When +well formed, it is full, united, and generally without a dimple; and it +passes gently and almost insensibly into the neighboring parts. In woman +especially, the chin ought to be finely rounded; for when projecting, it +expresses, owing to its connexion with muscular action and power, a +firmness and a determination which we do not wish to discover in her +character. “The apparent convexity of the cheeks,” says Winckelmann, +“which in many heads appears greater than natural, contributes to this +rotundity: it is not, however, ideal, but taken from natural beauty.”</p> + +<p>The muscles of the face express all the shades of emotion and passion, not +because such expression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> is the primary, or the proper object of their +motion, but because their various motions adapt the organs to the farther +purposes required of them in consequence of preceding impressions; and +these motions become expressive to us only because we are thus enabled to +infer the feeling and purpose of the person in whom they occur. This is a +fundamental principle of physiognomy; and its not being understood has led +to many of our errors in that science.</p> + +<p>In woman, the countenance is more rounded, as well as more abundantly +furnished with that cellular and, fatty tissue which fills all the chasms, +effaces, all the angles, and unites all the parts by the gentlest +transitions. At the same time, the muscles are feebler, more mobile, +resigned for a shorter time to the same contraction, and as inconstant as +the emotions and passions which their rapid play expresses.</p> + +<p>The result of all this is, that the muscles do not profoundly modify the +face, which consequently has not so much of permanent character as that of +a man, and which permits us more difficultly to discover, through the +rounded, short, and shifting parts, the nature of her various feelings. +As, however, the abundance of the cellular tissue diminishes with age, and +as the sentiments become at the same time less ephemeral, the +physiognomical character and expression of woman become more decided.</p> + +<p>As to <span class="smcaplc">COLOR</span> of the face, it may be observed that the forehead, the +temples, the eyelids, the nose,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> the upper part of the superior lip, and +the lower part of the inferior lip, ought in woman to be of a beautiful +and rather opaque white. The approach to the cheeks and the middle of the +chin ought to have a slight teint of rose-color, and the middle of the +cheeks ought to be altogether rosy, but of a delicate hue.—Cheeks of an +animated white are preferable to those of a red color, although less +beautiful than those of rosy hue.</p> + +<p>With regard to the <span class="smcaplc">HAIR</span>, it may be observed, that sometimes, rising from +its bulbs, it turns in irregular rings, and, by displaying a forehead +rather large, confers a certain sanguine, as well as open air upon the +physiognomy. This, however, is most frequently seen in men, and chiefly in +men of exuberant vitality, rather than intellectuality: it indeed depends +entirely on the former.</p> + +<p>In other men, and almost always in women, the hair generally divides in a +line extending from the crown to the forehead, and falls over the temples. +The line thus formed, uniting with the median line, of the face in +general, and that of the nose in particular, gives to the whole of the +features a peculiar symmetry and beauty.</p> + +<p>I have said, already, that symmetry is a characteristic of thinking +beings, and I have explained the reason of this. The present case +admirably illustrates it. This symmetrical arrangement of the hair bestows +an intellectual air; and it well may, for, when natural, it derives its +tendency to fall on each side, from the top of the head, either from the +general elevation of the calvarium, or from the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>particular elevation of +the forehead, which is characteristic of beauty in woman.</p> + +<p>It accordingly announces in the individual higher observing faculties: +hence, the ancient sculptors never omitted this in their highest +personages: hence, we find it in the heads of Raffaelle and Guido.</p> + +<p>“A fair hue, <ins class="correction" title="xanthos">ξανθὸς</ins>,” says Winckelmann, “has ever been regarded +as the most beautiful; and flaxen-colored hair was assigned to the most +beautiful, not only among the gods, as Apollo [<ins class="correction" title="chrysokoman Apollôna">χρυσοκόμαν +Απόλλωνα</ins>, golden-haired Apollo] and Bacchus, but also among the heroes: +Alexander the Great had flaxen hair.” The modern Italians call Cupid “Il biondo Dio.”</p> + +<p>Having concluded what I have here to say of the parts of the face, I may +observe, that the <i>different effects of the same face</i>, even in a state of +repose, have often been observed, never explained. I have, however, in +another work, shown that the face is composed of motive, nutritive, and +thinking parts or organs. Now, circumstances bring these variously into +action; and the different effects alluded to, in reality depend on the +motive, or the nutritive, or the intellectual expression being at the +time, respectively, most apparent, or most attended to by us. The study of +this subject, which I have not space here to develop, is of infinite +importance to the man of taste, the physiognomist, and the artist. The +latter cannot easily excel without understanding it.</p> + +<p>Another curious fact, not hitherto observed, is,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> that though beauty of +face is, owing to the power of the vital system, almost universal at a +certain age, there is always a <i>faulty feature</i>, which the physiognomist +may observe, and which ever continues to exaggerate, until it terminate in +relative ugliness. Thus we scarcely observe the long upper lip during +youth, in some women; and yet it afterward gives to them the sober grimace +of baboons. We admire in youth the spirit of the piercing eye, and +aquiline nose in others, to whom these afterward give the look of so many +old hawks. In others, still, we are charmed with the round, rosy, and +innocent cheeks, which, when they become paler and more pendent, confer on +them the aspect either of seals or of mastiffs, according to other +circumstances of temper and disposition. I could easily trace these, and +many more, from youth to middle age, and illustrate them convincingly, by +drawings: but I have no room for it here.</p> + +<p>Each, indeed, of the subjects of the two immediately preceding paragraphs, +is worthy of a volume; for the first is as essential to all judgment of +existing beauty at the instant of its being before us, as the second is to +all prescience of what beauty will very soon be—to all who have no love +for a leap in the dark.</p> + +<p>I add to this chapter but a few words on the very <i>different organization +of the head and face</i>, and the very different mind, of the Greeks and +Romans.</p> + +<p>Whoever, for the purpose of comparing the heads of these two nations, may +walk into the British<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> Museum, will be struck with the difference between +them.</p> + +<p>The forehead is almost always rather narrow, and rather high, in the most +illustrious Greeks; and this could not so uniformly have been so +represented, in sculpture, unless it had been so also in fact. This is +verified, in the third room of the Townley collection, by the heads of +Homer, Hippocrates, Epicurus, Pericles, &c.—by the almost universal +conformation of Greek heads, to which there are but few exceptions: +Sophocles, in this room, and Demosthenes, in the eleventh, are rather +broader.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, the forehead, the face, the jaws, are excessively broad, +and the cranium is depressed and low, in the Romans—in Severus, Nero, +Caracalla, &c., in the sixth room, and in Tiberius and Augustus, in the +eleventh; nor is this owing to the circumstance that these generally were +men degraded in feeling or intellect, for nearly the same configuration is +found in Trajan, Hadrian, &c., in the fourth, sixth, and other rooms. The +faces of the Romans are not less ugly than their heads; and those of their +women are absolutely detestable, as may be seen in Faustina, Plautilla, +Sabina, Domitia, &c., in the sixth of these rooms.</p> + +<p>If farther illustration of this be wanting, it may be found in the +circumstance that, while the Greeks preferred the rather high forehead, +and invented the ideal one, the Romans, on the contrary, preferred a +little forehead and united eyebrows. Ovid assures us that the women of his +time painted their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> eyebrows in such a manner, that they might appear to +form only one.</p> + +<p>In the work so often referred to, I have shown that the intensity of +functions is as the length of their organs, and the permanence of +functions as the breadth of their organs. No truth can be better +illustrated than this is, in the organization and the faculties of the +Greeks and Romans. With the higher and larger head of the Greeks was +united an intensity of genius, which no other people has yet rivalled; and +with the broader head of the Romans, a perseverance, equally obstinate and +unfeeling, which has been similarly unrivalled.</p> + +<p>A good illustration of the vaunted Roman virtue is recorded in Porcia, the +daughter of Cato, the wife of Brutus, who plunged a toilet-knife into her +thigh, and kept it eight days in the wound, without complaining, to prove +to her husband that her courage and her discretion rendered her worthy of +entering into the conspiracy, which he meditated; and who also destroyed +herself by swallowing burning coals, when she heard of his defeat. +Obstinacy and insensibility were great sources of the crimes either +perpetrated, or, by their lying historians, pretended to be perpetrated, +under the name of Roman virtue.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>It would be out of place, here, to enter farther into the character and +expression of the face. Those whom these remarks dispose to do so, may +refer to the physiognomical work, which I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> been so often compelled to +allude to.<small><a name="f43.1" id="f43.1" href="#f43">[43]</a></small> To those who are satisfied, neither with the vague, though +tasteful inspirations of Lavater, nor with the empyrical or unreasoned +manifestations of Gall and Spurzheim, but who desire <i>the assignment of a +reason for every description of physiognomical character or expression</i>, +that work may afford some satisfaction.</p> + +<p>That the Greeks, either intuitively or reasonedly, distinguished the three +species of beauty as to the figure, has been already seen. The heads of +Diana, Venus, and Minerva, respectively present beauty of the locomotive, +vital, and mental systems.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3>COMBINATIONS AND TRANSITIONS OF THE THREE SPECIES OF FEMALE BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>As to the <span class="smcaplc">COMBINATIONS</span> of beauty, it must now be observed, that some one +of these species of beauty always characterize the same individual during +every stage of life; and, to the experienced observer, it never is +difficult to say which of them predominates. Attention to the preceding +principles will render this easy.</p> + +<p>It is right to mention here the cause of this general predominance of one +species of beauty over the rest. It depends on this, that the slightest +original or accidental preponderance of strength in one system above that +of the rest, though unobserved at first, leads to a more frequent +employment of its functions, and therefore to a more perfect development +of its organs, until at last the disproportion between these and those of +the other systems, becomes characteristic of the individual.</p> + +<p>In a truly beautiful woman, none of the systems described can exist in a +great degree of degradation; but of the three, the nutritive or vital +system is to woman the most essential. In England, from thirty to forty is +generally the age of its highest perfection.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>It often, however, occurs, that two, or even the whole of these species of +beauty, are blended in considerable perfection. In those females in which +it is found, the locomotive system is well developed in the length and +elegance of the limbs; the vital or nutritive system everywhere presents +soft forms, and rounds both body and limbs; and the mental or thinking +system displays a capability of grace in action, notwithstanding the +constrained attitude assumed to conceal the face.</p> + +<p>Although there can indeed be no great degree of beauty in which this +combination is not more or less the case, yet a union of all the three +species of beauty, in the greatest compatible degree, is to be found only +in some of those immortal images of ideal beauty, which were created by +the genius and the chisel of the Greeks.</p> + +<p>Having briefly spoken of these combinations, I may notice also those +<i>combinations which similarly occur among the temperaments</i>, which, as +already said, constitute partial views of the varieties I have been +describing.</p> + +<p>In relation to a combination of the <i>phlegmatic</i> and <i>nervous</i> +temperament, I may refer to Richerand, who says, that, “among the moderns, +the easy Michael Montaigne, all of whose passions were so moderate, who +reasoned on everything, even on feeling, was truly pituitous. But in him +the predominance of the lymphatic system was not carried so far, but that +he joined to it a good deal of nervous susceptibility.”</p> + +<p>Of women, more especially, it is observed, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> they rarely present +examples of the lymphatic temperament, unmodified by nervous mobility; +whence come extreme vivacity in the sensations with great feebleness, +determinations equally precipitate and unsteady, excited imagination and +ephemeral tastes, absolute will, &c.</p> + +<p>The <i>sanguine</i> temperament is similarly combined with the <i>nervous</i> one. +Hence, the physiologist above quoted says, that “to the extreme love of +pleasure, sanguine men join, when circumstances require it [he should have +said, in some cases], great elevation of thought and character, and can +bring into action the highest talents in every department: the history of +Henry IV., of Mirabeau, and others, proves that.”</p> + +<p>The ancients gave the name of <i>bilious</i>, to a temperament in which the +sanguineous system is energetic, the pulse strong, hard, and frequent, the +subcutaneous veins prominent, the development of the liver excessive, the +superabundance of bile remarkable, the sensibility easily excited, yet +capable of dwelling upon one object, the passions violent, the movements +abrupt and impetuous, and the character inflexible. This is evidently a +very compound temperament, and should never have been classed, any more +than the two preceding, with the simple temperaments, the athletic or +muscular, the phlegmatic or lymphatic, the sanguine, and the nervous, +which I have noticed under the heads to which they belong.</p> + +<p>In persons of this temperament, the skin is of a yellowish brown, the hair +black, the muscles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> marked, the form harshly expressed. “Bold in the +conception of a project,” says Richerand, “constant and indefatigable in +its execution, it is among men of this temperament, that we find those +who, in different ages, have governed the destinies of the world: full of +courage, boldness, and activity, they have signalized themselves by great +virtues or great crimes, and have been the terror or admiration of the +universe. Such were Alexander, Julius Cesar, Brutus, Mahomet, Charles +XII., the Czar Peter, Cromwell, Sixtus V., Cardinal Richelieu [and, he +should have added, Bonaparte].... To attain to results of such importance, +the profoundest dissimulation and the most obstinate constancy are equally +necessary; and these are the most eminent qualities of the bilious.”</p> + +<p>A still more compound temperament is the <i>melancholic</i>, in which disease +is added to the bilious temperament, a derangement of the functions of the +nervous system, and the diseased obstruction of some one of the organs of +the abdomen, so that the nutritive functions are feebly or irregularly +performed, the bowels sluggish, the pulse hard and contracted, the +excretions difficult, the imagination gloomy, the disposition suspicious.</p> + +<p>In persons of this temperament, the skin is of a still deeper hue, and the +look uneasy and gloomy. Rousseau and Tiberius are excellent examples of +this temperament, as associated with genius and virtue in one, and with +truly royal vice in the other. In women, this temperament is rarely so +intense as in men.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>Of the <span class="smcaplc">TRANSITIONS</span> of beauty, I have now to observe, that, though one +species of beauty always characterizes the same individual during every +stage of life, yet it is remarkable, that the young woman (whatever +species of beauty predominates) has always a tendency to beauty of the +locomotive system;—that the middle-aged woman has always a tendency to +beauty of the nutritive system;—and that the woman of advanced age has +always a tendency to beauty of the thinking system.</p> + +<p>Some women would seem, in the progress of life, to pass through all these +systems (and the more perfect the whole organization, the more will this +seem to be the case); but the accurate observer will always see the +predominance of the same system.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<h3>PROPORTION, CHARACTER, EXPRESSION, ETC.</h3> + +<p>Winckelmann says: “I cannot imagine beauty without the <span class="smcaplc">PROPORTION</span> which is +always its foundation.—The drawing of the naked figure is founded upon +the idea and the knowledge of beauty; and this idea consists partly in +measures and relations, and partly in forms, the beauty of which was, as +Cicero observes, the object of the first Grecian artists: the latter +determine the figure; the former fix the proportions.”</p> + +<p>The great variety of proportions presented by the human body causes much +difficulty in determining with precision what are the best. The difficulty +becomes quite insurmountable if we attempt to assign precise dimensions to +the details of configuration or to minute parts.</p> + +<p>Many circumstances are opposed to the exactness of these measures. Even in +the same person, one part is rarely in all respects similar to the +corresponding part; we are taller in the morning than in the evening; and +the proportions change at different periods of life. In different +individuals, the differences are still more evident. Moreover, habits, +professions, trades, all unite to oppose regularity in the proportions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>It has farther been observed that, in the conformation of woman, both as +regards the whole and as regards the various parts, nature still more +rarely approaches determinate proportions than in man.</p> + +<p>It is remarked by Hogarth, whose views I now abridge, that in society we +every day hear women pronounce perfectly correct opinions as to the +proportions of the neck, the bosom, the hands, and the arms of other +women, whom they have an interest in observing with severity. It is +evident that, for such an examination, they ought to be capable of +seizing, with great precision, the relation of length and thickness, and +of following the slight sinuosities, the swellings, the depressions, +almost insensible and continually varying, at the surface of the parts +observed. If so, it is certainly in the power of a man of science, with as +observing an eye, to go still farther, and conceive many other necessary +circumstances concerning proportion.</p> + +<p>But he says: “Though much of this matter may be easily understood by +common observation, assisted by science, still I fear it will be difficult +to raise a very clear idea of what constitutes or composes the utmost +beauty of proportion.... We shall soon find that it is chiefly to be +effected by means of the nice sensation we naturally have of what certain +quantities or dimensions of parts are fittest to produce the utmost +strength for moving or supporting great weights, and of what are most fit +for the utmost light agility, as also for every degree, between these two +extremes.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>After some illustrations of this, which naturally leave the method very +vague, he adds: “I am apprehensive that this part of my scheme, for +explaining exact proportion, may not be thought so sufficiently +determinate as could be wished.” So that Hogarth’s method as to +proportions, both general and particular, reduces itself to the employment +of the eye and the nice sensation we have of quantities or dimensions.</p> + +<p>But the Greek artists had not only done what Hogarth thus vaguely speaks +of, but advanced much farther; and indeed all that has been done on this +important subject belongs rather to the history of art than that of +nature.</p> + +<p>“It is not,” says Buffon, “by the comparison of the body of one man with +that of another man, or by measures actually taken in a great number of +subjects, that we can acquire this knowledge [that of proportion]: it is +by the efforts which have been made exactly to copy and imitate nature; it +is to the art of design that we owe all that we know in this respect. +Feeling and taste have done all that mechanics could not do; the rule and +the compass have been quitted in order to profit by the eye; all the +forms, all the outlines, and all the parts of the human body, have been +realized in marble; and we have known nature better by the representation +than by nature itself. It is by great exercise of the art of design and by +an exquisite sentiment, that great statuaries have succeeded in making us +feel the just proportions of the works of nature. The Greeks have formed +such admirable statues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> that with one consent they are regarded as the +most exact representation of the most perfect human body. These statues, +which were only copies from man, are become originals, because these +copies were not made from any individual, but from the whole human species +well observed, so well indeed, that no man has been found whose figure is +so well proportioned as these statues: it is then from these models that +the measures of the human body have been taken.”</p> + +<p>It is now necessary to lay before the reader the principles of the Greeks, +as to the proportions of the human body. Much has been well done on this +subject by Winckelmann, Bossi, and others; but, at the same time, from +want of enlarged anatomical and physiological views, they have overlooked +some fundamental considerations, and have failed to unravel the greatest +difficulties which the subject presents. That the reader may be satisfied +of the accuracy of my representations, I shall lay the statements of these +writers before him in their own words, rendering them only as succinct as +possible.<small><a name="f44.1" id="f44.1" href="#f44">[44]</a></small></p> + +<p>Of the first epoch of art among the Etruscans and Greeks, Mengs says: +“They preferred the most necessary things to those which were less so; and +therefore they directed their attention first to the muscles, and next to +<i>proportion</i>, these <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>constituting the two parts the most useful and +necessary of the human form; and this is, throughout, the character of +their primitive taste. All this we observe in history, and in the divine +and human figures which they have represented.</p> + +<p>“In these figures,” he farther observes, “we find a proportion, impossible +to be known and practised, without an art which furnishes sure <i>rules</i>. +These rules could not be founded otherwise than in proportion, which was +invented and practised by the Greeks.”</p> + +<p>In this, Flaxman agrees, when he says: “It must not be supposed that those +simple geometrical forms of body and limbs, in the divinities and heroes +of antiquity, depended upon accidental choice, or blind and ignorant +arbitration. They are, on the contrary, a consequence of the strict and +extensive examination of nature, of rational inquiry into its most perfect +organization and physical well-being, expressed in outward appearance.”</p> + +<p>“That the Greeks,” says Bossi, “wrote much on this subject [their doctrine +respecting symmetry] we have ample evidence in Pliny, Vitruvius himself, +Philostratus the younger, and others.</p> + +<p>“Polycletus did not confine himself to giving a commentary upon this +fundamental point, but, in illustration of his treatise, according to +Galen, made an admirable statue that confirmed the precepts laid down in +the work; and ‘The Rule of Polycletus,’ the name given to this statue, +became so famous for its beauty, that it passed into a proverb<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> to express +a perfect body, as we may find in Lucian.</p> + +<p>“But of so many writings, which ought at least to equal the works that +remain to us, and probably were superior, inasmuch as it is easier to lay +down precepts than to put them in execution—of so many treatises, I say, +not a fragment remains [except the few lines of Vitruvius], nor is there, +now, any hope that a vestige will be found, unless something may remain +for posterity among the papyri of Herculaneum.”</p> + +<p>Now, to approach to the ancients in excellence is quite impossible, until +some one shall explain the great principles on which they acted. Assuredly +they are, in some of the most important respects, unknown at present. +Servile imitation will never answer the purpose; and to learn as the +ancients did, and reach perfection, perhaps, in as many ages, is not very +rational, when we can avail ourselves of their practice to discover their +principles. I will, in this chapter, endeavor to point out some of these +principles in the practice of art, as I have already done in the general +theory of beauty.</p> + +<p>“It is probable,” says Winckelmann, “that the Grecian artists, in +imitation of the Egyptians, had fixed, by well-determined rules, not only +the largest, but even the very smallest proportions, and the measure of +the length proper to every age and to every kind of contour; and probably +all these rules were learned by young persons, from books that treated of +symmetry.”</p> + +<p>These rules, we know, were of three <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>kinds—numerical, geometrical, and +harmonic; and we shall see, in the sequel, that the loss of them has been +much deplored. It is not a little curious, however, that the numerical and +geometrical methods are, in some measure, actually practised even at the +present day, and that the harmonic method (the loss of which has caused +the greatest confusion) is easily deducible from anatomical and +physiological principles, as I shall endeavor to show.</p> + +<p>As to the <span class="smcaplc">NUMERICAL METHOD</span>, it is evidently that of which Vitruvius has +preserved some notions, and which is at present practised by artists.</p> + +<p>“As it is the painter’s business,” says Bossi, “to imitate a great variety +of human bodies, and as the difference of parts in beautiful bodies is +generally slight, and becomes, as it were, imperceptible, in the most +usual imitations less than life, Leonardo perceived it was necessary for +the artist to use a general measure, for the purpose of preparing +historical compositions quickly. He required that the figure to be +employed should be carefully selected on the model of some natural body, +the proportions of which were generally considered beautiful.—This +measure, he required, should be employed solely for <i>length</i>, and not for +width, which requires more evident variety.”</p> + +<p>“It has been observed,” says Flaxman, “that Vitruvius, from the writings +of the most eminent Greek painters and sculptors, informs us that they +made their figures eight heads high, or ten faces, and he instances +different parts of the figure measured according to that rule, which the +great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> Michael Angelo adopted, as we see by a print from a drawing of +his.”</p> + +<p>Winckelmann, however, shows that the foot served the Greeks as a measure +for all their larger dimensions, and that their sculptors regulated their +proportions by it, in giving six times its length, as the model of the +human figure. Vitruvius says, “<i>Pes vero altitudinis corporis sextæ</i>.”</p> + +<p>“The foot,” says Winckelmann, “which among the ancients was used as the +standard of measures of every magnitude (for a given measure of fluids was +also called by this name), was very useful to sculptors in fixing the +proportions of the body, and with reason; for the foot was a more +determinate measure than that of the head or face, of which the moderns +generally make use. The ancient artists regulated the size of their +statues by the length of the foot, making them, according to Vitruvius, +six times the length of the foot. Upon this principle, Pythagoras +determined the height of Hercules, by the length of the feet with which he +measured the Olympic stadium at Elis.</p> + +<p>“This proportion of six to one between the foot and the body, is founded +upon experience of nature, even in slender figures: it is found correct, +not only in the Egyptian statues, but also in the Grecian; and it will be +discovered in the greater part of the ancient figures where the feet are +preserved.”</p> + +<p>“We would not omit mentioning,” says Bossi, “the erroneous opinion of +those, who esteem the feet of females beautiful in proportion to their +smallness. The beauty of the feet consists in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> handsomeness and +neatness of their shape, not in their being short, or extremely small: +were it otherwise, the feet of the Chinese and Japanese women would be +beautiful, and those of the Venus de Medici frightful.”</p> + +<p>Such, then, is evidently the numerical method of the ancients.—Of the +<span class="smcaplc">GEOMETRICAL METHOD</span>, we have many illustrations.</p> + +<p>A man standing upright, with his arms extended, is, as Leonardo da Vinci +has shown, enclosed in a square, the extreme extent of his arms being +equal to his height. This is evidently the most general measure of the +latter kind.</p> + +<p>Of the latter kind, also, is Camper’s ellipsis for measuring the relative +size of the shoulders in the male, and the pelvis in the female.</p> + +<p>So also is the measure from the centre of one mammæ to that of the other, +as equal to the distance from each to the pit over the breast-bone.</p> + +<p>We now approach the chief difficulty, which evidently formed a +stumbling-block even to Leonardo da Vinci—that <span class="smcaplc">HARMONIC METHOD</span> which, +strange as it may appear, will be found to afford rules that are at once +perfectly <i>precise</i>, and yet infinitely <i>variable</i>. The apparent +impossibility indeed of such a rule seems to have embarrassed every one. +And the statement which Bossi makes in regard to Leonardo da Vinci, in +this respect, is exceedingly interesting.</p> + +<p>“He thought,” says Bossi, “but little of any general measure of the +species; and that <i>the true proportion</i> admitted by him, and acknowledged +to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> be of difficult investigation, is solely <i>the proportion of an +individual in regard to himself</i>, which, according to true imitation, +should be <i>different in all the individuals of a species</i>, as is the case +in nature. Thus, says he, ‘<i>all the parts of any animal should correspond +with the whole</i>; that which is short and thick, should have every member +short and thick; that which is long and thin, every member long and thin; +and that which is between the two, members of a proportionate size.’ From +this and other precepts, it follows, that, when he speaks of proportion, +he is to be understood as referring to the <i>harmony of the parts of an +individual</i>, and not to the general rule of imitation in reference to +dimensions.”—How clearly (notwithstanding the error as to <i>all</i> being +short and thick) does this point to the harmonic method of proportion +forthwith to be explained?</p> + +<p>“It would seem he felt within himself that he did not reach the perfection +of those wonderful ancients of whom he professed himself the admirer and +disciple.</p> + +<p>“It became, therefore, Leonardo’s particular care and study to approach as +nearly as he could to the ancients in the true imitation of beautiful +nature under the guidance of philosophy.</p> + +<p>“But whether from want of great examples, or from not sufficiently +penetrating, as he himself thought, into these artifices, or from +comprehending them too late, he modestly laments that he did not possess +the ancient art of proportions. He then protests that he has done the +little he was able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> to do, and asks pardon of posterity that he has not +done more. Such are the sentiments that Platino exhibits in the following +epitaph:</p> + +<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">“Leonardus Vincia (sic) Florentinus</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Statuarius Pictor que nobilissimus</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">de se parce loquitur.</span><br /> +<br /> +“Non sum Lysippus; nec Apelles; nec Policletus,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nec Zeuxis; nec sum nobilis ære Myron.</span><br /> +Sum Florentinus Leonardus Vincia proles;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mirator veterum discipulusque memor.</span><br /> +<i>Defuit una mihi symmetria prisca</i>: peregi<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Quod potui: veniam da mihi posteritas.”</span></p> + +<p>“It is evident that these sentiments are not to be attributed to the +imagination of the poet.”</p> + +<p>Bossi, having no glimpse of the great principles for which Leonardo sought +in vain, says: “Since, then, this great man could not satisfy himself in +the difficult task of dimensions, while on other points he seems to dread +no censure, it should give us a strong idea of the difficulty of +determining the laws of beautiful symmetry, and preserving it in works +with <i>that harmony which is felt, but cannot be explained, and which +varies in every figure, according to the age, circumstances, and +particular character of each</i>.</p> + +<p>“And when we recollect that, though Leonardo sought successfully in +Vitruvius the proportions which Vitruvius himself seems to have drawn from +the Greeks, he yet lamented that he did not possess the ancient symmetry, +it is easily seen that he did not mean by this science, as already stated, +a determinate general measure for man, but <i>that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>harmony of parts which +is suited to each individual, according to the respective circumstances of +sex, age, character, and the like</i>.” Again, how clearly does this point to +the harmonic method of proportion to be presently explained!</p> + +<p>“But,” Bossi proceeds, “how difficult it is to combine the beautiful and +elegant, with easy and harmonic measures, may be judged from the vain +attempts of many otherwise ingenious men, as I will here relate for the +benefit of artists. The difficulty will be still more evident if we +reflect how arduous a task it is to make the proportions that the Greeks +denominated numerical, harmonic, and geometrical, agree together, and to +apply them thus agreeing, to the formation of rules and measures of a +visible object so various in its component parts as the human body.”—In +despair, Bossi tries to show its absolute impossibility!</p> + +<p>“In the second place, to penetrate completely the natural reason of the +proportions of the human body, would require a knowledge of physics, which +it is not in man’s power to obtain. The universal equilibrium of the +numerous constituent parts of the human machine, every one of which +eminently attains the end for which it was destined, without interrupting +the course that every other part takes to its respective end, in which +true proportion seems to consist, is more easily stated than understood. +And even if an artist could arrive at such a knowledge of man as to be +able, so to speak, to compose him, he would have done but little, because +he would have made but one man. By the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> alteration of only one of the +infinite parts that compose the human frame, the equilibrium and +respective relation of the others are necessarily altered: in short, each +separate individual would be the subject of a totally new study.</p> + +<p>“Every human habit, of whatever nature it may be, has an influence over +the human figure, and from the indefinable variety and incalculable +mixture of such habits, there results an infinite variety of figures. +Thus, it is evident that true general proportions cannot be laid down +without violating nature, which it is the object of art to imitate.”—If, +by “general proportions,” Bossi here means proportions applicable to all +or to a great number, he completely loses sight of the object of the great +man on whose opinions he comments; for he sought <i>a rule for the harmony +of parts in each distinct individual</i>!</p> + +<p>Again, Bossi abandons, as impossible, the finding of the harmonic rule, +which was the great object of Leonardo.—“From what has been said, we may +finally conclude that large proportions only can be established, and that +placing too much confidence in measures, retards, rather than favors the +arts.</p> + +<p>“It was written of Raphael, and is seen, that he had as many proportions +as he made figures. Michael Angelo did the same, and it was his saying, +that he who had not the compasses in his eye, would never be able to +supply the deficiency by artificial means. Vincentio Danti, who treasured +the doctrine of Michael Angelo, asserts in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> work, that the proportions +do not fall under any measure of quantity. We have seen the infinite +exceptions of Leonardo, respecting the measurement of man, and his own few +works confirm it. I speak no more of inferior persons among the moderns; +but turning to the ancients, I find that the proportions of every good +statue are different.”—And this will be found conformable to the harmonic +rule.</p> + +<p>“And speaking generally of works in relievo, what canons can determine the +largeness or smallness of some parts, so as to obtain a greater effect +according to the circumstances of light, distance, material, visual point, +&c.? Certainly none.”—This was not to be expected from the rule sought +for.</p> + +<p>“I shall deem that I have gained some recompense for the toil of wading +through so many tedious works, if it shall induce any faith in the advice +I now give, namely, that ‘every student of painting should himself measure +many bodies of acknowledged beauty, compare them with the finest +imitations in painting and sculpture, and from these measures make a canon +for himself, dividing it in the manner best suited to his genius and +memory. If this plan were more generally adopted, art and its productions +would both be gainers.’”—It might do so, among as ingenious a people as +the Greeks, in as many ages as the same method cost them to do it in! +Leonardo da Vinci wanted to abridge the time, instead of beginning again!</p> + +<p>Winckelmann as little understands this great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> man’s object, when, after +saying, “As the ancients made ideal beauty their principal study, they +determined its relations and proportions,” he adds “from which, however, +they allowed themselves to deviate, when they had a good reason, and +yielded themselves to the guidance of their genius.” Why, the whole +purpose of the rule sought for was to regulate every possible deviation, +as will now be seen.</p> + +<p>The harmonic method of the Greeks—that measure which Leonardo calls the +“true proportion”—“the proportion of an individual in regard to +himself”—“which should be different in all the individuals of a species,” +but in which “all the parts of any animal should correspond with the +whole,” which constitutes “the harmony of the parts of an individual,” and +which, as Bossi adds, “varies in every figure, according to the age, +circumstances, and particular character of each”—in short, <i>this method +for the harmony of parts in each distinct individual—this method +presenting rules, perfectly precise, and yet infinitely variable</i>, has, in +all its elements, been clearly laid before the reader (though not +enunciated as a rule)—in the relative proportions of the locomotive, +nutritive, and thinking systems, or, generally speaking, of the limbs, +trunk, and head, and in the three species of beauty which are founded on +them.</p> + +<p>These, it is evident, present to the philosophic observer, the sole means +of judging of beauty by harmonic rule, the great object of Leonardo da +Vinci’s desires and regrets. They present the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> great features of the Greek +method—if that method conformed to truth and nature, as it undoubtedly +did. This will be rendered still clearer by a single example.</p> + +<p>Thus, if any individual be characterized by the development of the +nutritive system, this harmonic rule of nature demands not only that, as +in the Saxon-English, the Dutch, and many Germans, the trunk shall be +large, but consequently, that the other two portions, the head and the +limbs, shall be relatively small; that the calvarium shall be small and +round, and the intellectual powers restricted; that the head shall, +nevertheless, be broad, because the vital cavities of the head are large, +and because large jaws and muscles of mastication are necessary for the +supply of such a system; that the neck shall be short, because the +locomotive system is little developed; that it shall be thick, because the +vessels which connect the head to the trunk are large and full, the former +being only an appendage of the latter; that the lower limbs shall be both +short and slender; that the calves of the legs shall be small and +high;<small><a name="f45.1" id="f45.1" href="#f45">[45]</a></small> that the feet shall be little turned out, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>So also, if any individual be characterized by the development of the +locomotive system, the harmonic rule demands, not only that the limbs +shall be large, but, consequently, that the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> two portions, the head +and the trunk, shall be relatively small; that the calvarium shall be +small and long, and the intellectual powers limited; that the head shall +be long, because the jaws and their muscles are extended, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>So likewise, if any individual be characterized by the development of the +thinking system, the harmonic rule demands, not only that the head shall +be large, but, consequently, that the other two portions, the trunk and +limbs, shall be relatively small; that the head shall not only be large, +but that its upper part, the calvarium, shall be largest, giving a +pyramidal appearance to the head; that the trunk and limbs, however +elegantly formed, shall be relatively feeble, the former often liable to +disease, the latter to accident, as we have seen in the most illustrious +examples, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>It must be borne in mind, however, as already explained, that there may be +innumerable combinations and modifications of these characteristics; +certain greater ones, nevertheless, generally predominating.</p> + +<p>Such, doubtless, was the harmonic method of the Greeks; whether, by them, +it was thus clearly founded on anthropology, or not.</p> + +<p>It is curious that several writers, and Winckelmann among the rest, should +have adopted a triple division of the body—without, however, duly +founding it in anthropology. Thus Winckelmann says “the entire body is +divided into three parts, and the principal members are also divided into +three. The parts of the body are the trunk, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> thighs, and the legs!”—a +distribution and division founded neither in nature nor in truth.</p> + +<p>That the Greeks were more or less aware of the principles here stated, +though their writings have not descended to us, is proved by their +idealizations founded upon them.</p> + +<p>“If different proportions,” says Winckelmann, “are sometimes met with in +any figure, as for example, in the beautiful trunk of a naked female +figure in the possession of Signior Cavaceppi at Rome, in which the body +from the navel to the sexual parts is of an uncommon length, it is most +probable that such figures have been copied from nature, that is, from +persons so formed.”—Nothing certainly would be better founded in natural +tendency than such idealization.</p> + +<p>All the three Greek methods of proportion being now before the reader, I +must briefly notice other circumstances.</p> + +<p>In the head in particular, may be observed <span class="smcaplc">CHARACTER</span>, or a permanent and +invariable form, which defines its capabilities, and <span class="smcaplc">EXPRESSION</span>, or +temporary and variable forms, which indicate its actual functions.</p> + +<p>The teachers of anatomy for artists have not, that I know of, clearly +described the causes of these. I may therefore observe, that as character +is permanent and invariable, it depends <i>fundamentally</i> on permanent and +invariable parts—the bones; and as expression is temporary and variable, +it depends on shifting and variable parts—the muscles.</p> + +<p>It is well observed by Mengs that, in relation to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> character, “the +peculiar distinction of the ancients is, that from one part of the face, +we may know the character of the whole.” And, of expression, Winckelmann +observes that “the portion which possesses beauty of expression or action, +or beauty of both added to the figure of any person, is like the +resemblance of one who views himself in a fountain; the reflection is not +seen plainly unless the surface of the water be still, limpid, and clear; +quiet and tranquillity are as suitable to beauty as to the sea. Expression +and action being, in art as in nature, the evidence of the active or +passive state of the mind, perfect beauty can never exist in the +countenance unless the mind be calm and free from all agitation, at least +from everything likely to change and disturb the lineaments of which +beauty is composed.”</p> + +<p>Now the details which, during the period of perfection in art, were so +skilfully employed, were these very means of expression or circumstances +attending and indicating them—minuter forms which are universal, and +without which nature is imperfectly represented—minuter forms of the +highest order, because the means of expressing intellect, emotion, and +passion, if required.</p> + +<p>These higher details we find, for instance, in the turn of the inner end +of the eyebrow, or constriction and elevation of the under eyelid, or a +hundred other traits dependant on subjacent muscles. We find them in +slight risings of mere cutaneous parts, when they lie over and are +elevated by the attachment of muscles, as at the inner angles of the +eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> the corners of the mouth, and elsewhere. We find them in +depressions or furrows, when they are drawn down by contiguous muscles. +These are of higher character, because they belong to expression or its +means; and there is a corresponding want of completeness, of truth, of +nature, without them.</p> + +<p>Between these intellectual means, these higher details, and those of a +lower order, accidental details, the great artists of Greece +distinguished. Accidental details have nothing to do with expression or +the means of expression; they depend upon an inferior system, that merely +of life, and constitute all the depositions, excrescences, and growths, +which confuse the vision of the inexperienced, and embarrass that of the +most discriminating, in the examination of higher beauty.</p> + +<p>These lower details we find, for instance, in the puffings of adipose +substance which project from the spaces between the muscles of the face, +and from other accidents of the vital system, as wrinkles or folds from +the absence of adipose substance, fulness or emptiness of the vessels, +projecting veins, peculiar conditions of the skin, turbidity of the eyes, +hairs of the head, beard, or skin, &c. These have always characterized +inferior artists and inferior periods of art.</p> + +<p>From these observations, it will be seen that such unqualified statements +as the following by Azara, lead only to misconception: “A human face, for +example, is composed of the forehead, brows, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, +chin, and beard. These are the great parts; but each of these <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>contains +many other minor parts, which also contain an infinity of others still +less. If the painter will content himself to express well the great parts +which I have taken notice of, he will have a grand style; if he depicts +also the second, his style will be that of mediocrity; and if he pretends +to introduce the last, his style will be insignificant and ridiculous.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +<h3>THE GREEK IDEAL BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>On this important doctrine of art, of which Winckelmann says: “The ideal +is as much more noble than the mechanical as the mind is superior to the +body,” I shall follow, so far as I can advantageously, the great writers +on this subject, in order that the reader may have all the confidence in +its recognised portions that authority can bestow, and that he may the +better distinguish them from the new views which are here added.</p> + +<p>“There are,” says Winckelmann, “two kinds of beauty, individual and ideal: +the former is a combination of the beauties of an individual; the latter, +a selection of beautiful parts from several.</p> + +<p>“The formation of beauty was begun from some beautiful individual, that +is, from the imitation of some beautiful person, as in the representation +of some divinity. Even in the ages when the arts were flourishing, the +goddesses were formed from the models of beautiful women, and even from +those who publicly sold their charms: such was Theodota, of whom Xenophon +speaks. Nor was any one scandalized at it, for the opinion of the ancients +on these matters was very different from ours.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>Winckelmann adds: “There is rarely or never, a body without fault, all the +parts of which are such that it is impossible to find or draw them more +perfect in other persons. The wisest artists, being aware of this ... did +not confine themselves to copying the forms of beauty from one individual +... but seeking what is beautiful from various objects, they endeavored to +combine them together, as the celebrated Parrhasius says in his discourse +with Socrates. Thus, in the formation of their figures, they were not +guided by any personal affections, by which we are frequently led, in the +pursuit of beauty that pleases us, to abandon true beauty.</p> + +<p>“From the selection of the most beautiful parts and their harmonious union +in one figure, arises ideal beauty: nor is this a metaphysical idea, +because all the portions of the human figure taken separately are not +ideal; but merely the entire figure.” And he elsewhere says: “It is called +ideal, not as regards its parts, but as a whole, in which nature can be +surpassed by art.”</p> + +<p>With deeper observation still, he adds that, “though nature tends to +perfection in the formation of individuals, yet she is so constantly +thwarted by the numerous accidents to which humanity is subject, that she +cannot attain the end proposed; so that it is in a manner impossible to +find an individual in whom all parts of the body are perfectly beautiful.”</p> + +<p>It was to the same purport that Proclus had in ancient times said: “He who +takes for his model such forms as nature produces, and confines <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>himself +to an exact imitation of them, will never attain to what is perfectly +beautiful. For the works of nature are full of disproportion, and fall +very short of the true standard of beauty. So that Phidias, when he formed +his Jupiter, did not copy any object ever presented to his sight, but +contemplated only that image which he had conceived in his mind from +Homer’s description.”<small><a name="f46.1" id="f46.1" href="#f46">[46]</a></small></p> + +<p>In short, while the Greek artists perpetually studied nature, they +discovered her best and highest tendencies even in her most perfect forms; +their works accordingly present nothing foreign to that which is strictly +beautiful; they present not only no inferior forms, but no idle ornaments; +and everything in them is accordingly at once simple and sublime.</p> + +<p>Barry<small><a name="f47.1" id="f47.1" href="#f47">[47]</a></small> affords me the means of continuing the view I now wish to +present. “In all individuals,” he says, “of every species, there is +necessarily a visible tendency to a certain point or form. In this point +or form, the standard of each species<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> rests. The deviations from this, +either by excess or deficiency, are of two kinds: first, deviations +indicating a more peculiar adaptation of certain characters of advantage +and utility, such as strength, agility, and so forth; even mental as well +as corporeal, since they sometimes result from habit and education, as +well as from original conformation. In these deviations, are to be found +those ingredients which, in their composition and union, exhibit the +abstract or ideal perfection in the several classes or species of +character. The second kind of deviation is that which, having no reference +to anything useful or advantageous, but rather visibly indicating the +contrary, as being useless, cumbersome, or deficient, is considered as +deformity; and this deformity will be always found different in the +several individuals, by either not being in the same part, in the same +manner, or in the same degree. The points of agreement which indicate the +species, are therefore many; of difference which indicate the deformity, +few.”</p> + +<p>Barry, however, wrongly says: “Mere beauty, then, though always +interesting, is, notwithstanding, vague and indeterminate; as it indicates +no particular expression either of body or mind.” But it indicates the +highest character, the capability of all noble expression, and this is +better than its sacrifice to actuality in one.</p> + +<p>I am now led to the greater rules which their ideal method suggested to +the Greeks. Payne Knight indeed says: “Precise rules and definitions, in +matters of this sort, are merely the playthings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> or tools of +system-builders;” and, unchecked by any recollection of the practical and +unrivalled excellence of the founders of these rules, he adds a great deal +of narrow-minded and mistaken nonsense upon the subject, never +distinguishing between rules in themselves rational, and the stretching of +them to utter inapplicability. On this subject, even Reynolds properly +observes, that “some of the greatest names of antiquity, and those who +have most distinguished themselves in works of genius and imagination, +were equally eminent for their critical skill. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, +and Horace; and among the moderns, Boileau, Corneille, Pope, and Dryden, +are at least instances of genius not being destroyed by attention or +subjection to rules and science.”</p> + +<p>But the grossest errors on this subject have been committed by Alison, who +says: “Artists, in every age, have taken pains to ascertain the most exact +measurement of the human form, and of all its parts.... If the beauty of +form consisted in any original proportion, the productions of the fine +arts would everywhere have testified it; and, in the works of the statuary +and the painter, we should have found only this sole and sacred system of +proportion. The fact however is, as every one knows, that, in such +productions, no such rule is observed; that there is no one proportion of +parts which belongs to the most beautiful productions of these arts; that +the proportions of the Apollo, for instance, are different from those of +the Hercules, the Antinous, the Gladiator, &c.; and that there are not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +in the whole catalogue of ancient statues, two, perhaps, of which the +proportions are actually the same.”</p> + +<p>Now, I believe, we may say that this original or most perfect proportion +is presented in the Apollo, which is not, as generally supposed, an +example of <i>peculiar</i>, but of <i>universal</i> beauty—the locomotive system +presenting as much strength as is compatible with agility, and as much +agility as is compatible with strength, and any other modification of +either ensuring diminution of power; while the vital and mental systems +are equally perfect. Wherever this model is deviated from by the ancient +artists it is <i>peculiar</i> beauty, I believe, that is represented.</p> + +<p>He farther says: “They have imagined also various standards of this +measurement; and many disputes have arisen, whether the length of the +head, of the foot, or of the nose, was to be considered as this central +and sacred standard. Of such questions and such disputes, it is not +possible to speak with seriousness, when they occur in the present times.” +So also Burke says: “It must be likewise shown, that these parts stand in +such a relation to each other, that the comparison between them may be +easily made, and that the affection of the mind may naturally result from +it.”</p> + +<p>Now, no man in his senses ever cared which of these measures was adopted, +except as a matter of convenience, or ever imagined that peculiar virtue +resided in any of them.</p> + +<p>The following are some of the principal rules<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> which either by intuition +or with due definition, resulted from and guided the practice of the +ancient Greeks.</p> + +<p>First, in regard to the <span class="smcaplc">THINKING SYSTEM</span>, when the ancient artists, either +from taste or from principle, gave greater opening to the facial angle +than eighty degrees, they believed that an increase of intelligence +corresponded to that conformation. By increasing the angle beyond +eighty-five degrees, they impressed upon their figures the grandest +character, as we see in the heads of the Apollo, the Venus, and others +whose facial angle extends to or exceeds ninety degrees.</p> + +<p>In regard to <i>the forehead</i>, then, this afforded their rule for +distinguishing beings of a superior kind. How well they observed the +tendency of nature to increase that angle with the increase of some of the +thinking faculties, we now know. This ideal rule was, therefore, admirably +founded.</p> + +<p>Whoever reflects on the nature of this angle will perceive that its +increase tended nowise to raise the forehead, but to throw it forward, and +therefore to lengthen the head. This conforms to the metaphor by which a +<i>long head</i> is used for a <i>wise head</i>, and which has not yet given place +to a <i>broad head</i>, preferred by the German craniologists, in compliment to +their own organization.</p> + +<p>With regard to the height of the forehead, it has already been observed +that it was, among the ancient Greeks, more considerable than its breadth, +as may be seen by the busts of their most illustrious men. Still, neither +the natural nor the ideal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> forehead much exceeded the space from the +forehead to the bottom of the nose, or that from the nose to the bottom of +the chin.</p> + +<p>Winckelmann accordingly says: “The forehead to be beautiful should be low +[meaning, as his expressions elsewhere show, no higher than the other two +spaces just mentioned]; and its lowness was so fixed among the ideas of +beauty by the Grecian artists, that it serves as a mark to distinguish +modern heads from ancient. The reason of this appears founded in the very +rules of proportion, which, as in the whole human body, was among the +ancients tripartite: thus, the face also was divided into three parts; so +that the forehead should be of the same length as the nose, and the +remainder of the face to the chin of the same length likewise. This +proportion was founded on observation, and we may at any time convince +ourselves of it in any individual with a low forehead, by covering with a +finger the hair at the top of the forehead, so as to render it so much +higher, and we shall then see a want of harmony of proportion and how +detrimental a high forehead is to beauty.”</p> + +<p>These views of Winckelmann, the ideal rule which they illustrate, and, +above all, the actual dimension of the forehead among the philosophers, +the poets, and the legislators of Greece, whose genius has been unequalled +in modern times, show the folly of the craniological hypothesis. The +reason of the ideal rule has not, indeed, been assigned: it appears to me +to be this, that the three parts of the face which, as I have shown both +here and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> in my work on physiognomy, are respectively connected with +ideas, emotions, and passions, should be equal one to another, or that +these acts of the organs of sense and brain should be in due proportion +and harmony. While, therefore, I do not, with the craniologists, seek the +predominance of any one of them, neither do I, with Giovani de Laet, take +no notice of the space between the top of the head and the commencement of +the forehead, and say this part is not to be considered in the height of a +man, <i>quia pars excrementosa est</i>!</p> + +<p>Their next rule regarded the form of <i>the nose</i>, in nearly the same line +with the forehead, and with little indentation between these parts.</p> + +<p>The foundation of this rule I have not seen pointed out; and it was indeed +difficult of discovery, without previous knowledge of the physiological +fact first mentioned in my physiognomical work, namely, that the nose is +the inlet of vital emotion or pleasure, as the eye is of mental emotion; +while the passions connected with nutrition and thought respectively, +depend upon other organs, the mouth and the ear. Anatomists know how +closely associated are the nose and the eyes, and the mouth and the ears, +respectively.</p> + +<p>Now, as in these ideal representations, their object was to increase the +means of emotion, but not those of passion, the organs of the former, the +nose and the eyes, were all, at the same time, enlarged by raising the +junction of the forehead and the nose; while those of passion, the mouth +and the ears, were relatively decreased. Not only was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> passage of nose +or of the olfactory nerves to the brain strikingly dilated by this +elevation of the intermediate part, but the orbits of the eyes were +enlarged. As then we naturally associate the increase of organs with the +increase of their sensations and with corresponding effects upon the +brain, and as the tendency to such configuration is as conspicuous in the +countries they inhabited, as is the energy of the emotions with which they +are connected, this rule was as admirably founded as the former in natural +tendencies.</p> + +<p>I deem this a pendant to Camper’s discovery of the facial angle, and one +too which was not quite so obvious or so easy to be made. It disposes of +this middle or intermediate part of the face, and shows that the Greeks in +beings of the highest character, desired the gradual predominance of +emotion over passion, and of ideas or intellect over emotion.</p> + +<p>A vague feeling of the curious fact I have here explained, Alison, as a +man of taste, had, when he said: “Apply, however, this beautiful form, to +the countenance of the warrior, the bandit, the martyr, &c., or to any +countenance which is meant to express deep or powerful <i>passion</i>, and the +most vulgar spectator would be sensible of dissatisfaction, if not +disgust.”</p> + +<p>In endeavoring to assign a reason for the configuration which I have just +explained, Winckelmann, in ascribing it to the mere production of effect, +is driven into a ridiculous inconsistency. He thinks that for large +statues seen at a distance, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> was necessary, and so came to be used for +small medals seen near, for which it was not necessary.</p> + +<p>“In the heads of statues, and particularly in ideal heads, the eyes are +deeper set: the bulb remains more deep than is usual in nature, in which +sunken eyes render the countenance austere and cunning instead of calm and +joyful. In this respect, art has departed with reason from nature; for, in +figures placed to be seen at a distance, if the bulb of the eye were level +with the edge of the orbit, there would be no effect produced of light and +shade; and the eye itself, placed under the eyebrows which do not project, +would be dull and inexpressive. This maxim, adopted for large statues, +became in time universal; so that it may be observed even on medals, not +only in ideal heads but in portraits.” And elsewhere he says: “Art +subsequently established it as a rule to give this form to the eyes even +in small figures, as may be seen in the heads on coins.”</p> + +<p>Thus Winckelmann’s reason avowedly explains only the half of that to which +it is applied, and in reality explains nothing, because it leaves a gross +inconsistency, of which Greek genius was incapable.</p> + +<p>Of the general outline thus formed of the face, Winckelmann more truly +says: “In the formation of the face, the Greek profile is the principal +characteristic of sublime beauty. This profile is produced by the straight +line, or the line but very slightly indented, which the forehead and nose +form in youthful faces, especially female ones.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Nature seems less +disposed to accord this form to the face in cold than in mild and +temperate climes; but wherever this profile is found, it is always +beautiful. The straight full line expresses a kind of greatness, and, +gently curved, it presents the idea of agreeable delicacy. That in these +profiles exists one cause of beauty is proved by the character of the +opposite line; for the greater the inflection of the nose, the less +beautiful is the face; and if, when seen sidewise, it presents a bad +profile, it is useless to look for beauty in any other view.”</p> + +<p>A <i>third rule</i> of the Greek artists, in heads of the highest character, is +greatly illustrated by the new views just stated. If, in these, they +desired to render ideas and intellect more dominant than emotions of +pleasure or pain, and emotions more dominant than passion, it becomes +evident why they equally sought to avoid the convulsions of impassioned +expression.</p> + +<p>A very beautiful object of this, is mistaken by Winckelmann. I quote his +words:—</p> + +<p>“Taken in either sense [of action or of passion], expression changes the +features of the face, and the disposition of the body, and, consequently, +the forms which constitute beauty; and the greater the change, the greater +the loss of beauty. Therefore, the state of tranquillity and repose was +considered as a fundamental point in the art. Tranquillity is the state +proper to beauty.</p> + +<p>“The handsomest men are generally the most mild and the best disposed.</p> + +<p>“Besides, tranquillity and repose, both in men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> and animals, is the state +which allows us best to examine and represent their nature and qualities; +as we can see the bottom of the sea or rivers only when the waves are +tranquil and the stream runs smoothly.</p> + +<p>“Therefore, the Grecian artists, wishing to depict, in their +representations of their deities, the perfection of human beauty, strove +to produce, in their countenances and actions, a certain placidity without +the slightest change or perturbation, which, according to their +philosophy, was at variance with the nature and character of the gods. The +figures produced in this state of repose, expressed a perfect equilibrium +of feeling.</p> + +<p>“But, as complete tranquillity and repose cannot exist in figures in +action, and even the gods are represented in human form, and subject to +human affections, we must not always expect to find in them the most +sublime idea of beauty. This is then compensated for by expression. The +ancient artists, however, never lost sight of it: it was always their +principal object, to which expression was in some sort made subservient.</p> + +<p>“Beauty without expression would be insignificant, and expression without +beauty would be unpleasing; but, from their influence over each other, +from combining together their apparently discordant qualities, results an +eloquent, persuasive, and interesting beauty.”</p> + +<p>Some of these remarks are true and beautiful; but <i>the great object of the +Greeks, in suppressing the convulsions of impassioned expression, was the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>bestowal of grace</i>, the highest quality in all representation. It is +surprising that this should have been so universally overlooked, that, +even among artists, nothing is more common than to hear regrets that the +Greeks gave so little expression to their figures! Let the reader now +peruse again Dr. Smith’s and Mr. Alison’s account of grace, and if he is +acquainted with the productions of ancient art, he will see that the +Greeks suppressed impassioned expression only to bestow the highest degree +of grace. Those, therefore, who complain of this, show themselves ignorant +of the best object of their art.</p> + +<p>If the explanation of this great purpose be clearly borne in mind, the +remaining observations of Winckelmann will receive a better application +than that to which he limited them:—</p> + +<p>“Repose and tranquillity may be regarded as the effect of that composed +manner which the Grecians studied to show in their actions and gestures. +Among them, a hurried gait was regarded as contrary to the idea of decent +deportment, and partaking somewhat of expressive boldness.... While on the +other hand, slow and regulated motions of the body were proofs among the +ancients of a great mind.</p> + +<p>“The highest idea of tranquillity and composure is found expressed in the +representations of the divinities; so that from the father of the gods to +the inferior deities, their figures appear free from the influence of any +affection. The greatest of the poets thus describes Jupiter as making all +Olympus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> tremble by merely moving his eyebrow or shaking his locks.... All +the figures of Jupiter are not however made in the same style.</p> + +<p>“The Vatican Apollo represents this god quiet and tranquil after the death +of the serpent Python which he had slain with a dart, and should also +express a certain contempt for a victory so easy to him. The skilful +artist, who wished to imbody the most beautiful of the gods, has depicted +anger in the nose, which according to the most ancient poets was the seat +of it, and contempt in the lips: contempt is expressed by the drawing up +of the under lip, and anger by the expansion of the nostrils.</p> + +<p>“The expression of the passions in the face should accord with the +attitude and gestures of the body; and the latter should be suitable to +the dignity of the gods in their statues and figures: from this results +its propriety.</p> + +<p>“In representing the figures of heroes, the ancient artist exercised equal +care and judgment; and expressed only those human affections which are +suitable for a wise man, who represses the violence of his passions, and +scarcely allows a spark of the internal flame to be seen, so as to leave +to those who are desirous of it, the trouble of finding out what remains +concealed.</p> + +<p>“We have examples of this in two of the most beautiful works of antiquity, +one of which is the image of the fear of certain death, the other of +suffering exceeding anguish.</p> + +<p>“Niobe and her daughters, against whom Diana shot her fatal arrows, are +represented as seized with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> terror and horror, in that state of +indescribable anguish, when the sight of instant and inevitable death +deprives the mind of the power of thought. Of this state of stupor and +insensibility, the fable gives us an idea in the metamorphosis of Niobe +into a stone; and hence Æschylus introduces her in his tragedy as stunned +and speechless. In such a moment, when all thought and feeling ceases, in +a state bordering upon insensibility, the appearance is not altered nor +any feature of the face disturbed, and the mighty artist could here depict +the most sublime beauty, and has indeed done so. Niobe and her daughters +are, and ever will be, the most perfect models of beauty.</p> + +<p>“Laocoon is the image of the most acute grief, that puts the nerves, the +muscles, and the veins, in action. His blood is in a state of extreme +agitation from the venomous bite of the serpents; every part of his body +evinces pain and suffering; and the artist has put in motion, so to speak, +all the springs of nature, and thus made known the extent of his art and +the depth of his knowledge. In the representation, however, of this +excessive torment, we can still recognise the conduct of a brave man +struggling against his misfortunes, stifling the emotions of his anguish, +and striving to repress them.”</p> + +<p>“The ancient artists have preserved this air of composure even in their +dancing figures, except the Bacchanals; and thus an opinion obtained that +the action of their figures should be modelled on the manners adopted in +their ancient dances, and therefore, in their later dances, the ancient +figures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> served as a model to the performers to prevent their overstepping +the bounds of a modest deportment:</p> + +<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Molli diducunt candida gestu</span><br /> +Brachia.<span class="spacer2"> </span><i>Propert.</i></p> + +<p>“No immoderate or violent passions are ever found expressed in the public +works of the ancients.</p> + +<p>“The knowledge of the ancients cannot be better known than by comparing +their performances with the majority of those of the moderns, in which a +little is expressed by much, instead of much by a little. This is what the +Greeks call <ins class="correction" title="parenthyrsos">παρενθύρσος</ins>; a word that aptly expresses the defect +produced by too much expression in modern artists. Their figures resemble +in action the comedians of the ancient theatre, who, to render themselves +visible even to the most distant portion of the audience, were compelled +to exceed the limits of nature and truth; and the faces of modern figures +are like the ancient masks, which for the same reason, the increase of +expression, became hideous.</p> + +<p>“This excess of expression is taught in a book which goes into the hands +of all young artists, ‘A Treatise on the Passions,’ by Carlo Le Brun, and +in the annexed drawings, not only is the highest degree of passion +expressed on the face, but in some even to madness.”</p> + +<p>Hence, we may say with Azara, that “the Greeks possessed that art in such +perfection, that in their statues one scarcely discovers that they had +thought of expression, and nevertheless each says that which it ought to +say. They are in a repose which shows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> all the beauty without any +alteration; and a soft and sweet motion, of the mouth, the eyes, or the +mere action, expresses the effect, enchanting at once the mind and the +senses.”</p> + +<p>In the inferior beings, however, when passion is expressed, the features +are varied by the Greek artists as they are in nature.</p> + +<p>Such are the great ideal rules with regard to the head and the functions +of thought.</p> + +<p>With regard to the body and the <span class="smcaplc">NUTRITIVE SYSTEM</span>, the Greeks similarly +idealized. “Seeking for images of worship, consequently of a nature +superior to our own, so that they might awaken in the mind veneration and +love, they thought that the representations most worthy of the Divinity, +and most likely to attract the attention of man, would be those expressing +the continuance of the gods in eternal youth and in the prime of life.</p> + +<p>“To the idea derived from the poets, of the eternal youth of the deities, +whether male or female, was added another by which they supposed the +female divinities should have all the appearance of virgins.</p> + +<p>“The form of the breast in the figures of the divinities, is like that of +a virgin, which, to be beautiful, must possess a moderate fulness. This +was particularly shown in the breasts, which the artists represented +without nipples, like those of young girls, whose cincture, in the poet’s +phrase, Lucina has not yet undone.</p> + +<p>On their treatment of the limbs and <span class="smcaplc">LOCOMOTIVE SYSTEM</span>, Hogarth throws +light; and, as I am not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> aware that he was anticipated in this respect, I +quote him:—</p> + +<p>“May be,” he says, “I cannot throw a stronger light on what has been +hitherto said of proportion, than by animadverting on a remarkable beauty +in the Apollo Belvidere, which hath given it the preference even to the +Antinous: I mean a superaddition of greatness, to at least as much beauty +and grace as is found in the latter.</p> + +<p>“These two masterpieces of art are seen together in the same apartment at +Rome, where the Antinous fills the spectator with admiration only, while +the Apollo strikes him with surprise, and, as travellers express +themselves, with an appearance of something more than human; which they of +course are always at a loss to describe: and this effect, they say, is the +more astonishing, as, upon examination, its disproportion is evident even +to a common eye. One of the best sculptors we have in England, who lately +went to see them, confirmed to me what has been now said, particularly as +to the legs and thighs being too long, and too large for the upper parts.</p> + +<p>“Although, in very great works, we often see an inferior part neglected, +yet here it cannot be the case, because, in a fine statue, just proportion +is one of its essential beauties: therefore, it stands to reason, that +these limbs must have been lengthened on purpose, otherwise it might have +been easily avoided.</p> + +<p>“So that if we examine the beauties of this figure thoroughly we may +reasonably conclude,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> that what has been hitherto thought so unaccountably +excellent in its general appearance, has been owing to what has seemed a +blemish in a part of it: but let us endeavor to make this matter as clear +as possible, as it may add more force to what has been said.</p> + +<p>“Statues, by being bigger than life (as this one is, and larger than the +Antinous), always gain some nobleness in effect, according to the +principle of quantity, but this alone is not sufficient to give what is +properly to be called greatness in proportion.... Greatness of proportion +must be considered as depending on the application of quantity to those +parts of the body where it can give more scope to its grace in movement, +as to the neck for the larger and swanlike turns of the head, and to the +legs and thighs, for the more ample sway of all the upper parts together.</p> + +<p>“By which we find that the Antinous being equally magnified to the +Apollo’s height, would not sufficiently produce that superiority of +effect, as to greatness, so evidently seen in the latter. The additions +necessary to the production of this greatness in proportion, as it there +appears added to grace, must then be, by the proper application of them to +the parts mentioned only.</p> + +<p>“I know not how farther to prove this matter than by appealing to the +reader’s eye, and common observation, as before.... The Antinous being +allowed to have the justest proportion possible, let us see what addition, +upon the principle of quantity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> can be made to it, without taking away +any of its beauty.</p> + +<p>“If we imagine an addition of dimensions to the head, we shall immediately +conceive it would only deform—if to the hands or feet, we are sensible of +something gross and ungenteel—if to the whole lengths of the arms, we +feel they would be dangling and awkward—if, by an addition of length or +breadth to the body, we know it would appear heavy and clumsy—there +remains then only the neck, with the legs and thighs to speak of; but to +these we find, that not only certain additions may be admitted without +causing any disagreeable effect, but that thereby greatness, the last +perfection as to the proportion, is given to the human form, as is +evidently expressed in the Apollo.”</p> + +<p>This is well done by Hogarth. It required but a little anatomical +knowledge to see the reason of this. The length of the neck, by which the +head is farther detached from the trunk, shows the independence of the +higher intellectual system upon the lower one of mere nutrition; and the +length of limbs shows that the mind had ready obedience in locomotive +power.</p> + +<p>I have now to obviate some <span class="smcaplc">OBJECTIONS</span> to the existence of simple, pure, +high, and perfect ideal beauty, objections, which writers on this subject +have hitherto neglected.</p> + +<p>Alison says: “The proportions of the form of the infant are very different +from those of youth; these again from those of manhood; and these again +perhaps still more from those of old age and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> decay.... Yet every one +knows, not only that each of these periods is susceptible of beautiful +form, but, what is much more, that the actual beauty in every period +consists in the preservation of the proportions peculiar to that period, +and that these differ in every article almost from those that are +beautiful in other periods of the life of the same individual.”</p> + +<p>But the beauty of the infant is not perfect beauty: it is that, on the +contrary, of mere promise, not that of fulfilment. So also the beauty of +old age is not perfect beauty: it is that, on the contrary, which affects +and interests us chiefly by the regret we feel that its perfection has +passed, or is gradually vanishing.</p> + +<p>“The same observation,” says Alison, “is yet still more obvious with +regard to the difference of sex. In every part of the form, the +proportions which are beautiful in the two sexes are different; and the +application of the proportions of the one to the form of the other, is +everywhere felt as painful and disgusting.” So also says Burke: “Let us +rest a moment on this point; and consider how much difference there is +between the measures that prevail in many similar parts of the body, in +the two sexes of this single species only. If you assign any determinate +proportions to the limbs of man, and if you limit human beauty to these +proportions, when you find a woman who differs in the make and measure of +almost every part, you must conclude her not to be beautiful in spite of +the suggestions of your imagination; or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> in obedience to your imagination +you must renounce your rules; you must lay by the scale and compass, and +look out for some other cause of beauty. For, if beauty be attached to +certain measures which operate from a principle in nature, why should +similar parts with different measures of proportion be found to have +beauty, and this, too, in the very same species?”</p> + +<p>To this I might say the beauty of woman is not the highest beauty: it is +beauty of the nutritive more than of the higher thinking system. But there +is another and a better answer: the difference of sex which affects all +the higher animals is a greater difference than that which subsists +between some of their varieties or even of their species; and the same +laws of ideal beauty are as inapplicable to different sexes as to +different species.</p> + +<p>“We see, every day, around us,” says Alison, “some forms of our species +which affect us with sentiments of beauty. In our own sex, we see the +forms of the legislator, the man of rank, the general, the man of science, +the private soldier, the sailor, the laborer, the beggar, &c. In the other +sex, we see the forms of the matron, the widow, the young woman, the +nurse, the domestic servant, &c.... We expect different proportions of +form from the painter, in his representation of a warrior and a shepherd, +of a senator and of a peasant, of a wrestler and a boatman, of a savage +and of a man of cultivated manners.... We expect, in the same manner, from +the statuary, very different <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>proportions in the forms of Jove and of +Apollo [this should have been excepted], of Hercules and of Antinous, of a +Grace and of Andromache, of a Bacchanal and of Minerva,” &c.</p> + +<p>That, in all these cases, the beauty is partial, is evident from the +circumstance that what is found in one is wanting in another; and partial +beauty is not perfect beauty. But this last point has been well stated by +Reynolds and Barry.</p> + +<p>“To the principle I have laid down,” says Reynolds, “that the idea of +beauty in each species of being is an invariable one, it may be objected, +that in every particular species there are various central forms which are +separate and distinct from each other, and yet are undeniably beautiful; +that in the human figure, for instance, the beauty of Hercules is one, of +the Gladiator another, of the Apollo another [again the same error]; which +makes so many different ideas of beauty.... It is true, indeed, that these +figures are each perfect in their kind, though of different character and +proportions; but still none of them is the representation of an +individual, but of a class. And as there is one general form, which, as I +have said, belongs to the human kind at large, so in each of these classes +there is one common idea and central form, which is the abstract of the +various individual forms belonging to that class. Thus, though the forms +of childhood and age differ exceedingly, there is a common form in +childhood, and a common form in age, which is the more perfect, as it is +more remote from all peculiarities. But I must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> add farther, that though +the most perfect forms of each of the general divisions of the human +figure are ideal, and superior to any individual form of that class, yet +the highest perfection of the human figure is not to be found in any one +of them. It is not in the Hercules, nor in the Gladiator, nor in the +Apollo, but in that form which is taken from all, and which partakes +equally of the activity of the Gladiator, of the delicacy of the Apollo, +and of the muscular strength of the Hercules. For perfect beauty in any +species must combine all the characters which are beautiful in that +species. It cannot consist in any one to the exclusion of the rest: no +one, therefore, must be predominant, that no one may be deficient.”</p> + +<p>“A high degree of particular character,” says Barry, “cannot be +superinduced upon pure or simple beauty without altering its constituent +parts; this is peculiar to grace only; for particular characters consist, +as has been observed before, in those deviations from the general standard +for the better purpose of effecting utility and power, and become so many +species of a higher order; where nature is elevated into grandeur, +majesty, and sublimity.”</p> + +<p>There is <span class="smcaplc">AN IDEAL IN ATTITUDE</span> as well as in the form of the head and body.</p> + +<p>This ideal is exactly opposed to the academical rule mentioned by +Dufresnoy, Reynolds, and others, namely, that the right leg and left arm, +or the left leg and right arm, should be advanced or withdrawn together. +These are the mere attitudes of progression, not those of expression; and +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> academical rule is only an academical blunder. To anything but +walking—to the free and unembarrassed expressions of the body, it is, +indeed, quite inapplicable, and could produce only contortion.</p> + +<p>The rule of ideal attitude, which I long ago deduced, both from +physiological principles, and from the practice of the Greek artists, is +that all the parts of one side of the body should be advanced or withdrawn +together; that when one side is advanced, the other should be withdrawn; +and that when the right arm is elevated, extended, or bent forward, the +left leg should be elevated, extended, or bent backward—in all respects +the reverse of the academical rule, so complacently mentioned by +Dufresnoy, Reynolds, &c.</p> + +<p>The foundation of this rule in the necessary balance of the body, and that +distribution of motion which equally animates every part, must be obvious +to every one. It is illustrated by the finest statues of the Greeks, +wherever the expression intended was free and unembarrassed, and even in +those, as the Laocoon and his sons, where, though the action was +constrained and convulsive, the sculptor was yet at liberty to employ the +most beautiful attitude. It is abandoned in these great works, when either +action embarrassed by purpose, or clownishness, as in the Dancing Faun, +are expressed.<small><a name="f48.1" id="f48.1" href="#f48">[48]</a></small></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>I have now only to add, with Moreau, that individual beauty, the most +perfect, differs always greatly from the ideal, and that which is least +removed from it, is very difficult to be found. Hence, in all languages, +the epithet <i>rare</i> is attached to beauty; and the Italians even call it +<i>pellegrina</i>, foreign, to indicate that they have not frequently an +opportunity of seeing it: they speak of “<i>bellezze +pellegrine</i>,”—“<i>leggiadria singolare e pellegrina</i>.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3>THE IDEAL OF FEMALE BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p class="center">“Hominum divûmque voluptas, alma Venus.”</p> + +<p>Of this, the most perfect models have been created by Grecian art. Few, we +are told, were the living beauties, from whom such ideal model could be +framed. The difficulty of finding these among the women of Greece, must +have been considerable, when Praxiteles and Apelles were obliged to have +recourse, in a greater or less degree, to the same person, for the +beauties of the Venus of Cnidos, executed in white marble, and the Venus +of Cos, painted in colors. It is asserted by Athenæeus, that both these +productions were, in some measure, taken from Phryne of Thespia, in +Bœotia, then a courtesan at Athens.</p> + +<p>Both productions are said to have represented Phryne coming out of the +sea, on the beach of Sciron, in the Saronic gulf, between Athens and +Eleusis, where she was wont to bathe.</p> + +<p>It is said, that there, at the feast of Neptune, Phryne, in the presence +of the people of Eleusis, having cast aside her dress, and allowing her +long hair to fall over her shoulders, plunged into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> sea, and sported +long amid its waves. An immense number of spectators covered the shore; +and when she came out of it, all exclaimed, “It is Venus who rises from +the waters!” The people would actually have taken her for the goddess, if +she had not been well known to them.</p> + +<p>Apelles and Praxiteles, we are told, were both upon the shore; and both +resolved to represent the birth of Venus according to the beautiful model +which they had just beheld.</p> + +<p>Such is said to have been the origin of two of the greatest works of +antiquity. The work of Apelles, known under the name of Venus Anadyomene, +was placed by Cesar in the temple of Venus Genitrix, after the conquest of +Greece. An idea of the sculpture of Praxiteles is supposed to have been +imperfectly preserved to modern times in the Venus de Medici.</p> + +<p>We are farther told, that, after having studied several attitudes, Phryne +fancied to have discovered one more favorable than the rest for displaying +all her perfections; and that both painter and sculptor were obliged to +adopt her favorite posture. From this cause, the Venus of Cnidos, and the +Venus of Cos, were so perfectly alike, that it was impossible to remark +any difference in their features, contour, or more particularly in their +attitude.</p> + +<p>The painting of Apelles, it is added, was far from exciting so much +enthusiasm among the Greeks, as the sculpture of Praxiteles. They fancied +that the marble moved; that it seemed to speak; and their illusion, says +Lucian, was so great, that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> ended by applying their lips to those of +the goddess.<small><a name="f49.1" id="f49.1" href="#f49">[49]</a></small></p> + +<p>“Praxiteles,” says Flaxman, “excelled in the highest graces of youth and +beauty. He is said to have excelled not only other sculptors, but himself, +by his marble statues in the Ceramicus of Athens; but his Venus was +preferable to all others in the world, and many sailed to Cnidos for the +purpose of seeing it. This sculptor having made two statues of Venus, one +with drapery, the other without, the Coans preferred the clothed figure, +on account of its severe modesty, the same price being set upon each. The +citizens of Cnidos took the rejected statue, and afterward refused it to +King Nicomedes, who would have forgiven them an immense debt in return; +but they were resolved to suffer anything so long as this statue by +Praxiteles ennobled Cnidos.... This figure is known by the descriptions of +Lucian and Cedrenus, and it is represented on a medal of Caracalla and +Plautilla, in the imperial cabinet of France. This Venus was still in +Cnidos during the reign of the emperor Alcadius, about four hundred years +after Christ.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> This statue seems to offer the first idea of the Venus de +Medici, which is likely to be the repetition of another Venus, the work of +this artist.” He elsewhere says of the Venus of Praxiteles, it was “the +most admired female statue of all antiquity, whose beauty is as perfect as +it is elevated, and as innocent as perfect; from which the Medicean Venus +seems but a deteriorated variety.”</p> + +<p>Flaxman states that he himself had seen, in the stables of the Braschi +palace, a statue which he supposed might be the original work of +Praxiteles. Strange to tell, nothing is now known of its fate! A supposed +cast from this, or from a copy of it, conforming to the figure on the +model of Caracalla, is to be seen at the Royal Academy.</p> + +<p>Of the <span class="smcap">Venus de Medici</span>, Flaxman says, it “was so much a favorite of the +Greeks and Romans, that a hundred ancient repetitions of this statue have +been noticed by travellers. The individual figure is said to have been +found in the forum of Octavia. The style of sculpture seems to have been +later than Alexander the Great.</p> + +<p>Let us now briefly examine this Model of Female Beauty.</p> + +<p>The Venus de Medici represents woman at that age when every beauty has +just been perfected. “The Venus de Medici at Florence,” says Winckelmann, +“is like a rose which, after a beautiful daybreak, expands its leaves to +the first ray of the sun, and represents that age when the limbs assume a +more finished form and the breast begins to develop itself.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>The size of the head is sufficiently small to leave that predominance to +the vital organs in the chest, which, as already said, makes the nutritive +system peculiarly that of woman. This is the first and most striking proof +of the profound knowledge of the artist, the principles of whose art +taught him that the vast head, on the contrary, was the characteristic of +a very different female personage.<small><a name="f50.1" id="f50.1" href="#f50">[50]</a></small>—In mentioning the head, it is +scarcely possible to avoid noticing the rich curls of the hair.</p> + +<p>The eyes next fix our attention by their soft, sweet, and glad expression. +This is produced with exquisite art. To give softness, the ridges of the +eyebrows are rounded. To give sweetness, the under eyelid, which I would +call the expressive one, is slightly raised. “The eyes of Venus,” says +Winckelmann, “are smaller, and the slight elevation of the lower eyelid +produces that languishing look called by the Greeks <ins class="correction" title="hygron">ὑγρὸν</ins>.” To +give the expression of gladness or of pleasure, the opening of the eyelids +is diminished, in order to diminish, or partially to exclude, the excess +of those impressions, which make even pleasure painful. Other exquisite +details about those eyes, confer on them unparalleled beauty. Still, as +observed by the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> writer, this look is far from those traits +indicative of lasciviousness, with which some modern artists have thought +to characterize their Venuses. Love was considered by the ancient masters, +as by the wise philosophers of those times, to use the expression of +Euripides, as the counsellor of wisdom: <ins class="correction" title="tê sophia paredrous erôtas">τῆ +σοφία παρέδρους +ἔρωτας</ins>. One thing must be observed: there is not here, as in some less +happy representations of Venus, any downcast look, but that aspect of +which Metastasio, in his Inno a Venere, says:</p> + +<p class="poem">“Tu colle lucide<br /> +Pupille chiare,<br /> +Fai lieta e fertile<br /> +La terra e’l mare.”</p> + +<p>And again:</p> + +<p class="poem">“Presto à tuoi placidi<br /> +Astri ridenti,<br /> +Le nubi fuggono,<br /> +Fuggono i venti.”<span class="foot"><a name="f51.1" id="f51.1" href="#f51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<p>Art still profounder was perhaps shown in the configuration of the nose. +The peculiar connexion of this sense with love was evidently well +understood by the great artist; and it is only gross ignorance that has +made some persons question the appropriateness of that development of the +organ which is here represented. Not only is smell peculiarly associated +with love, in all the higher <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>animals, but it is associated with +reproduction in plants, the majority of which evolve delicious odors only +when the flowers or organs of fructification are +displayed.<small><a name="f52.1" id="f52.1" href="#f52">[52]</a></small>—Connected, indeed, with the capacity of the nose, and the +cavities which open into it, is the projection of the whole middle part of +the face.</p> + +<p>In the mouth, also, is transcendent art displayed. It is rendered sweet +and delicate by the lips being undeveloped at their angles,<small><a name="f53.1" id="f53.1" href="#f53">[53]</a></small> and by the +upper lip continuing so, for a considerable portion of its length. It +expresses love of pleasure by the central development of both lips, and +active love by the especial development of the lower lip.<small><a name="f54.1" id="f54.1" href="#f54">[54]</a></small> By the +slight opening of the lips, it expresses desire.<small><a name="f55.1" id="f55.1" href="#f55">[55]</a></small></p> + +<p>These exquisite details, and the omission of nothing intellectually +expressive that nature presents, have led some to imagine the Venus de +Medici to be a portrait. In doing so, however, they see not the profound +calculation required for nearly every feature thus imbodied. More +strangely still, they forget the ideal character of the whole: the notion +of this ideal head being too small, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> especially opposed to such an +opinion. If more is wanting, it will surely be enough that the other works +which we are supposed to possess of Praxiteles, the Faun and the Cupid, +present similar fine details.<small><a name="f56.1" id="f56.1" href="#f56">[56]</a></small></p> + +<p>Withal, the look is amorous and languishing, without being lascivious, and +is as powerfully marked by gay coquetry, as by charming innocence.</p> + +<p>The young neck is exquisitely formed. Its beautiful curves show a thousand +capabilities of motion; and its admirably-calculated swell over the organ +of voice, results from, and marks, the struggling expression of still +mysterious love.</p> + +<p>In short, I know no antique figure that displays such profound knowledge, +both physiological and physiognomical, even in the most minute details; +and all who are capable of appreciating these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> things, may well smile at +those who pretend to compare with this any other head of Venus now known +to us.</p> + +<p>“With regard to the rest of the figure, the admirable form of the mammæ, +which, without being too large, occupy the bosom, rise from it with +various curves on every side, and all terminate in their apices, leaving +the inferior part in each precisely as pendent as gravity demands; the +flexile waist gently tapering little farther than the middle of the trunk; +the lower portion of it beginning gradually to swell out higher even than +the umbilicus; the gradual expansion of the haunches, those expressive +characteristics of the female, indicating at once her fitness for the +office of generation and that of parturition—expansions which increase +till they reach their greatest extent at the superior part of the thighs; +the fulness behind their upper part, and on each side of the lower part of +the spine, commencing as high as the waist, and terminating in the still +greater swell of the distinctly-separated hips; the flat expanse between +these, and immediately over the fissure of the hips, relieved by a +considerable dimple on each side, and caused by the elevation of all the +surrounding parts; the fine swell of the broad abdomen which, soon +reaching its greatest height, immediately under the umbilicus, slopes +gently to the mons veneris, but, narrow at its upper part, expands more +widely as it descends, while, throughout, it is laterally distinguished by +a gentle depression from the more muscular parts on the sides of the +pelvis; the beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> elevation of the mons veneris; the contiguous +elevation of the thighs which, almost at their commencement, rise as high +as it does; the admirable expansion of these bodies inward, or toward each +other, by which they almost seem to intrude upon each other, and to +exclude each from its respective place; the general narrowness of the +upper, and the unembraceable expansion of the lower part thus exquisitely +formed;—all these admirable characteristics of female form, the mere +existence of which in woman must, one is tempted to imagine, be, even to +herself, a source of ineffable pleasure—these constitute a being worthy, +as the personification of beauty, of occupying the temples of Greece; +present an object finer, alas! than nature seems even capable of +producing; and offer to all nations and ages a theme of admiration and +delight.</p> + +<p>Well might Thomson say:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“So stands the statue that enchants the world,<br /> +So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,<br /> +The mingled beauties of exulting Greece.”</p> + +<p>And Byron, in yet higher strain:—</p> + +<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">“There, too, the goddess loves in stone, and fills</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The air around with beauty;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">within the pale</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We stand, and in that form and face behold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What Mind can make, when Nature’s self would fail;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And to the fond idolaters of old</span><br /> +Envy the innate flash which such a soul could mould:<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We gaze and turn away, and know not where,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Reels with its fulness; there—for ever there—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chained to the chariot of triumphal Art,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We stand as captives, and would not depart.”</span></p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">PROPORTIONS OF THE VENUS DE MEDICI.</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Has seven heads, seven parts, and three minutes in height.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the top of the head to the root of the hair, three parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the root of the hair to the eyebrows, three parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the eyebrows to the bottom of the nose, three parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the bottom of the nose, to that of the chin, three parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the bottom of the chin to the depression between the clavicles, four parts, three minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the depression between the clavicles to the lowest part of the breast, ten parts, five minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the lowest part of the breast to the middle of the navel, eight parts, three minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the middle of the navel to the base of the belly and beginning of the thighs, eleven parts, four minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the bottom of the belly to the middle of the kneepan, eighteen parts, two minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the middle of the kneepan to the beginning of the flank, twenty-seven parts, three minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the middle of the kneepan to the ground, twenty-five parts, three minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest height of the foot, three parts, five minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the neck of the leg to the end of the toes, nine parts and half a minute.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the commencement of the humerus to the elbow, twenty parts, two minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the elbow to the beginning of the hand, fourteen parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the forearm, five parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the arm, four parts, five minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">From the depression between the clavicles to the beginning of the deltoid, six parts, four minutes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> + +<p class="hang">From the depression between the clavicles to the point of the nipple, ten parts and half a minute.</p> + +<p class="hang">Between the points of the nipples, eleven parts, two minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">The breadth of the torso, at the level of the lowest part of the breast, fifteen parts, four minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">The least breadth of the torso, at the commencement of the flanks, fourteen parts, one minute.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the torso, at the bottom of the flanks, seventeen parts, five minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">The breadth from the trochanter of one thigh to that of the other, nineteen parts, three minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the thigh, nine parts, five minutes.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the knee, six parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the calf of the leg, six parts, three minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">The breadth from one ankle to another, four parts.</p> + +<p class="hang">The least breadth of the foot, three parts, three minutes and a half.</p> + +<p class="hang">The greatest breadth of the foot, five parts and one minute.</p></div> + +<p>The arms of the Venus de Medici, it should be observed, are of modern +construction, and unworthy of the figure.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Venus of Naples</span> is of altogether a different species of beauty.</p> + +<p>That figure represents an ample and rather voluptuous matron, in an +attitude of scarcely surpassable grace. The character of the face is +beautiful, in profile especially, and its expression is grave. The mouth +has much of nature about it, resembling greatly in character that feature +as seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> in Southern Europe; but its expression, though tender, is +somewhat serious or fretful.</p> + +<p>It presents, however, many faults. The head is monstrous. The neck is +equally so, as well as coarse. The forehead, eyes, nose, and cheeks, +present none of the finely-calculated details, which surprise and delight +us in the Venus de Medici. The mammæ are not true.</p> + +<p>After these, the androgynous being, called the <span class="smcap">Venus of Arles</span>, is scarcely +worthy of being mentioned. She derives some grandeur from antique +character and symmetry, and some from her masculine features. The head is +monstrous; the neck horrid; the nose heavy; the mouth contemptuous.</p> + +<p>Upon the whole, neither the graceful matron of Naples, nor the manlike +woman of the Louvre, can be brought into competition with the Venus de +Medici.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> +<h3>DEFECTS OF BEAUTY.</h3> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Defects of the Locomotive System.</i></p> + +<p>1. If the whole figure be either too broad or too tall; because, the first +is inelegant, and the last unfeminine. Persons who are too tall are +generally ill at ease and destitute of grace, a greater misfortune to a +woman than to a man.—Too low a stature is a defect less disagreeable, +especially for women. If, however, on the one side, it gives prettiness, +on the other, it deprives of all imposing appearance.</p> + +<p>2. If the bones, except those of the pelvis, be not proportionally small; +because, in woman, this portion of the locomotive system ought to be +completely subordinate to the vital.</p> + +<p>3. If the ligaments, and the articulations they form, be not +proportionally small; because, in woman, this portion of the locomotive +system ought also to be completely subordinate to the vital.</p> + +<p>Either of the last two defects will produce what is termed clumsiness.</p> + +<p>4. If the muscles, generally more slender, feeble, soft and yielding than +in man, be not large around the pelvis, and delicate elsewhere; because, +this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> is necessary, for reasons which will be afterward assigned, as well +as to permit the ease and suppleness of the movements.</p> + +<p>5. If, in a mature female, the length of the neck, compared with the +trunk, be not proportionally somewhat less than in the male; because, in +her, the subordination of the locomotive system, the predominance of the +vital, and the dependance of the mental, are naturally connected with the +shorter vertebrae and shorter course of the vessels of the neck.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>(The following defects, from 6 to 15 inclusive, have necessarily a +reference also to the vital system; because, the form and capacity of the +cavities here spoken of, as formed by the osseous frame of the locomotive +system, have an obvious relation to the vital organs, which these cavities +are destined to contain.)</p> + +<p>6. If the upper part of the body (exclusive of the bosom) be +proportionally more, and the lower part of the body less prominent, than +in man, so that, when she stands perfectly upright or lies on the back, +the space between the breasts is more prominent than the mons veneris; +because, such conformation is injurious to impregnation, gestation, and +parturition.</p> + +<p>7. If the shoulders seem wider than the haunches; because, this appearance +generally arises from the narrowness of the pelvis, and its consequent +unfitness for gestation and parturition.</p> + +<p>8. If, on the contrary, the shoulders be much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> narrower than the pelvis; +because, this indicates extreme weakness of the locomotive system.</p> + +<p>9. If the shoulders do not slope from the lower part of the neck; because, +this shows that the upper part of the chest is not sufficiently wide of +itself, but is rendered angular by the muscularity, &c., of the shoulders.</p> + +<p>10. If the upper part of the chest be not relatively short and wide, and +if it owe not its width rather to itself than to the size of the +shoulders; because, this shows that the vital organs contained in the +chest are not sufficiently expanded.</p> + +<p>11. If, in youth, the upper part of the trunk, including the muscles +moving the shoulders, do not form an inverted cone, whose apex is the +waist; because, in that case, the lightness and beauty of the locomotive +system are destroyed by the unrestrained expansion of the vital.</p> + +<p>12. If the loins be not extended at the expense of the chest above and of +the limbs below; because, on this depends their capacity to receive organs +enlarged or displaced during gestation.</p> + +<p>13. If the back be not hollow; because, this shows that the pelvis is not +sufficiently deep to project posteriorly, nor consequently of sufficient +capacity for gestation and parturition.</p> + +<p>14. If the haunches be not widely expanded (as already implied in speaking +of the shoulders); because, the interior cavity of the pelvis is then +insufficient for gestation and parturition.</p> + +<p>15. If, in consequence of the form of the pelvis, and the arch of the +pubis being larger, the mons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> veneris be not more prominent than the +chest; because, the pelvic cavity is then also insufficient for gestation +and parturition.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>16. If the thighs of woman be not wider than those of man; because, the +width of the female pelvis, and the purposes which it serves, require +this.</p> + +<p>17. If the size of the thighs be not large, the haunches as it were +increasing till they reach their greatest extent at the upper part of the +thigh, which anteriorly rises as high as the mons veneris, and if the +knees do not approximate.</p> + +<p>18. If the arms and the limbs be not relatively short, if they do not +taper greatly as they recede from the trunk, and if the hands and feet be +not small; because, it is the vital system and the trunk, which is by far +the most important part in the female.</p> + +<p>19. If the larynx or flute part of the throat be not small; because their +magnitude indicates a masculine character.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Defects of the Vital System.</i></p> + +<p>(Defects of the contained vital parts, which have been already implied in +enumerating those of the containing locomotive parts, are not again +mentioned here, as the intelligent reader can easily supply these and +similar omissions.)</p> + +<p>1. If, in consequence of marriage taking place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> before their full growth, +women remain always of diminished stature, weak, and pale.</p> + +<p>2. If the digestive organs being large rather than active, is inconsistent +with the greater activity and less permanence of all the other functions, +secretion, gestation, &c., excepted.</p> + +<p>3. If the absorbing vessels, being inactive, are insufficient for large +secretions.</p> + +<p>4. If the circulating vessels, being inactive and imperfectly ramified, +leave the skin cold, opaque, and destitute of complexion.</p> + +<p>5. If the secreting vessels, being inactive, furnish neither the plumpness +necessary to beauty, nor those ovarian, uterine, and mammary excretions on +which progeny is dependant.</p> + +<p>6. If the neck form not an insensible transition between the body and +head, being sufficiently full to conceal the muscles of the neck and the +flute part of the throat.</p> + +<p>7. If, in a young woman, the mammæ, without being too large, do not occupy +the bosom, and rise from it with nearly equal curves on every side, which +similarly terminate in their apices; or if, in the mature woman, they do +not, when supported, seem laterally to protrude somewhat on the space +occupied by the arms; because, these show that this important part of the +vital system is insufficiently developed.</p> + +<p>8. If the waist, tapering little farther than the middle of the trunk, and +being sufficiently marked, especially in the back and loins, by the +approximation of the expanded pelvis, be not also slightly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> encroached on +by the plumpness of all the contiguous parts, without however destroying +its elegance, softness and flexibility; because, this similarly shows +feebleness in a portion of that system, which is by far the most important +to woman.</p> + +<p>9. If the waist be broader than the upper part of the trunk, including the +muscles moving the shoulders; because, this indicates that expansion of +the stomach, liver, and other glands, which is generally the result of +their excessive use or excitement. It is attended with a common look and +an inelegant appearance.</p> + +<p>10. If the abdomen be not moderately expanded, its upper portion beginning +to swell out, higher even than the umbilicus, and its greatest projection +being almost immediately under that point; because, this shows a weakness +of the vital system, and a disproportion to the parts immediately above.</p> + +<p>11. If the abdomen, which should be highest immediately under the +umbilicus, slope not gently toward the mons veneris, and be more prominent +elsewhere; because this is the result of that excessive expansion which +takes place during parturition.</p> + +<p>12. If the abdomen, which, as well as being elevated, should be narrow at +its upper part, become as broad there as below, and lose that gentle +lateral depression by which it is distinguished from the more muscular +parts on the sides of the pelvis; because, this indicates the operation of +the causes mentioned in the preceding paragraph.</p> + +<p>13. If a remarkable fulness exist not behind the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> upper part of the +haunches, and on each side of the lower part of the spine, commencing as +high as the waist, and terminating in the still greater swell of the +distinctly separated hips; the flat expanse between these and immediately +over the fissure of the hips, being relieved by a considerable dimple on +each side, caused by the elevation of all the surrounding parts; because, +it indicates feebleness in that system which is most essential to woman.</p> + +<p>14. If the cellular tissue and the plumpness which is connected with it, +do not predominate, so as to obliterate all distinct projection of the +muscles; because, this likewise shows that an important portion of the +vital system is feeble, and it deprives woman of the forms which are +necessary to love. Nothing can completely compensate, in woman, for the +absolute want of plumpness. The features of meager persons are hard; they +have a dry and arid physiognomy; the mouth is without charm; the color is +without freshness; their limbs seem ill united with their body; and all +their movements are abrupt and coarse.</p> + +<p>15. If plumpness be too predominant; because, it then destroys the +distinctness of parts, and constitutes an excess productive of +inconvenience.</p> + +<p>16. If that excessive plumpness be broken, as it were, into masses; +because, it constitutes coarseness of the vital system.</p> + +<p>17. If former plumpness have left the previously-filled cellular tissue +and expanded integuments enfeebled; because, that constitutes flaccidity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>18. If the almost entire absorption of adipose substance have finally left +the bones angular, the muscles and other parts permanently rigid, and the +skin dry; because, that indicates decay of the vital system, and +characterizes age.</p> + +<p>19. If the skin be not fine, soft, and white, delicate, thin, and +transparent, fresh and animated, if the complexion be not pure and vivid, +if the hair be not fine, soft, and luxuriant, and if the nails be not +smooth, transparent, and rose-colored; because, these likewise show the +feebleness of that system which is most important to woman.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Defects of the Mental System.</i></p> + +<p>1. If the head, compared with the trunk, be not less than that of the +male; because, the mental system, in the female, ought to be subordinate +to the vital, and the reverse is inconsistent with the healthful and happy +exercise of her faculties as woman.</p> + +<p>2. If the organs of sense be not proportionally larger, when compared with +the brain, and more delicately outlined than in the male; because, +sensibility should exceed reasoning power, in the female.</p> + +<p>3. If the brain (in other words) be not proportionally smaller, when +compared with the organs of sense, than in the male; because, reasoning +power should be subordinate to sensibility in the female.</p> + +<p>4. If the cerebel be not proportionally smaller, when compared with the +organs of sense, than in the male; because, voluntary power should also be +subordinate to sensibility, in the female.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>5. If the cerebel be not narrow and pointed posteriorly, that is, long +rather than broad (its general form in woman); because, the volitions of +woman should be intense, not permanent.</p> + +<p>6. If the forehead be not large in proportion to the backhead, but on the +contrary low, or very narrow; because, the former being the seat of +observation, if the organ be small, the function must be correspondingly +so, and in that case passion will probably predominate.</p> + +<p>7. If the delicacy of the skin permit not to the touch of woman +corresponding delicacy.</p> + +<p>8. If the mouth be not small, or extend much beyond the nostrils, and if +the lips be not delicately outlined and of vermillion hue.</p> + +<p>9. If the nose be not nearly in the same direction with the forehead, or +if more than a slight inflexion is to be seen.</p> + +<p>10. If the eyes be not relatively large and perfectly clear in every part.</p> + +<p>11. If the eyelids, instead of an oblong, form nearly a circular aperture, +resembling somewhat the eye of monkeys, cats, or birds; because, this +round eye, when large, and especially when dark, is always indicative of a +bold, and, when small, of a pert insensibility of character.</p> + +<p>12. If the eyelashes be not long and silky, and if the eyebrows be not +furnished with fine hairs, and be not arched and distinctly separated.</p> + +<p>13. If the ears be prominent, so as to alter the regularity of the oval of +the head, or surcharge its outline with prominences.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +<h3>EXTERNAL INDICATIONS; OR ART OF DETERMINING THE PRECISE FIGURE, THE DEGREE +OF BEAUTY, THE MIND, THE HABITS, AND THE AGE OF WOMAN, NOTWITHSTANDING THE AIDS AND DISGUISES OF DRESS.</h3> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>External Indications of Figure.</i></p> + +<p>External indications as to figure are required chiefly as to the limbs +which are concealed by drapery. Such indications are afforded by the walk, +to every careful observer.</p> + +<p>In considering <i>the proportion of the limbs to the body</i>—if, even in a +young woman, the walk, though otherwise good, be heavy, or the fall on +each foot alternately be sudden, and rather upon the heel, the limbs, +though well formed, will be found to be slender, compared with the body.</p> + +<p>This conformation accompanies any great proportional development of the +vital system; and it is frequently observable in the women of the Saxon +population of England, as in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, &c.</p> + +<p>In women of this conformation, moreover, the slightest indisposition or +debility is indicated by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> a slight vibration of the shoulders, and upper +part of the chest, at every step, in walking.</p> + +<p>In considering <i>the line or direction of the limbs</i>—if, viewed behind, +the feet, at every step, are thrown out backward, and somewhat laterally, +the knees are certainly much inclined inward.</p> + +<p>If, viewed in front, the dress, at every step, is as it were, gathered +toward the front, and then tossed more or less to the opposite side, the +knees are certainly too much inclined.</p> + +<p>In considering <i>the relative size of each portion of the limbs</i>—if, in +the walk, there be a greater or less approach to the marching pace, the +hip is large; for we naturally employ the joint which is surrounded with +the most powerful muscles, and, in any approach to the march, it is the +hip-joint which is used, and the knee and ankle-joints which remain +proportionally unemployed.</p> + +<p>If, in the walk, the tripping pace be used, as in an approach to walking +on tiptoes, the calf is large; for it is only by the power of its muscles +that, under the weight of the whole body, the foot can be extended for +this purpose.</p> + +<p>If, in the walk, the foot be raised in a slovenly manner, and the heel be +seen, at each step, to lift the bottom of the dress upward and backward, +neither the hip nor the calf is well developed.</p> + +<p>Even with regard to the parts of the figure which are more exposed to +observation by the closer adaptation of dress, much deception occurs. It +is, therefore, necessary to understand the arts employed for this purpose, +at least by skilful women.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>A person having a narrow face, wears a bonnet with wide front, exposing +the lower part of the cheeks.—One having a broad face, wears a closer +front; and, if the jaw be wide, it is in appearance diminished, by +bringing the corners of the bonnet sloping to the point of the chin.</p> + +<p>A person having a long neck has the neck of the bonnet descending, the +neck of the dress rising, and filling more or less of the intermediate +space. One having a short neck has the whole bonnet short and close in the +perpendicular direction, and the neck of the dress neither high nor wide.</p> + +<p>Persons with narrow shoulders have the shoulders or epaulets of the dress +formed on the outer edge of the natural shoulder, very full, and both the +bosom and back of the dress running in oblique folds, from the point of +the shoulder to the middle of the bust.</p> + +<p>Persons with waists too large, render them less before by a stomacher, or +something equivalent, and behind by a corresponding form of the dress, +making the top of the dress smooth across the shoulders, and drawing it in +plaits to a narrow point at the bottom of the waist.</p> + +<p>Those who have the bosom too small, enlarge it by the oblique folds of the +dress being gathered above, and by other means.</p> + +<p>Those who have the lower posterior part of the body too flat, elevate it +by the top of the skirt being gathered behind, and by other less skilful +adjustments, which though hid, are easily detected.</p> + +<p>Those who have the lower part of the body too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> prominent anteriorly, +render it less apparent by shortening the waist, by a corresponding +projection behind, and by increasing the bosom above.</p> + +<p>Those who have the haunches too narrow, take care not to have the bottom +of the dress too wide.</p> + +<p>Tall women have a wide skirt, or several flounces, or both of these: +shorter women, a moderate one, but as long as can be conveniently worn, +with the flounces, &c., as low as possible.<small><a name="f57.1" id="f57.1" href="#f57">[57]</a></small></p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>External Indications of Beauty.</i></p> + +<p>Additional indications as to beauty are required chiefly where the woman +observed precedes the observer, and may, by her figure, naturally and +reasonably excite his interest, while at the same time it would be rude to +turn and look in her face on passing.</p> + +<p>There can, therefore, be no impropriety in observing, that the conduct of +those who may happen to meet the woman thus preceding, will differ +according to the sex of the person who meets her.—If the person meeting +her be a man, and the lady observed be beautiful, he will not only look +with an expression of pleasure at her countenance, but will afterward turn +more or less completely to survey her from behind.—If the person meeting +her be a woman, the case becomes more complex. If both be either ugly or +beautiful, or if the person meeting her be beautiful and the lady observed +be ugly, then it is probable, that the approaching person<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> may pass by +inattentively, casting merely an indifferent glance: if, on the contrary, +the woman meeting her be ugly, and the lady observed be beautiful, then +the former will examine the latter with the severest scrutiny, and if she +sees features and shape without defect, she will instantly fix her eyes on +the head-dress or gown, in order to find some object for censure of the +beautiful woman, and for consolation in her own ugliness.</p> + +<p>Thus he who happens to follow a female may be aided in determining whether +it is worth his while to glance at her face in passing, or to devise other +means of seeing it.</p> + +<p>Even when the face is seen, as in meeting in the streets or elsewhere, +infinite deception occurs as to the degree of beauty. This operates so +powerfully, that a correct estimate of beauty is perhaps never formed at +first. This depends on the forms and still more on the colors of dress in +relation to the face. For this reason, it is necessary to understand the +principles according to which colors are employed at least by skilful +women.<small><a name="f58.1" id="f58.1" href="#f58">[58]</a></small></p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much yellow, then yellow +around the face is used to remove it by contrast, and to cause the red and +blue to predominate.</p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much red, then red around +the face is used to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>remove it by contrast, and to cause the yellow and +blue to predominate.</p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much blue, then blue around +the face is used to remove it by contrast, and to cause the yellow and red +to predominate.</p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much yellow and red, then +orange is used.</p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much red and blue, then +purple is used.</p> + +<p>When it is the fault of a face to contain too much blue and yellow, then +green is used.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to observe that the linings of bonnets reflect their color +on the face, and transparent bonnets transmit that color, and equally +tinge it. In both these cases, the color employed is no longer that which +is placed around the face, and which acts on it by contrast, but the +opposite. As green around the face heightens a faint red in the cheeks by +contrast, so the pink lining of the bonnet aids it by reflection.</p> + +<p>Hence linings which reflect, are generally of the teint which is wanted in +the face; and care is then taken that these linings do not come into the +direct view of the observer, and operate prejudicially on the face by +contrast, overpowering the little color which by reflection they should +heighten. The fronts of bonnets so lined, therefore, do not widen greatly +forward, and bring their color into contrast.</p> + +<p>When bonnets do widen, the proper contrast is used as a lining; but then +it has not a surface<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> much adapted for reflection, otherwise it may +perform that office, and injure the complexion.</p> + +<p>Understanding, then, the application of these colors in a general way, it +may be noticed, that fair faces are by contrast best acted on by light +colors, and dark faces by darker colors.</p> + +<p>Dark faces are best affected by darker colors, evidently because they tend +to render the complexion fairer; and fair faces do not require dark +colors, because the opposition would be too strong.</p> + +<p>Objects which constitute a background to the face, or which, on the +contrary, reflect their hues upon it, always either improve or injure the +complexion. For this and some other reasons, many persons look better at +home in their apartments than in the streets. Apartments may, indeed, be +peculiarly calculated to improve individual complexions.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>External Indications of Mind.</i></p> + +<p>External indications as to mind may be derived from figure, from gait, and +from dress.</p> + +<p>As to figure, a certain symmetry or disproportion of parts (either of +which depends immediately upon the locomotive system)—or a certain +softness or hardness of form (which belongs exclusively to the vital +system)—or a certain delicacy or coarseness of outline (which belongs +exclusively to the mental system)—these reciprocally denote a locomotive +symmetry or disproportion—or a vital softness or hardness—or a mental +delicacy or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> coarseness, which will be found also indicated by the +features of the face.</p> + +<p>These qualities are marked in pairs, as each belonging to its respective +system; for, without this, there can be no accurate or useful observation.</p> + +<p>As to gait, that progression which advances, unmodified by any lateral +movement of the body, or any perpendicular rising of the head, and which +belongs exclusively to the locomotive system—or that soft lateral rolling +of the body, which belongs exclusively to the vital system—or that +perpendicular rising or falling of the head at every impulse to step, +which belongs exclusively to the mental system—these reciprocally +indicate a corresponding locomotive, or vital, or mental character, which +will be found also indicated by the features of the face.</p> + +<p>To put to the test the utility of these elements of observation and +indication, let us take a few instances.—If, in any individual, +locomotive symmetry of figure is combined with direct and linear gait, a +character of mind and countenance not absolutely repulsive, but cold and +insipid, is indicated.—If vital softness of figure is combined, with a +gentle lateral rolling of the body in its gait, voluptuous character and +expression of countenance are indicated.—If delicacy of outline in the +figure, be combined with perpendicular rising of the head, levity, perhaps +vanity, is indicated.—But there are innumerable combinations and +modifications of the elements which we have just described. Expressions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +of pride, determination, obstinacy, &c., are all observable.</p> + +<p>The gait, however, is often formed, in a great measure, by local or other +circumstances, by which it is necessary that the observer should avoid +being misled.</p> + +<p>Dress, as affording indications, though less to be relied on than the +preceding, is not without its value. The woman who possesses a cultivated +taste, and a corresponding expression of countenance, will generally be +tastefully dressed; and the vulgar woman, with features correspondingly +rude, will easily be seen through the inappropriate mask in which her +milliner or dressmaker may have invested her.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>External Indications of Habits.</i></p> + +<p>External indications as to the personal habits of women are both numerous +and interesting.</p> + +<p>The habit of child-bearing is indicated by a flatter breast, a broader +back, and thicker cartilages of the bones of the pubis, necessary widening +the pelvis.</p> + +<p>The same habit is also indicated by a high rise of the nape of the neck, +so that the neck from that point bends considerably forward, and by an +elevation which is diffused between the neck and shoulders. These all +arise from temporary distensions of the trunk in women whose secretions +are powerful, from the habit of throwing the shoulders backward during +pregnancy, and the head again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> forward, to balance the abdominal weight; +and they bestow a character of vitality peculiarly expressive.</p> + +<p>The same habit is likewise indicated by an excess of that lateral rolling +of the body in walking, which was already described as connected with +voluptuous character. This is a very certain indication, as it arises from +temporary distensions of the pelvis, which nothing else can occasion. As +in consequence of this lateral rolling of the body, and of the weight of +the body being much thrown forward in gestation, the toes are turned +somewhat inward, they aid in the indication.</p> + +<p>The habit of nursing children is indicated, both in mothers and +nursery-maids, by the right shoulder being larger and more elevated than +the left.</p> + +<p>The habits of the seamstress are indicated by the neck suddenly bending +forward, and the arms being, even in walking, considerably bent forward or +folded more or less upward from the elbows.</p> + +<p>Habits of labor are indicated by a considerable thickness of the shoulders +below, where they form an angle with the inner part of the arm; and, where +these habits are of the lowest menial kind, the elbows are turned outward +and the palms of the hands backward.</p> + +<p>The habits of many of the inferior female professions might easily be +indicated; but they would be unsuitable to a work like this.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span><i>External Indications of Age.</i></p> + +<p>External indications of age are required chiefly where the face is veiled, +or where the woman observed precedes the observer and may reasonably +excite his interest.</p> + +<p>In either of these cases, if the foot and ankle have lost a certain +moderate plumpness, and assumed a certain sinewy or bony appearance, the +woman has generally passed the period of youth.</p> + +<p>If in walking, instead of the ball or outer edge of the foot first +striking the ground, it is the heel which does so, then has the woman in +general passed the meridian of life.—Unlike the last indication, this is +apparent, however the foot and ankle may be clothed.—The reason of this +indication is the decrease of power which unfits the muscles to receive +the weight of the body by maintaining the extension of the ankle-joint.</p> + +<p>Exceptions to this last indication are to be found chiefly in women in +whom the developments of the body are proportionally much greater, either +from a temporary or a permanent cause, than those of the limbs, the +muscles of which are consequently incapable of receiving the weight of the +body by maintaining the extension of the ankle-joint.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">APPENDIX</span></p> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<h3>A.</h3> + +<p>Mr. Walker’s extravagant admiration of the Grecian mythology has led him +to over-estimate its influence upon poetry and the arts. That these were +influenced, in a very important degree, by the religion of Greece, no one +acquainted with the history of that nation, can doubt; but, that the arts +cannot exist where the Grecian mythology is not the popular religion, is +an opinion unsupported by the history of the past, and altogether opposed +to their present flourishing state in civilized countries. In no age or +nation has the art of painting, for example, attained higher perfection, +than in Italy during the 13th and 14th centuries; a period which has been +called “the golden age of Italian art,” and its high excellence has been +justly attributed to the introduction of Christianity. “The walls and +cupolas,” says a late writer, “of new and splendid churches were +immediately covered, as if by enchantment, with the miracles of paintings +and sculpture—the eager multitude were not compelled to wait till genius +had labored for years on what it had been years in conceiving. Those eager +spirits seemed to breathe out their creations in full and mature +beauty—performing at once, by the buoyant energies of well-disciplined +genius, more than all the cold precision of mechanical knowledge can ever +accomplish.” Allan Cunningham, in his life of Flaxman, the artist, +speaking of these paintings, remarks: “Into these Flaxman looked with the +eye of a sculptor and of a Christian. He saw, he said, that the mistress +to whom the great artists of Italy had dedicated their genius was the +Church; that they were unto her as chief priests, to interpret her tenets +and her legends to the world in a more brilliant language than that of +relics and images. To her illiterate people, the Church addressed herself +through the eye, and led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> their senses captive by the external +magnificence with which she overwhelmed them.”</p> + +<p>But it is unnecessary to multiply quotations to prove this point. Flaxman +never uttered a truer saying, than when he remarked, that “the Christian +religion presents personages and subjects no less favorable to painting +and sculpture than the ancient classics.” Accordingly, we find among his +own immortal productions, that the monument erected in memory of Miss +Lushington, in Kent, representing a mother mourning for her daughter, +comforted by a ministering angel, was inspired by that text of holy writ, +“Blessed are they that mourn;” and the monument in memory of the family of +Sir Francis Baring imbodies these words, “Thy will be done—thy kingdom +come—deliver us from evil.” To the first motto belongs a devotional +figure as large as life—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Her looks communing with the skies;”</p> + +<p>a perfect image of piety and resignation. On one side, imbodying “Thy +kingdom come,” a mother and daughter ascend to the skies welcomed rather +than supported by angels; and on the other, expressing the sentiment +“Deliver us from evil,” a male figure, in subdued agony, appears in the +air, while spirits of good and evil contend for the mastery. This has been +considered one of the finest pieces of motionless poetry in England. We +hold, then, that Mr. Walker’s remark that “neither poetry nor the arts can +have being, without the religion of Greece,” is far from being sustained, +either by history or observation.</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>B.</h3> + +<p>The remarks of Mr. Walker, in relation to the duty of parents and +teachers, seem to us well-founded and judicious. If moral, as well as +intellectual and physical education, be part of the parental duty, then it +would seem to follow, that it should embrace those subjects which are of +the most importance, both to the physical and moral well-being of the +child; and surely, the relation of the sexes, and the due subjection of +the animal propensities, are not the least important of these. There is a +delicacy generally felt and observed on this point, which springs from a +principle that we honor and respect, while, at the same time, we doubt +whether it leads to favorable and auspicious results. No one, who looks +back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> upon the years of his own childhood, can for a moment doubt that +judicious advice and seasonable information on certain subjects, which +were probably considered of a too delicate nature to be even hinted at, +would have been highly useful. The young will inevitably become initiated +into certain vices and evil practices, unless put on their guard, by the +warning voice of those they love and respect. There are a variety of +passions, affections, and appetites, which belong to our nature, and were +intended when properly directed and indulged, to promote our interest and +happiness. Those under consideration, early begin to manifest themselves, +and, when left without the restraints of enlightened intellect and the +moral sense, invariably lead to disastrous consequences. The question then +is, shall the young and inexperienced be left to the mere accidents of its +condition, without an effort to give it sound principles to govern it, or +without bringing some conservative influence to bear upon it? We think, +with Mr. Walker, that it should not. Both philosophy and reason prove the +danger of such a course. The circumstances which are connected with sexual +vices cannot be wholly kept out of view. They meet the eye, or are +suggested to the imagination, at almost every turn. A thousand scenes and +incidents occur to excite the passions, if the mind is not fortified +against their influence. Those who are fastidious, and believe that +delicacy forbids all allusion to such subjects, will say, “Keep the youth +in ignorance—conceal, if possible, everything from his view, that may +excite the passions.” Still, there remain the constitutional +susceptibilities; passion and appetite cannot be eradicated, and they will +often be excited by incidents, which the most wakeful vigilance will not +detect or suspect. The fact is, that long before parents are aware of it, +the child has obtained knowledge on these subjects through many corrupt +channels; and the associations first formed, are destined to exert, ever +afterward, a powerful influence for evil. The early associations might, by +judicious instruction on the part of parents, be of such character, as to +throw around the youth a barrier almost impregnable. As to the <i>time</i> and +<i>manner</i> of imparting this instruction, it must be left to the wisdom and +prudence of teachers and parents and, perhaps, as a general rule, it +should be left wholly to the latter.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p> +<h3>C.</h3> + +<p>Much has been written on the nature of beauty, from the divine Plato, who +dedicated one of his dialogues to this subject, to Lord Jeffries, the +editor of the Edinburgh Review; who, in his celebrated article in the +Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, has excelled all previous +efforts in its elucidation, and produced an essay, which will stand an +imperishable monument of his taste, learning, and genius. It is not our +design to enter upon a consideration of beauty in the abstract, or to +attempt its analysis, as this has been done by our author in a very able, +if not satisfactory manner. We take it, however, to denote that quality, +or assemblage and union of qualities in the objects of our perception, +whether material, intellectual, or moral, which we contemplate with +emotions of pleasure; and we refer it to that internal sense, which is +usually called <i>taste</i>. When it is asked, why a thing is beautiful, it is +not always easy to find a satisfactory answer. We find beauty in color, in +sound, in form, in motion, in everything. We have beauties of speech, +beauties of thought, beauties in art, in nature, in the sciences, in +actions, in affections, and in characters. Dr. Reid well asks, “In things +so different, and so unlike, is there any quality, the same in all, which +we may call by the name of beauty?” We shall not attempt to fathom this +difficulty; indeed, it could not be done, without entering upon a +metaphysical discussion, dry in detail, and uninteresting in result.</p> + +<p>When we come to inquire in what <i>female beauty</i> consists, we shall find +that there is something which enters into it, beside physical goodness. It +is not a mere matter of flesh and blood; but color, form, expression, and +grace, are all essential to its perfection. The two first have been called +the <i>body</i>, the two latter, the <i>soul</i> of beauty—and without the soul, +the body is but a mass of deformed and inanimate matter:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Mind, mind, alone! bear witness earth and heaven,<br /> +The living fountains in itself contains<br /> +Of beauteous and sublime. Here, hand-in-hand,<br /> +Sit paramount the Graces. Here, enthroned,<br /> +Celestial Venus, with divinest airs,<br /> +Invites the soul to never-failing joy.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><span class="smcap">Akenside</span></span></p> + +<p>Color and form are only beautiful, because they are expressive of health, +delicacy, and softness, in the female sex. It has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>remarked, that +expression has greater power than either beauty or form, as it is only the +expression of the tender and kind passions that gives beauty; that all the +cruel and unkind ones add to deformity, and that, on their account, +good-nature may very properly be said to be the best feature, even in the +finest face. Modesty, sensibility, and sweetness, blended together, so as +either to enliven or correct each other, give almost as much attraction as +the passions are capable of adding to a very pretty face. It is owing to +this force of pleasingness, which attends all the kinder passions, that +lovers not only seem, but really are, more beautiful to each other than to +the rest of the world; and in their mutual presence and intercourse, says +a French writer, there is a soul upon their countenances, which does not +appear when they are absent from each other or even in company that lays a +restraint upon their features. Indeed, it will appear that all the +ingredients of beauty terminate in expression, and this may be, either +perfection of the body, or the qualities of the mind. Dr. Reid indeed goes +so far as to say, that beauty originally dwells in the moral and +intellectual perfections of mind, and in its active powers. Thus beauty +may be ascribed to all those qualities which are the natural objects of +love and kind affections, as the moral virtues, innocence, gentleness, +condescension, humanity, natural affections, and the whole train of soft +and gentle virtues—qualities amiable in their nature, and on account of +their moral worth. So also do intellectual talents excite our love and +esteem of those who possess them; these are knowledge, good sense, wit, +humor, cheerfulness, good taste, excellence in any of the fine arts—as +music, painting, sculpture, embroidery, &c. Thus, for example, the beauty +of good breeding is not originally in the external behavior in which it +consists, but is derived from the qualities of mind which it expresses; +for it has been well observed, that though there may be good breeding +without the amiable qualities of mind, its beauty is still derived from +what it naturally expresses.</p> + +<p>Flaxman has truly said, that neither mind nor any one of its qualities or +powers, is an immediate object of perception to men. These are perceived +through the medium of material objects, on which their signatures are +impressed. The signs of these qualities are immediately perceived by the +senses, and by them reflected to the understanding; and we are apt to +attribute to the sign, the beauty which is properly and originally in the +thing signified. Thus, the invisible Creator hath stamped on his works +signatures of his divine wisdom, power, and benignity, which are visible +to all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> men. The works of men in science, in the arts of taste, and in the +mechanical arts, bear the signatures of those qualities of mind which were +employed in their production. Their external behavior or conduct in life, +expresses the good or bad qualities of their minds. In every species of +animals we perceive, by visible signs, their instincts, appetites, +affections, or sagacity; and even in the inanimate world, there are many +things analogous to the qualities of mind; so that there is hardly +anything belonging to mind which may not be represented by images taken +from objects of sense; and, on the other hand, every object of sense is +beautiful, by borrowing attire from attributes of the mind. Thus, the +beauties of mind, though invisible in themselves, are perceived in the +objects of sense, in which their beauty is impressed. Thus, also, in those +qualities of sensible objects to which we ascribe beauty, we discover in +them some relation to mind, and the greatest in those that are most +beautiful. Every beauty in the vegetable creation, of which we can form +any rational judgment, expresses some perfection in the object, or some +wise contrivance in the author. In the animal kingdom we perceive superior +beauties, resulting from life, sense, activity, various instincts and +affections, and, in many cases, great sagacity; which are attributes of +mind, and possess an original beauty. In their manner of life, we observe +that they possess powers, outward form, and inward structure, exactly +adapted to it; and the more perfectly any individual is fitted for its end +and manner of life, the greater is its beauty. This, also, was manifestly +Milton’s theory of beauty; for, in his unrivalled description of our first +parents in Paradise, he derives their beauty from those expressions of +moral and intellectual qualities which shone forth in their outward form +and demeanor:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall,<br /> +God-like erect! with native honor clad,<br /> +In naked majesty, seemed lords of all,<br /> +And worthy seemed, for, in their looks divine,<br /> +The image of their glorious Maker, shone<br /> +Truth, wisdom, sanctitude, severe and pure;<br /> +Severe, but in true filial freedom placed,<br /> +Whence true authority in man; though both<br /> +Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed,<br /> +For contemplation he, and valor formed,<br /> +<i>For softness she, and sweet attractive grace</i>.”</p> + +<p>From these remarks, it will appear that we do not regard novelty alone as +being “the exciting cause of pleasurable emotions, and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> the consequent +perception of beauty in the relation of things.” The beautiful, both in +statuary and painting, we believe to depend chiefly on the perfection with +which the artist succeeds in expressing the qualities of the mind, whether +good or evil; and it is worthy of notice, that Plato, in his Dialogues, +declares that the good and the beautiful are one and the same. Hence, the +Greeks called the beautiful <ins class="correction" title="KALOS">ΚΑΛΟΣ</ins>.</p> + +<p>The influence of novelty has been so well illustrated in an Essay by the +author of a Treatise on Happiness, that we trust no apology will be +required for transferring a portion of it to our pages:—</p> + +<p>“The term novelty applies to everything new—either newly invented, or +newly exhibited to us; in the former case the thing is novel to the world, +in the latter it is novel to ourselves. Novelty powerfully influences the +senses, the passions, and the manners of human beings; it furnishes +amusement, employment, and maintenance for man; it accompanies him in his +progress through this variable being, from the commencement of life to the +period of dissolution.</p> + +<p>“Novelty may be either pleasing or unpleasing. When it affects the senses +by grateful influences, it occasions admiration and delight. How +powerfully must the vision of Adam have been affected, when he was +introduced to being! Everything which he beheld was new. There was drawn +out before him, the plain, the fruitful valley, the verdant hill. Shrubs +and trees were distributed around him. The earth was strewed with flowers: +rivulets and rivers diversified the scene—</p> + +<p class="poem">‘Rolling on orient pearl, and sands of gold.’</p> + +<p>The ocean, perhaps, was stretched out as a plain of silver in the distant +view; the heavens were robed in splendor; the sun shone brilliantly. His +own person—himself, was an inextricable mystery. He could move; he could +think; he could behold the display of creation; he could close his eyes, +and exclude every impression. All was new; and everything, he might +naturally have fancied, would remain the same; but, he was destined to +behold a series of novelties. In a short time, he saw the sun sinking +below the horizon. The heavens were adorned in their most splendid robes, +like the gorgeous display of an Eastern monarch. A shade was cast over the +valleys, and darkness began to gather among the trees, while their tops +and branches were still illumined in the sunbeams. The shadows of evening +are now gathered around him; the twinkling stars adorn the heavens; but +the beauties of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> hill, vale, waters, trees, and flowers, are departed! How +sensibly must he have been affected! He would now conclude that his future +time must be spent in darkness; but he looks toward the East, and across +the wide expanse of waters he beholds a gleam of light, which leads the +eye to some great luminary, rising above the horizon, to cheer the nightly +solitude; and, as it mounts to the zenith, new beauties delight the vision +of this lonely and astonished inhabitant of the earth. After a short +period the moon sinks, the sun rises in the heavens, and the same +delightful scenery is exhibited which was beheld the previous day.</p> + +<p>“We can imagine the effect of novelty in producing admiration; when +travellers, who having been toiling for many days or weeks on the burning +sands of interminable deserts, come suddenly upon some lovely valley, +watered by cooling streams, shaded by groves of trees, and beautified with +clusters of flowers. Or, we can fancy the pleasure which would be produced +on wayworn voyagers, who had been long toiling on the great deep and they +come to some blest isle,</p> + +<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 3em;">——‘Where the voluptuous breeze</span><br /> +The peaceful native breathes, at eventide,<br /> +From nutmeg-groves, and bowers of cinnamon.’</p> + +<p>To the infant everything is novel, and almost everything is a source of +admiration. The people who move to and fro; the walls and furniture of the +room; the fire and the candles; the bustle and movement of men and +carriages; the heavens, sunshine, and rain. These occasion interest and +surprise. Dr. Brown has inquired, ‘What metaphysician is there, however +subtile and profound in his analytical inquiries, and however successful +in the analyses which he has made, who would not give all his past +discovery, and all his hopes of future discovery, for the certainty of +knowing, with exactness, what every infant feels?” But he would, probably, +meet with few who would sacrifice so much for the purpose; and yet the +feelings of an infant must be exceedingly interesting.</p> + +<p>“We can easily suppose the effect which would be produced on a company of +savages, if, in the midst of their woods, one of our best military bands +were to strike up a powerful strain of martial music. At first they would +sit motionless, or stand as statues; then look toward the place whence the +sounds proceeded, where they would behold a company of persons, in +many-colored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> dresses, and splendid ornaments, with curious musical +instruments, dropped, as they would fancy, from the clouds.</p> + +<p>“But the effect of novelty may be painful; and this feeling will be +powerful in the same proportion as the circumstances are important and +new. Suppose, for instance, a person who had been trained in the ways of +propriety and virtue were introduced, for the first time, to a +village-wake, or some such brutal holyday, where he would behold +bull-baiting and cock-fighting, boxing and drunkenness; where he would +listen to quarrelling and profane swearing; how would his feelings be +shocked! He would scarcely have fancied that a spot so small, on the +surface of the globe, could have exhibited so great a variety of +wickedness.</p> + +<p>“Or, we may imagine some one endowed with a delicate ear for music, who +had been accustomed to the practice of delightful harmony, obliged, for +the first time, to listen to the harsh scraping of some barbarous laborer +on the violin, or the useless attempts of some tasteless practitioners to +perform a piece of music! How irksome and insufferable must such an ordeal +be to a man of refinement; and how would its painfulness be increased by +its novelty!</p> + +<p>“By the same rule, a person who may have been accustomed to luxury and +dainty food, but is obliged, for the first time, to feed on loathsome +bread and nauseous water, feels doubly the misery of his condition. And +thus the man who has been used to salubrious air and grateful scents, will +be the more effected by disgusting smells.</p> + +<p>“Novelty operates also in powerfully exciting the passions. Suppose a +general to be usually unfortunate in his combats with the enemy, and his +army to be consequently dispirited; but, upon some particular occasion, +the favors of fortune and of Providence are bestowed upon them, their +efforts are successful, and the main body of the enemy begin to waver, how +would this inspirit them, and brighten their courage! They would rush +forward, unconscious and careless of danger, and the foe must fly before +such unconquerable ardor!</p> + +<p>“If a man who had lived in poverty, in dependance on others for a +subsistence, had constantly wished for independence and comparative +influence, and had endeavored to swim against the stream of adversity but +had never succeeded, and, all at once, a handsome fortune were left to +him, how would his eyes sparkle with exultation! If a person had been +separated from his friends and doomed to spend his days in the solitude of +a foreign land<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> and he met, unexpectedly, with some of his nearest and +kindest friends, how would his countenance beam with delight! The novelty +of the circumstance would increase the amount of his joy!</p> + +<p>“A traveller in a foreign country would be exceedingly pleased to discover +some trinket which had been made in his native city; and especially if he +saw on it the name of an intimate friend as the manufacturer. A toy, a +dog, or a cat, under some circumstances, has occasioned tears. A beautiful +female has appeared more lovely, when interesting events have introduced +her to our notice; and one who is not usually attractive, has appeared so, +when novelty has thrown its fascinations around her.</p> + +<p>“The feeling of hope may be excited most powerfully by novel and +unexpected circumstances. When the mariner has been long toiling in storms +and dangers; when the heavens have been covered with darkness, and no +information or guidance could be gained from the stars or the sun, the +tempest suddenly ceases, the cheering sunbeams break upon him, and he +finds himself, unexpectedly, near the haven where he would be—how does +his heart exult with hope, and the consciousness of security!</p> + +<p>“The passions may be excited, also, in an unpleasing manner; the feeling +of fear may be powerfully produced by novelty. Suppose, for instance, a +youth, who was trained in the ways of tranquillity and enjoyment, with a +feeling heart for the sufferings of others, to be brought, all at once, on +the field of war and bloodshed. Suppose him passing along some narrow +defile, where the distant scenes could scarcely affect him, and where he +would perceive only a din of discordant sounds. But, on a sudden, he +reaches the termination of the passage, and all the pomp, and +circumstance, and horror of war, are exhibited before him. Here he beholds +rank opposed to rank, in deadly conflict; troops of horsemen butchering +each other; forests of deadly weapons gleaming in the sunbeams. Now he +listens to the shouts of victors, the cries of the vanquished, the groans +of the wounded and dying; to the swelling notes of some musical band; the +discordant sounds of the drum; the clashing of arms, and the shrill clamor +of trumpets; to the rattling of musketry and the roaring of artillery! How +would his heart sink within him at these novel scenes!</p> + +<p>“Novelty will also occasion sorrow; as, when a man has been accustomed to +independence, and the comforts which wealth, judiciously managed, may +produce, and his riches are suddenly swept away, he is reduced from +affluence to dependance, from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> comforts to privations. And when a person +has been used to the society of pleasant friends, and these are removed by +the hand of death, and the clay-cold body alone remains as the +representative of a cheerful and amiable companion, the novelty of this +event will occasion heartfelt sorrow.</p> + +<p>“When those who have been accustomed to associate as faithful friends; or, +when a monarch has been surrounded by persons who have pretended feelings +of attachment, and evinced much hypocritical fidelity, and, all at once, +the veil of deception has been drawn aside, and an aspect has presented +itself of a new and treacherous kind, how powerful have been the feelings +of abhorrence and anger!</p> + +<p>“And when a person, who has been nurtured in the lap of ease and comfort, +and blessed with that best of all blessings (if it be rightly managed), +the gift of liberty, is torn from his home, and his family, and his +engagements, and carried into a land of slavery, where he is laden with +oppressive chains, and insulted by a cruel task-master, with no chance of +freedom, nor any ray of happiness, how will his spirits sink, and how will +the haggard lineaments of despair be drawn on that countenance which was +formed for cheerfulness! Or, suppose a person who was accustomed to a +dwelling in some verdant valley, undisturbed by storms or the hazards of +the sea; and he was introduced, for the first time, to some of the most +aggravated dangers of that boisterous element. Suppose the winds were +driving furiously over the ocean, and the huge billows were breaking on +the helpless bark, while the darkness of the night was varied only by the +gleam of the lightning, which exhibited breakers, and rocks, and +over-hanging precipices, how would this new and dangerous condition +agitate his mind, and drive him to despair!</p> + +<p>“Novelty influences the customs or habits of mankind. On some occasions +novel engagements are pleasing; and thus we practise them again, and +acquire a habit of performing them. For instance, the citizen who has +walked into the country as a novelty, has been pleased with his ramble, +and induced to practise it daily. It sometimes occasions a progress in the +arts; and thus the first attempts at music, at painting, and at sculpture, +have produced a pleasure which has stimulated the person to future and +continued labors.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes, when the first impression has been rather unpleasing, a custom +has been acquired, because, afterward, it had been found pleasing or +advantageous. Thus there are many kinds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> of food, which were originally +ungrateful, but are now esteemed delicious. Port wine is nauseous for a +child, but it is pleasing to the taste of a person who has been accustomed +to it. Smoking, the taking of snuff, and masticating of tobacco, with many +other useless and dirty customs, are not produced by the pleasing +influence of novelty; but they are rather opposed to it. They arise +principally from the inclination of following injurious examples. In some +cases ladies have set their faces against such customs, and have +prohibited the practice among those who would gain their esteem: in other +cases they have been more lenient, because they have found that a flame of +love may burn amid volumes of smoke from cigars or tobacco-pipes. Novelty +has occasioned a sensation of unpleasantness, with regard to particular +modes of dress; but afterward these fashions have become necessary to our +comfort.</p> + +<p>“In some instances, the very things which we commonly hate most, become +essential to our happiness. When Louis XVI. ascended the throne of France, +the doors of some of the dark cells in the Bastile were opened, and the +hapless residents were allowed once more to breathe the pure air of +heaven. Among the rest, there was one man who had been immured for nearly +fifty years in a wretched cell, the area of which was so small as scarcely +to allow him room to move about; but, having a vigorous body and a firm +mind, he supported himself, until he had almost forgotten the world in +which he lived, having had no intercourse with any one but the jailer, who +brought him his daily food. When he received the summons to depart, which +seemed like a message in a dream, he was astonished; but when he walked +through the spacious passages and the open courts, and saw the heavens +extended above him, and the sun shining in his splendor, he was overcome +by his feelings. He could badly walk, and badly speak, and he seemed as if +he had entered a new world. He went into the city, and found the street in +which he had formerly lived, but his friends were dead; there was no +living being in the world that knew him, and the poor man wept with +sorrow. He was a stranger in a strange country. He went to the minister +who had given him his freedom, and said: ‘Sir, I can bear to die, but to +live in a world unknown and forlorn, the last human being of my race, is +insupportable; do, therefore, send me to my cell, that I may finish my +days there!’ No blessing of Providence will be felt as a benefit, unless +it be possessed by a person for whom it is adapted.</p> + +<p>“Impressions of a novel and pleasing kind soon lose their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> attraction; and +thus the honors which are acquired by civil and literary eminence, quickly +fade away. They are like a beautiful cloud in the heavens, or a dew-drop +on a leaf, which glitters and exhibits its beauties for a while, but the +fervent sun absorbs both; or, they are like a gaudy flower, which a man +fixes in his bosom—very lovely at first, but its attractions soon vanish. +On the other hand, painful occurrences leave but a faint impression. +Although, at first, a man may be bowed down with trouble, yet he will soon +regain an erect position and a smiling countenance. A few weeks or months +hide most of our sorrows from us; and this is an eminent proof of the +wisdom and beneficence of the Deity: for the general amount of human +happiness is by this means more equally divided. A state of elation is +temporary, and so is a state of depression; and thus, whether a man rises +or sinks in worldly possessions and honors, although there will be some +difference in the amount of enjoyment, yet there will be much less than we +are generally disposed to imagine.</p> + +<p>“A taste for novelty affects the engagements of society: it is the source +of fashion; it gives labor to the mechanic, to the artist, and to almost +every man who obtains his maintenance by industry. And thus there are new +buildings, new vehicles, new machines, and new methods of doing most +things. There are dresses of various kinds the result of ingenuity and +taste. One thing is new and attractive, but it soon becomes stale, and +then we look for something novel. Some kinds of food are scarce and +costly: these are approved by the great, but they become plentiful and +cheap, and then the rich man looks for something rare, some new discovery +in the art of cookery. The round of pleasures and amusements is +continually varying. Formerly the men, and even the ladies, were delighted +by exhibitions of combats among savage beasts—lions, elephants, and +tigers; they feasted their eyes on the bloody combats of human beings with +each other, or with bulls and other furious animals. They attended +dog-fights, cock-fights, and other barbarous diversions. But the taste has +become improved; novelty has taken a praiseworthy direction: boxing, +wrestling, and other disgraceful exhibitions, are now transferred to the +vulgar and disreputable; many innocent amusements have been introduced, +and these also have been regulated by the universal love of novelty. The +same variety has existed in language. A certain style of speech, and +certain phrases, are fashionable in the best society; these are gradually +introduced among the lower ranks, and then the better classes look for +something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> novel. Many words and phrases originally introduced for the +purpose of expressing things delicately, become vulgar: terms which were +primarily intended as a reproach become a designation of honor, and those +once deemed honorable become reproachful.</p> + +<p>“The love of novelty occasions the great variety of tunes which we +possess, and the diversity of musical skill. A newly-constructed +instrument, a new or superior mode of performing on it and the last new +tune, are objects of universal attraction. The same disposition arises +with respect to books. Novelty has occasioned all the variety which the +history of literature exhibits, from the bulky folio to the penny +pamphlet, and the annual publication to the daily newspaper: it has +occasioned, also, in a great degree, the multitude of opinions which have +deluged the world. Something new, as the loungers of Athens demanded, has +been the requirement of the public in all ages. If it be new, it will be +attractive, and if pleasing or convenient, it will be embraced, and then +its strength and consistency will soon be deemed demonstrated: but when +the writers on the subject, and the readers of those writings, become +cool; when reason takes the place of imagination, then the system will be +often discovered to be defective, the vapory fabric will fade away, and +some other will obtain its place. We are too frequently going round in our +progress, rather than forward. In many respects we are not much farther +advanced than the ancients, and yet we ought to be, and should be if we +had pursued a direct course.</p> + +<p>“But one of the most pleasing sources of novelty is that which the +Almighty has given us in the seasons of the year; and this distinctly +shows us that the love of novelty is not only natural, but it is allowable +and praiseworthy, if it be regulated by reason; for the Great Creator +himself indulges us in this respect. And thus we have all the variety of +summer and winter, of sultry and frosty days, of clear and cloudy skies; +of the budding and blooming of spring, and the richness and luxuriance of +autumn; the breaking forth of the sun in the morning, and the setting of +that glorious luminary; the light of the stars; the silvery splendor of +the moon; the glare of lightnings and meteors, the rolling of thunder, +with vapors, rain, hail, and snow.</p> + +<p>“The love of novelty is injurious only when it is carried beyond what the +Almighty intended; when it does not animate a person to perform his +necessary engagements, but carries him away from them; when it makes him +restless and wavering. Novelty accompanies man in infancy and in youth; it +cheers and exalts him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> in the changing scenes of manhood; and when we +leave this earthly sphere, and the soul bursts forth from its corporeal +dwelling, it will fly upward to regions of still greater novelty, and +never-failing interest!”</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>D.</h3> + +<p>Mr. Walker, in various places of his work, calls the <i>cerebel</i> or +cerebellum, “the organ of volition,” and, at page 145, he attributes +ideas, emotions, and passions, to the cerebrum, though he states that acts +of the will result from these. Now, if there is any truth established, it +is that the <i>will</i> is the result of the simultaneous action of the higher +intellectual powers, and supposes attention, reflection, comparison, and +judgment, mental operations, which Mr. Walker himself attributes to the +cerebrum. Gall has made it very evident, that the <i>will</i> is not the +impulse that results from the activity of a single organ, but the +concurrent action of many of the higher intellectual faculties—motives +must be weighed, compared, and judged, before there can be any will, or +determination of mind. The decision resulting from this determination, is +called will. We consider it then proved, that there is no particular organ +of the will. “Every fundamental faculty,” says Dr. Gall, “accompanied by a +clear notion of its existence, and by reflection, is intellect or +intelligence. Each individual intelligence, therefore, has its proper +organ; but reason supposes the concerted action of the higher faculties. +It is the judgment pronounced by the higher intellectual faculties. A +single one of these, however, could not constitute reason, which is the +compliment, the result of the simultaneous action of all the intellectual +faculties. It is <i>reason</i> that distinguishes man from the brute; +<i>intellect</i> they have in common to a certain degree. There are many +intelligent men, but few reasoning ones. Nature produces an intelligent +man; a happy organization, cultivated by experience and reflection, forms +the reasoning man.” Nearly all physiologists deserving of the name, are +now united in the opinion that the cerebellum is the organ of amativeness, +as well as concerned in the regulation of voluntary motion. “It is +impossible,” says Dr. Spurzheim, “to unite a greater number of proofs in +demonstration of any natural truth than may be presented to determine the +function of the cerebellum.”—“Mr. Scott,” says George Combe, “in an +excellent essay on the influence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> amativeness on the higher sentiments +and intellect, observes that it has been regarded by some individuals, as +almost synonymous with pollution; and the notion has been entertained, +that it cannot be even approached without defilement. This mistake has +originated from attention being directed too exclusively to the abuses of +the propensity. Like everything that forms part of the system of nature, +it bears the stamp of wisdom and excellence in itself, although liable to +abuse. It exerts a quiet but effectual influence in the general +intercourse between the sexes, giving rise in each to a sort of kindly +interest in all concerns the other. This disposition to mutual kindness +between the sexes, does not arise from benevolence or adhesiveness, or any +other sentiment or propensity alone; because, if such were its sources, it +would have an equal effect in the intercourse of the individuals of each +sex among themselves, which it has not. ‘In this quiet and unobtrusive +state of the feeling,’ says Mr. Scott, ‘there is nothing in the least +gross or offensive to the most sensitive delicacy. So far the contrary, +that the want of some feeling of this sort is required, wherever it +appears, as a very palpable defect, and a most unamiable trait in the +character. It softens all the proud, irascible, and antisocial principles +of our nature, in everything which regards that sex which is the object of +it; and it increases the activity and force of all the kindly and +benevolent affections. This explains many facts which appear in the mutual +regards of the sexes toward each other. Men are, generally speaking, more +generous and kind, more benevolent and charitable, toward women, than they +are to men, or than women are to one another.’ The abuses of this +propensity are the sources of innumerable evils in life; and as the organ +and feeling exist, and produce an influence on the mind, independently of +external communication, Dr. Spurzheim suggests the propriety of +instructing young persons in the consequences of its improper indulgence +as preferable to keeping them in a state of ignorance that may provoke a +fatal curiosity, compromising in the end their own and their descendants’ +bodily and mental constitution.”</p> + +<p>It may be proper in this place, to point out some of the anatomical +differences of the sexes more definitely than has been done by Mr. Walker, +as they are intimately connected with the form and contour of the body, +and must be understood to appreciate fully the bearing of much that is +laid down by our author:—</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">ANATOMICAL SEXUAL DIFFERENCES.</p> + +<p class="center"><br />DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.</p> + +<p>The stomach is the only portion of the alimentary canal which presents +sexual differences. It is larger, shorter, and broader, in the male; +smaller, narrower, and longer, in the female. Its muscular coat, like that +in the whole alimentary canal, is generally also thinner in the female.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />OSSEOUS SYSTEM.</p> + +<p><i>Ribs.</i>—The ribs of the female are generally straighter than those of the +male. The posterior segment unites sooner with the anterior; its curve +differs less from that of the last, and disappears sooner in the female; +hence, the chest is narrower. The ribs are usually thinner; hence, the +edges are sharper. Sometimes, however, this is far from being true. Their +length is nearly the same; but according to Mechel, the length of the two +upper ribs is proportionally, and when the subject is short, absolutely +greater in the female than in the male.</p> + +<p><i>Clavicle.</i>—The clavicle is generally straighter, and proportionably +smaller in the female than in the male. The greater straightness depends +particularly on the lesser curve of its external portion, while in man it +extends far backward, and then comes forward. The internal anterior half +presents nearly the same curve in both sexes. The clavicle of the female +is rounder than that of the male; we however find clavicles of females +perfectly like those of males, and <i>vice versa</i>. Sometimes, of the two +clavicles in the same body, one is constructed in the type of the male, +and the other in that of the female.</p> + +<p><i>Pelvis.</i>—The chief points of difference between the male and female +skeleton, beside the disparity in the size and the greater smoothness of +the bones, lie in the <i>pelvis</i>. In the female this is less strong and +thick, and contains less osseous matter than that of the male. In the +female, the arch of the <i>pubis</i> is much the greatest, and the long +diameter of the brim of the pelvis is from side to side; in the male it is +from before backward; in the female, the brim is more of the oval shape, +in the male more triangular; in the female, the <i>ilia</i> are more distant; +the tuberosities of the <i>ischia</i> are also more remote from each other, and +from the <i>os coccygis</i>, and as these three points are farther apart, the +notches between them are consequently wider, and there is of necessity a +considerably greater space between the <i>os coccygis</i> and <i>pubis</i> than in +the male. The female <i>sacrum</i> is broader and less curved than in the other +sex.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> The ligamentous cartilage at the symphysis pubis is broader and +shorter. In consequence of the cavity of the pelvis being wider in woman, +the superior articulations of their thigh bones are farther removed from +each other, which circumstance occasions their peculiarity in walking; +they seem to require a greater effort than men to preserve the centre of +gravity, when the leg is raised; owing to the greater length of the crural +arch, there is less resistance to the pressure of the abdominal viscera; +consequently females are more subject to femoral hernia than males. The +angle of union of the ossa pubis in the male is from sixty to eighty +degrees, whereas, in the female it is ninety degrees. The mean height of +the male, at the period of maturity, is about five feet eight and a half +inches, and that of the female about five feet five inches; a well-formed +pelvis has a circumference equal to one-fourth of the height of the +female.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />ORGAN OF VOICE.</p> + +<p>The <i>larynx</i> is one of the organs which presents most manifestly the +differences of sex. That of the female is usually one third, and sometimes +one half smaller than that of the male: all its constituent cartilages are +much thinner; the thyroid cartilage also is even flatter, because its two +lateral halves unite at a less acute angle. Hence the reason why the +larynx in the male forms at the upper part of the neck a prominence which +is not visible in the female. The glottis in the female is much smaller +than in the male, and the vocal cords are shorter. These sexual +differences do not appear till puberty; until then the larynx has +precisely the same form in the two sexes, and consequently the voice is +nearly the same in both. In eunuchs it is small as in females.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF THE BEAUTY OF FORM.</p> + +<p>A very ingenious Physiological explanation of the beauty of form, has been +suggested by Professor B. T. Joslin, of the University of the city of New +York, which is published in the Transactions of the New York State Medical +Society for 1836. As this theory is characterized by great originality and +genius, and but little known, we shall present our readers with some +extracts from the Essay, calculated to elucidate the views of the talented +author.</p> + +<p>Speaking of material objects, not including the human form, Dr. J. +remarks:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>“There is in objects a kind of beauty which is intrinsic and physical, +which belongs to them in every association, and whether at rest or in +motion; such is the beauty of color, and that of configuration. The +contemplation of the beauty of coloring and of form gives physical +pleasure, i. e., physical as opposed to mental, but physiological as +opposed to physical. Employing physical in its comprehensive sense, I say +that this physical pleasure attending vision is of two distinct kinds; +1st, that which depends on the character of the impression on the retina, +and consequently on the intensity and nature of the light; and 2dly, that +which depends upon the form of the object, and, consequently, on the +muscular actions employed in tracing its outlines. As the latter +constitutes the proper subject of this essay, I shall dismiss the former +with a single remark.</p> + +<p>“Some colors are more agreeable than others, but these differ with +different eyes, and with the nature of the color to which the eyes have +been previously exposed. A bluish green relieves the eye when over-excited +with red, and a mild red is agreeable after the protracted action of +intense green; and in general, the complementary colors are most agreeable +in succession. Again, it is well known, that no kind of light is painful, +unless excessively vivid; we are pleased with a mild radiance in objects +of every hue, from the whiteness of the moon to the crimson of the setting +sun. But is there no other physical property by which these luminaries +directly contribute to the gratification of taste? It is true that light, +abstractedly from all objects is agreeable, and agreeable on the same +principle that sweetness is to the taste, i. e., from the mere character +of the nervous impression. But this is a pleasure merely passive, and in +an active being it is, perhaps, on that account, one grade lower than the +gratification afforded by the beauty of form, and is more allied to the +gross pleasure of literal taste. Hence, we scarcely employ a figurative +expression, in declaring that light is sweet. But the highest degree of +physical gratification is not enjoyed by the eye, unless this agreeable +excitant proceeds from an object of beautiful form. “Light is sweet,” but +“it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun.” What is the +source of this additional pleasure which we receive, when light proceeds +either by radiation or reflection from regular curvilinear objects?</p> + +<p>“I shall offer what I believe to be an original and satisfactory +explanation of the beauty of form, on principles purely physiological. It +is based on the proposition, that the action of every muscle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> is attended +with a sensation which, is at first agreeable, but which, if the action is +continued for a short time with intensity, and without intermission, +becomes painful. That there is pleasure attending those varied motions +which depend upon the actions of different muscles in succession after +intervals of rest in each, we know from our own consciousness as well as +from that instinctive propensity to play which we observe in children and +young animals. That the prolonged action of a muscle is painful, we may +readily convince ourselves by endeavoring to hold the arm for some time at +right angles with the erect trunk. With the arm in this position, a pound +weight on the hand or even the weight of the arm itself becomes in a few +minutes almost insupportable. We presently begin to feel pain in the +shoulder and anterior part of the arm, the former from fatigue of those +muscles which originate from the scapula and keep the os humeri elevated, +and the latter from fatigue of the muscles which originate from the +scapula and os humeri, whose muscular fibres are in front of the os humeri +and by their contraction elevate the fore-arm in consequence of their +tendinous attachment to its bones. Yet a man may labor all day with his +arms without this painful sensation; because a muscle requires but a +momentary rest, in order to regain that degree of energy which is +momentarily lost by action.</p> + +<p>“None but an anatomist can duly appreciate the variety of separate +actions, on which depend the motions of a single limb, and the +consequently numerous opportunities of rest which the muscles enjoy. To +the superficial and unscientific observer, an arm is an arm; it is a +single member which may be fatigued by a day’s work and recruited by a +night’s rest. But to the anatomist the arm is a complex object, and its +muscular energy is that of its component muscles, each of which may be +fatigued by a minute’s action and recruited by a minute’s repose. It would +be easy to extend this farther, and state reasons for believing that the +component fasciculi and fibres of an individual muscle act still more +transiently, and that their momentary and successive actions constitute +the action of a single muscle.</p> + +<p>“But waiving this refinement, it will be sufficient for our purpose to +consider a single muscle as having a simple action, an action which cannot +be sustained with uniformity a minute of time without actual pain, nor a +second of time with positive pleasure. This, however, is not to be +understood as an attempt to fix these limits with precision. To express +the law in more general terms, as we diminish the duration of a muscle’s +action we diminish the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> pain until we arrive at an action whose attendant +sensation is neutral, i. e., neither painful nor pleasurable; as soon as +we have passed that point and have begun to execute motions a little more +transient, the attendant sensation becomes positively pleasurable, and the +pleasure increases as the separate actions become more transient. It is +not necessary to infer that there is attending each action of shorter +duration a pleasure exceeding that which attends each action of greater +duration; for the more transient actions are, in a given time, more +numerous; so that with the same amount of pleasure for each muscular +contraction, the amount of pleasurable sensation in a given time—say a +second—would exceed the amount attending the less frequent and more +prolonged actions in the same period: a greater number of separate +impressions become—so to speak—crowded together and condensed, and thus +produce a more vivid pleasure. Several contiguous impressions thus +conspire to heighten the contemporaneous effect, inasmuch as we are unable +to distinguish those impressions which are made at very short intervals on +the muscular sense, any more than we are those made at very short +intervals on the retina. We have an example of the latter in the familiar +experiment of swinging a coal of fire in a circle, and in various optical +instruments for combining colors and images.</p> + +<p>“The proposition which I have endeavored to establish is, that there is a +neutral point to which, if constant action is prolonged, its pleasurable +character begins to be reversed; that the vividness of the sensation +increases with the distance from this point, being on the one side +pleasurable, on the other painful; the more transient the actions are, the +more pleasurable; the more prolonged they are, the more painful.</p> + +<p>“I am of opinion that this physiological principle is susceptible of +interesting applications to a class of pleasures, which metaphysicians +have regarded as exclusively mental, and dependant upon certain supposed +ultimate principles of the constitution of mind, principles not resolvable +into others more elementary. As physiology shall advance, it may be +expected that many of these imaginary elements will yield to its searching +analysis. Whether the writer has been so fortunate as to resolve any of +the generally admitted elements of mental taste, the reader will be able +to judge from the sequel.</p> + +<p>As preparatory to the consideration of the beauty of form, it will be +necessary to give an explanation of the <i>gracefulness of motion</i>. Although +this has been vaguely and in part referred to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> ease of execution, yet, the +physiological principle on which ease of execution depends, not having +been clearly understood and distinctly stated, the gracefulness of <i>all</i> +motions could not be referred to their true source. Thus, writers on taste +have been under the necessity of admitting, as a distinct and independent +source of gracefulness, the <i>curvilinear direction</i> of motions, and have +been able to generalize this fact no farther than by referring it to the +beauty of curved forms, which beauty was considered an <i>ultimate</i> fact. In +applying the principles above developed, to the explanation of the +pleasure or pain attending the contemplation of particular motions, we +shall defer for the present the investigation of the intrinsic beauty of +curved motions, which is the same as that of curved lines, and assume that +in general those motions which are physically pleasurable to the agent are +agreeable to the observer. The pleasure or pain of the agent will engage +the sympathy of the observer; for he associates the observed action with +his own experience. To make a single application, suppose a public speaker +extend his arm horizontally and move it slowly in a horizontal position, +through one third of a circle. This motion would not appear graceful. That +it would not be performed with perfect ease, any one might prove by +experiment. The principal difficulty is in preserving for a long time the +horizontal position.”</p> + +<p>“In the ordinary state of the muscular system, and within certain limits, +the motion of the eye in any direction is pleasurable. Whenever the power +of directing the eye is acquired, the tracing of a line will, to a certain +extent and for a certain time, afford some degree of positive pleasure; in +other words, any short line will possess some degree of positive beauty, +and the infant becomes conscious of an emotion of which he was previously +ignorant—the emotion of beauty of form. A point awakens no such emotion; +it never will; it can possess no beauty. It must be recollected, that this +has been restricted to minute points of inappreciable form. Circular dots +will be considered under the head of figures. The colorific property of a +dot as compared with that of the ground on which it is placed, may afford +that kind of ocular pleasure which is foreign to the present inquiry.</p> + +<p>“From points as compared with lines, we naturally proceed to <i>lines as +compared with each other</i>.</p> + +<p>“When the head is erect, in examining a <i>straight horizontal</i> line we +employ one of the lateral recti; if the line be vertical we employ the +rectus inferior or superior. In either case, but one muscle acts, and that +continuously. The muscle is not relieved, and its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> action is not attended +with the maximum amount of pleasurable sensation. When the vision has been +extended along the whole line, if we then immediately proceed to examine +it in the opposite direction, the opposite rectus must at one exert a +force sufficient to overcome the <i>momentum</i> of the eyeball, and then exert +a <i>continuous</i> action. Both these circumstances are unfavorable to +pleasure. If the line is <i>oblique</i>, one lateral together with one inferior +or one superior muscle is exerted, and the same principles which have been +applied to the single muscles, apply to the muscles acting in pairs.</p> + +<p>“<i>The Beauty of Curved Lines.</i>—As from the foregoing analysis of the +vision of straight lines in general, it results that they are deficient in +the elements of ocular agreeableness, in other words, of beauty; little +more need be said of regular and gentle curves, than that the survey of +them is not attended with the abovementioned disadvantages. In viewing a +regular curve, no muscle of the eyeball acts continuously and uniformly, +but enjoys partial relief by remissions, or total relief by intermissions +of its action; and the regularity of these remissions and intermissions, +as well as the equal distribution of exercise, is promoted by the +regularity of the curve. Acting in succession, the muscles afford mutual +relief after actions of such short duration and variable intensity, as to +afford positive pleasure; and in this <i>muscular pleasure</i> of the eye +consists the <i>beauty of configuration</i>.</p> + +<p>“The successive and accurate survey of distant points is not, however, +invariably requisite to a degree of similar pleasure, in viewing a figure +of such small angular extent as to be instantly recognised by one location +of its image, as analogous to a larger one whose survey has directly +afforded muscular pleasure. Although I thus recognise the influence of +association, the facts of this very case afford an interesting +confirmation of the physiological theory; for a large circle or ellipse is +more beautiful than one of diminutive size. The beauty of the one is +original, its influence is direct; the beauty of the other is in part +borrowed, and this part is weakened by reflection. Or, to express it more +literally, the one excites a pleasurable sensation, the other suggests a +similar idea; the one affords a <i>perception</i>, the other a <i>conception</i>, of +beauty. Such, even with similar color and brilliancy, would be the +difference between the full moon and a circular dot (<strong>·</strong>) or period; such +the difference between a rainbow and a diminutive arc (<img src="images/arc.png" alt="" />) (<strong>◠</strong>), a +short accent inverted. Here the critic might be inclined to charge us with +confounding the beautiful with the sublime. But the fact is,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> that +criticism has constructed the sublime—as it has the beautiful—from +heterogeneous materials, one of which is identical with one of the +elements of beauty, and should, in a physiological arrangement, be +referred to the same class. In many instances a magnifying instrument will +disclose minute irregularities and blemishes; but in every other case, +physiology would show, that, within certain limits, to magnify a beautiful +<i>object</i> is to <i>magnify beauty</i>.</p> + +<p>“The foregoing statements of general principles preclude the necessity of +minute details in relation to particular curves. I shall at present +consider those which do not return into themselves, so as to constitute +the outlines of figures in the geometrical sense. Let us first select a +semi-circumference, for example, that of a rainbow of maximum dimensions. +In tracing it once, we employ three out of the four muscles. They are +brought into action successively and rapidly, but not abruptly. All these +circumstances are favorable to pleasure. Yet they are not conducive to it +in the highest possible degree; for each muscle acts only once unless the +examination be repeated; and in case of its repetition, the momentum of +the eyeball is destroyed in stopping and reversing its motion. The waving +line, as Hogarth’s line of beauty, obviates the first difficulty. This +ensures not only the successive action of different muscles, but a +repetition of action in the same. If the line forms a number of equal +waves, these repetitions will be proportional to the number of waves, and +will alternately and totally relieve, at least two muscles, and allow, in +the action of a third, regular remissions of intensity at equal intervals. +We have proved then, that on this physiological theory, a +semi-circumference possesses more of the elements of beauty than any +straight line, and a regular-waved line more than either. These results +are conformable to experience. If there is any difficulty in admitting +this, it will vanish on comparing the ocular with other muscles.</p> + +<p>“Let us select a joint, which, in its spherical form, and the circular +arrangement of its muscles, is analogous to the eye; for example, the +shoulder joint. I think it will be uniformly found, that in the use of +this joint, the curves most readily traced, are those of gentle and nearly +equal curvature, and being such as are most easily traced by the eye, they +would appear more beautiful than those drawn by the fingers with the same +education. For example, let a man, without bending his wrist or elbow, +draw various lines with a light stick or cane on the surface of snow: the +lines most easily drawn (or most easily traced if already drawn), will be +curves of considerable beauty, and nearly equal curvature; such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> as waved +lines and spirals and looped curves. Circles and ellipses would also be +among the figures with most facility and precision traced, and especially +in cases of repeated tracing; but we are not at present considering +figures in the proper geometrical sense of the term. In writing letters by +the above method, a succession of ‘e’s, would be more readily drawn than a +succession of ‘i’s, or a zigzag line with acute angles.</p> + +<p>“To institute a fair comparison between terminated lines and figures, the +component lines of the figures should be as beautiful as the terminated +lines with which they are compared. With this precaution, physiology will +conduct to the conclusion, that figures are more beautiful than terminated +lines. For the survey of any figure requires the successive action of all +these ocular muscles, and a repeated survey requires no reversal of the +motion.</p> + +<p>“We may apply the same principles to <i>figures as compared with each +other</i>. Here we shall find the advantage on the side of those which are +geometrically regular. We perceive that the circle and ellipse must +possess in great perfection the essentials of beauty.</p> + +<p>“From figures, the transition is natural and easy to <i>solids</i> or bodies of +three dimensions. The form of a body depends on those of all its faces and +sections; and these last are plane figures. The elliptical sections of a +regular spheroid are all highly beautiful, but its sections are not all +elliptical. Unless the spheroid be in certain positions, the sphere +possesses still higher beauty, as presenting the same circular and highly +beautiful outline in every position; although a variety of positions is +not essential to the perception of its peculiar beauty, whenever the +observer has learned by different methods, and especially by different +degrees of convergence of the two optic axes, to estimate the relative +distances of the different points of the visible hemisphere, and thus to +recognise the spherical form. I will only add, from the analysis of the +beauty of the circle it is evident, that within certain limits, to magnify +a sphere is to magnify its beauty.</p> + +<p>“The relative beauty of the sphere and spheroid, and of the spheroid as +compared with itself in different positions, is modified by <i>symmetry</i>. +The principle of symmetry, is in some measure distinct from any other +heretofore considered. It may be treated under the heads of 1st, +geometrical symmetry, or symmetry of form; 2d, of symmetry of position.</p> + +<p>“<i>Symmetry of form</i>, though implied in geometrical regularity, is not +identical with it, and requires a separate consideration. The beauty of +forms geometrically symmetrical, in contradistinction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> from those +deficient in the correspondence of opposite halves, depends upon two +similar series of actions in different pairs or muscles. For example, the +survey of an ovate leaf, or indeed that of almost any vegetable leaf—so +numerous are the provisions for our gratification—requires for its +opposite halves two series of muscular actions, the different parts of the +one corresponding with those of the other in duration, intensity, and +order of succession. The gratification in this case results from the +harmony of muscular sensations individually pleasurable. The agreeableness +of this harmony may depend upon a principle more psychological than that +of the agreeableness of its elementary sensations. Yet the former is to a +certain extent susceptible of a physiological generalization. This harmony +would probably have been impaired by any considerable inequality in the +distances between the points of insertion of the recti muscles, or in the +strength of the antagonists. It is a curious coincidence, that in both +these respects, these muscles are more nearly symmetrical than any others +in the human body. Physiology, then, explains, not only the agreeableness +of the elementary sensations, which give rise to the perception of beauty +in regular curves, but unfolds the provisions for two similar series of +such sensations, not only in figures simply regular, but in those which +are simply symmetrical, and in those which are both symmetrical and +regular. The principles of muscular action explain the agreeableness of a +rapid succession of varied actions equally distributed among the muscles, +and the structure of the optical apparatus explains why the curvature and +regularity of an object require such actions in vision. Again, we discover +in the symmetrical structure and arrangement of the ocular muscles, a +provision for two similar series of pleasurable sensations in the survey +of a symmetrical figure, in whatever position it may be placed, provided +it retains its symmetry with respect to some visual plane. The coincidence +between the location of the ocular muscles diametrically opposite, on the +one hand, and our propensity to compare the opposite halves of bodies, and +the pleasure afforded by their similarity on the other hand, is curious, +and to a certain extent affords a physiological explanation of the beauty +of symmetrical forms.</p> + +<p>“The same principles which apply to the beauty of form of inanimate +objects are applicable to the paths described by them in <i>motion</i>. The +intrinsic beauty of their motions is exclusively referrible to sensations +in the ocular muscles of the observer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> while the gracefulness of human +motions is referrible in part to these, and in part to sensations in other +muscles.</p> + +<p>“It would be foreign to the subject of the present memoir, to consider the +beauty of expression of the human countenance; although this species of +beauty is in a great degree referrible to muscular action. That muscular +action which belongs to the present topic is not that of the object, but +that of the observer. It may be scarcely necessary again to disclaim any +design of giving a complete analysis of beauty in general, or to repeat +the concession that man’s notions of beauty are modified by various +associations.</p> + +<p>“<i>Final Cause.</i>—The benevolence of the Author of nature is strikingly +manifested in connecting present pleasure with obedience to the natural +laws. It has been shown that vision is attended with muscular action which +is generally pleasurable. If seeing had required no muscular action, we +should have wanted one of our present stimuli to the acquisition of +knowledge. This stimulus is especially necessary in infancy, and then +powerfully prompts to observation, even anterior to the dawnings of +intellectual curiosity, with which it subsequently co-operates. We see, in +this arrangement, the exemplification of a principle which extensively +pervades the laws under which we are placed by the Creator—which is, that +mental attainments, as well as other acquisitions, shall require action; +and that action shall be attended with pleasure. Whether the acquisition +is to be made by the manual labor of the artisan, by the manipulations of +the artist, the chymist, or the experimental philosopher, by the sedentary +student of books, or by the observer of natural phenomena in his original +survey of the universe—in every case it is muscular action.</p> + +<p>“This application to natural theology, has thus far had reference to that +degree of intrinsic agreeableness which is common to forms in general. But +the laws of nature specially tend to the production of curved, regular, +and symmetrical objects and motions, in inorganic vegetable and animal +bodies; and impose the necessity of similar forms in artificial +structures. With a different structure and arrangement of the ocular +muscles, those forms peculiarly conducive to our welfare and that of the +universe, had possessed no peculiar attractions; and we had felt no +special impulse of this kind to conform our own artificial structures to +those laws of nature, or to investigate many of the most important works +of the Creator. Yet neither gravity or any other law of the external world +could have determined the peculiar formation of the muscles of the human +eye. We must, therefore, refer their actual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> structure and location to +that Being who gives to the objects of his creative power, and to the +principles by which he governs them, such a mutual adaptation as conduces +to the greatest achievable good. Thus, while muscular pleasure originally +prompts to the observation of the Creator’s works, this observation is +rewarded and subsequently prompted by a pleasure of an incomparably higher +order, of a character purely mental, by the discovery of <i>moral beauty</i>, +which in rank and refinement surpasses all others. Still, the muscular +pleasure of the eye strongly incites to the examination of the numberless +forms of beauty in the organic and inorganic kingdoms, such as the +symmetrical leaf, the bending bough, the symmetry of the tree itself that +of inferior animals, and of the human form. Or we may extend our view to +the circular or undulating horizon, the apparent limits of the apparently +round world; or we may elevate the eyes to the arched dome of the +firmament, on which the arches of the iris and aurora occasionally confer +additional beauty. Or with the telescope we may pierce this apparent limit +of upward vision, and discover beyond it a universe of spherical and +spheroidal worlds, revolving in circular and elliptical orbits, worlds and +orbits which present, even in our diminutive diagrams, a high order of +beauty, designed to incite us to the contemplation of these most +magnificent works of the Creator.</p> + +<p>“All this beauty had been lost to man, but for the property of the eye, +which, on a superficial reflection, might seem a defect. It is no less +true than paradoxical, that the perception of these beauties depends on +<i>indistinctness of vision</i>. To a being so constituted as to see with equal +distinctness by oblique and direct vision, the same forms might be +presented, but not as forms of beauty. Has the Creator, then, sacrificed a +portion of our perceptive powers to our sensual gratification? I answer +no. Has he, then, sacrificed a portion of our <i>direct</i> means of acquiring +knowledge, to afford an incitement which should ultimately and indirectly +enhance our attainments? Again I am compelled to answer in the negative. +There is, in this arrangement, no intellectual sacrifice whatever, direct +or indirect. This indistinctness of oblique vision, which might seem a +defect, I consider an excellence. A simultaneous and distinct impression +received from the whole field of vision, would distract the attention and +preclude a minute and accurate examination of any particular part. But as +our eyes are so constituted as to receive a strong and distinct impression +only from the images of those objects toward which their axes are +directed, and as our minds are so constituted that we can in a great +measure neglect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> the weaker or less distinct impressions, we are able to +acquire a more exact knowledge of any part of the field to which we choose +to attend. To see every thing at once, would be to examine nothing. Such a +constitution of the eye would be to vision what an indiscriminating memory +is to the understanding.</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>E.</h3> +<p class="center">STANDARD OF BEAUTY.</p> + +<p>To show that the sentiments of mankind with regard to female beauty, have +been very various in different ages and nations, and that it is not +possible to establish a standard which shall comprehend all, without +discriminations, a few facts may be mentioned. Among the ancients, a small +forehead and joined eyebrows were much admired in a female countenance; +and in Persia, large joined eyebrows are still highly esteemed. In some +parts of Asia, black teeth and white hair, are essential ingredients in +the character of a beauty; and in the Marian Islands, it is customary +among the ladies to blacken their teeth with herbs, and to black their +hair with certain liquors. Beauty, in China and Japan, is composed of a +large countenance, small, and half-concealed eyes, a broad nose, little +and useless feet, and a prominent belly. The Flat-head Indians compress +the heads of their children between two boards, with a view to enlarge and +beautify the face; some tribes compress the head laterally; others depress +the crown, and others make the head as round as possible. “The Moors of +Africa,” says Park, “have singular ideas of female perfection; the +gracefulness of figure and motion, and a countenance enlivened by +expression, are by no means operative points in their standard; with them +corpulency and beauty are terms nearly synonymous. Or women of even +moderate pretensions, must be one who cannot walk without a slave under +each arm to support her, and a perfect beauty is a load for a camel. In +consequence of this prevalent taste for unwieldiness of bulk, the Moorish +ladies take great pains to acquire it early in life, and for this purpose +many of the young girls are compelled by their mothers to swallow a great +quantity of <i>kouskous</i>, and drink a large bowl of camel’s milk every +morning. It is of no importance whether the girl has an appetite or not, +the kouskous and milk must be swallowed, and obedience is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> frequently +enforced by blows. I have seen a poor girl sit crying with the bowl at her +lips for more than an hour, and her mother with a stick in her hand +watching her all the while, and using the stick without mercy whenever she +observed that her daughter was not swallowing. This singular practice, +instead of producing indigestion and disease, soon covers the young lady +with that degree of plumpness, which in the eye of a Moor, is perfection +itself.” These facts show that every nation almost has ideas of beauty +peculiar to itself; and it is no less evident that nearly every individual +has his own notions and taste concerning it. “The empire of beauty, +however,” says a writer already quoted, “amid these discordant ideas, with +respect to the qualities in which it consists, has been very generally +acknowledged, and particularly in all civilized countries; and when it is +united with other accomplishments that tend to render females amiable, it +contributes in no small degree, to give them importance and influence, to +polish the manners of society, and to contribute to its order and +happiness.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>F.</h3> +<p class="center">TEMPERAMENT.</p> + +<p>The views of Mr. Walker in relation to Temperaments, correspond with those +usually entertained by physiological writers. It is to be observed, +however, that they rarely occur simple in any individual, two or more +being generally combined. The <i>bilious</i> and <i>nervous</i>, for example, is a +common combination, which gives strength and activity; the <i>lymphatic</i> and +<i>nervous</i>, is also common, and produces sensitive delicacy of mental +constitution, conjoined with indolence. The <i>nervous</i> and <i>sanguine</i> +combined, give extreme vivacity, but without corresponding vigor. Dr. +Thomas of Paris, has advanced the following theory of the temperaments: +When the digestive organs, filling the abdominal cavity, are large, and +the lungs and brain small, the individual is <i>lymphatic</i>; he is fond of +feeding, and averse to mental and muscular exertion. When the heart and +lungs are large, and the brain and abdomen small, the individual is +<i>sanguine</i>; blood abounds, and is propelled with vigor; he is therefore +fond of muscular exercise, but averse to thought. When the brain is large, +and the abdominal and thoracic viscera small, great mental energy is the +consequence. These<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> proportions may be combined in great varieties, and +modified results will ensue.<small><a name="f59.1" id="f59.1" href="#f59">[59]</a></small> Mr. Combe, in his late lectures in this +city, laid great stress on the relative size of the three great visceral +cavities, in determining the temperament. Thus, if the abdominal and +thoracic cavities be small, and the cranial cavity large, the <i>nervous</i> +temperament is indicated. If the abdomen and scull be comparatively small, +and the chest large, the sanguine temperament is indicated. The +predominance of the abdominal cavity indicates the lymphatic temperament. +Mr. C. also pointed out the important changes produced in the temperament +by a long continued course of training. It is common for the bilious, to +be changed into the nervous temperament, by habits of mental activity, and +close study; and, on the other hand, we often see the nervous or bilious +changed into the lymphatic about the age of 40, when the nutritive system +seems to acquire the preponderance. Spurzheim used to say, that he had +originally a large portion of the lymphatic temperament, as had all his +family; but that in himself the lymphatic had gradually diminished, and +the nervous gradually increased; whereas, in his sisters, owing to mental +inactivity, the reverse had happened, and when he visited them, after +being absent many years, he found them, to use his own expression, “<i>as +large as tuns</i>.” The subject of temperament has been treated with +consummate ability by Dr. Charles Caldwell of Kentucky; and as his essay +is but little known, we shall present some extracts from it. It will be +seen that his views bear a close resemblance to those of Dr. Thomas, +already mentioned; but Dr. C. has shown that they were publicly maintained +by him, at least two years before the appearance of Dr. Thomas’s work.<small><a name="f60.1" id="f60.1" href="#f60">[60]</a></small> +After explaining the doctrine of the temperaments, as taught by the +ancients, and showing that it is founded on the exploded hypothesis of +humoralism, Dr. C. goes on to show, that it is the <i>solids</i> of the body +which make man what he is; that they form the <i>fluids</i>, and give them +their character; that they are, in short, the <i>cause</i>, and the fluids the +<i>effect</i>.</p> + +<p>“The difference,” says Dr. C., “between individuals, or rather classes, of +the human family, which temperament is made to designate, appears to +depend on two causes; diversity of organization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> in parts or the whole of +the bodies of different persons, giving rise to a corresponding diversity +in the vital properties; and difference of size and vigor in certain +ruling organs of the system. The existence and influence of the former of +these causes are in the highest degree probable; those of the latter +certain. The one is susceptible of strong support, the other of proof that +may be termed positive. By ‘organization’ is here meant, the minute +interior or radical structure of the tissues which compose the human body. +That diversity in this creates a diversity in the vital properties, and +that again a diversity in character, cannot I think be doubted. Whether +the difference of organization here referred to, consists in different +proportions of the element of living matter that form the tissues, united +in the same way, or in their different modes of arrangement and union, or +both, or whether it may not arise in part from different proportions of +the simpler tissues entering into the formation of the more compound +organs, is not known. Minute anatomy has not yet attained a degree of +perfection competent to settle a point of such subtility.”</p> + +<p>Dr. C. afterward goes on to prove that no single nerve, or organ, can +perform two distinct functions, but that each is capable of one mode of +action, and no more; that between a nerve, a muscle, and a gland, the only +difference known to exist, is that of organization; and that if they are +organized alike, and endowed with life, their properties will be similar, +and they will act in the same way. So also between animals of the same +race, we discover innumerable differences, which can be referred to +nothing but differences in organization, and the same may be affirmed of +vegetables. The conclusion to which Dr. C. arrives, and which he maintains +with great ingenuity is, that independently of all other causes, +differences in human temperament are to be attributed, in part, to +corresponding differences in the organization of certain portions, or the +whole of the body; and that, other things being equal, in consequence of +this source of influence alone, one person differs from another in many of +the qualities of both person and intellect. In other words, he is more +highly gifted, sprightly, and vigorous, or the reverse; or he is more +courageous or timid, generous or selfish, according to his organization.</p> + +<p>“But the second cause that was represented to be instrumental in +diversifying the human temperaments is by far the most powerful. It will +be remembered to have been, ‘difference of size and vigor in certain +ruling organs of the system.’ The organs alluded to are those contained in +the three great cavities of the body; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> chylopoetic, situated in the +abdomen, and including the stomach and intestines, with the liver, +pancreas, mesentery, and lacteals; those of sanguification and +circulation, situated in the thorax, and consisting of the lungs, heart, +and bloodvessels; and the brain, with its appendages, the spinal cord and +nerves. These three <i>groups</i> (for the brain is <i>multiplex</i> as well as the +other two) are not only the ruling organs in the person of man; connected +with the hard and soft parts that enclose them, they <i>constitute the +person</i>. The upper and lower extremities are but appendages; important and +necessary, it must be acknowledged; but still appendages. The individual +can exist and be a human being without them. Nor have they any influence +in imparting constitutional character to their possessors. Standing only +in the capacity of subordinates to the controlling organs, they are not +only nourished and put in motion by them; they labor mechanically for +their uses, and serve as instruments to execute their purposes. They are +composed of the extreme ends of the organized matter of the system, +constitute only its outworks, and possess but little influence over its +central parts. This representation rests on evidence that may be termed +demonstrative. Many persons destitute of the upper or lower extremities, +or both, have strong characters and well-marked temperaments. But the +extremities, if deprived of the influence of any one group of the ruling +organs, are converted not only into useless but lifeless masses. Of the +skin, muscles, and bones, which compose the head, neck, and trunk of the +body, the same is true. Of themselves they possess no character, and can +therefore bestow none. They also are but appendages to the organs they +cover, affording them a secure lodgment and protection from external +injuries, and aiding them in the performance of some of their functions. +And from this alone is their importance derived. Were it possible for them +to exist apart from the viscera they contain, their grade of being would +be below that of many vegetables. Most fatal diseases, moreover, have +their original seat in the viscera of one of the three great cavities of +the body, and no disease originating elsewhere can become fatal, until, by +sympathy or metastasis, some of those parts are deeply affected. To +enlightened physiologists this statement presents but a series of familiar +truths. To the groups of organs exclusively, then, I repeat, contained in +the abdomen, the thorax, and the cranium, must we look as the main source +of human character. And that character is different according to the +predominance, in different individuals, of one group or another, or of any +two of them. An<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> equilibrium between the three groups constitutes another +variety, by bestowing on character a corresponding equilibrium. Let the +word <i>temperament</i> be substituted for ‘character,’ and what is true of the +latter will be so of the former. As already mentioned, the organs referred +to will be its source; and the differences in their predominance will give +diversity to it.”</p> + +<p>Dr. C. then shows that the strength and perfection of each of the senses +are proportioned to the size of the nerve on which that sense depends. +This is illustrated by a powerful array of facts, drawn from different +orders of the animal kingdom, as well as from the different varieties of +mankind. It is also stated, that where any nerve or set of nerves, is +peculiarly large, the portion of the brain to which they belong, and by +which they are influenced and commanded, is correspondingly large.</p> + +<p>“Inasmuch, then, as, other things being equal, size gives power to +everything else, we are not only justified in believing, on grounds of +analogy we are compelled to believe, that the same is true of the organs +contained in the cranium, the thorax, and the abdomen. When they are in a +sound and natural condition, their size is also the measure of their +power. Were not this the case, they would be either altogether abnormal, +or subject to laws that govern no other kind of matter, whether organic or +inorganic, of which we have any knowledge. But the position I am +contending for is not to be regarded as a mere inference in a process of +reasoning. It will appear hereafter that it is a positive fact, which +observation has discovered, and continues to confirm.</p> + +<p>I have alleged that the size of the three groups of ruling organs may be +ascertained by that of the cases in which they are contained. Nor do I +perceive on what ground any one, who is even moderately acquainted with +the structure of the human body, can controvert the belief, or cherish the +slightest doubt on the subject of it. In healthy persons (and my remarks +relate only to such) the size of the brain is necessarily known by that of +the head. As the viscus completely fills the cranium, the case cannot be +otherwise. Although the bones of the head and the soft parts that cover +them are thicker in some individuals than in others, the difference is so +small as not materially to affect the result. The chest is filled by the +lungs, heart, and large bloodvessels. Its measure, therefore, cannot fail +to be the measure of them. Any deviation from exactness in this, that may +be produced by varieties in the thickness of the skin, muscles, and other +parts, is of no moment. Of the chylopoetic viscera the same is true. They +also fill exactly the cavity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> prepared for them. The size of the abdomen, +therefore, affords a knowledge of their size sufficiently accurate for all +practical purposes. By a mere inspection of the person of man, then, the +absolute measure of the groups of organs I am considering, as well as +their magnitude in relation to each other, can be fairly ascertained. And +it will appear on examination, as already stated, that the predominance in +size and energy of any one or two of them, always imparts a corresponding +diversity to the human character. Does the brain predominate? The +individual to whom it belongs is more remarkable for the vigor of his +intellect or feeling, or both, than for any other constitutional quality. +These modes of mental manifestation constitute the natural functions of +the brain; and when of an order unusually high, they give a peculiarity of +character to the whole system. The person thus endowed feels more keenly, +thinks more strongly, is more eager in pursuit of knowledge, and attains +it with more facility. His relish for pleasure is also inordinately keen, +and he pursues it at times with burning ardor. Such was the constitutional +character of Mr. Fox, and also of our distinguished countryman the late +Mr. Bayard. I need scarcely add, that this predominance of sensibility and +mental action must necessarily modify the diseases the individual may +sustain. But of this I shall speak hereafter. Do the lungs, heart, and +bloodvessels predominate? A larger volume of highly arterialized blood is +formed, and thrown more forcibly and in greater quantities throughout the +system. From the abundance of that fluid, and the superior size of the +vessels conveying it, those parts of the body nourished by the red blood +will be comparatively most copiously supplied. But it is more especially +the muscles that are thus nourished. They will be therefore large and +powerful. Hence persons with broad and full chests have well-developed and +vigorous muscles. In proportion to their size their animal strength is +necessarily great. Nor can such constitutional peculiarities fail to be +productive of peculiarities in disease? Do the chylopoetic viscera +predominate? The amount of chyle formed is very large in proportion to the +quantity of food eaten. But the lungs, heart, and bloodvessels being +comparatively small, neither is sanguification abundant and perfect nor +circulation vigorous. The blood is not either highly arterialized or +animalized. Its amount of red globules is small, and it circulates feebly +through vessels of a limited size. The consequence is, that the muscles +receive less red blood, and are less fully nourished; the system at large +is not so highly endued with life, and the soft parts generally have a +lower tone. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> individual thus marked is less robust and vigorous than +one whose system is supplied abundantly with highly arterialized blood, +and less intellectual and sprightly than those whose brain predominates. +It is almost needless to say, that, under such circumstances, disease must +be modified in conformity to the constitution.</p> + +<p>“From the preceding views it clearly appears, that the comparative +standing of individual man, as relates to his race, is graduated by the +predominance of his leading organs. Do his abdominal viscera preponderate? +He has much of the animal in him, and his grade is low. Are his thoracic +viscera most highly developed? His qualities are of a superior order; but +he still partakes too much of the animal. Does his cerebral system +predominate; and is it well developed in all its parts? He rises above the +sphere of animal nature, and stands high in that of humanity. He is formed +for an intellectual and moral being, with no more of animality in his +constitution, than is necessary to give him practical energy of character.</p> + +<p>“This subject may be farther illustrated by a reference to some of the +animals below us. The worm commonly denominated a grub is but little else +than a mass of abdominal matter. It is therefore one of the humblest and +grossest of worms. The insect has also a large abdomen, with a very small +chest, and a smaller head. Hence, though superior to the grub, it is low +in the scale of animal nature. Reptiles and fish are more elevated, +because their abdominal viscera preponderate less. But still they do +preponderate; and therefore the rank of the animals is humble. In the hog +the abdominal viscera are most strongly developed, and hence his standing +among quadrupeds is low. The same is true of the bear and the ox, and also +of the sheep and the goat, but in an inferior degree. The horse, +especially the barb and the racehorse, furnish no bad specimens of the +mixed or balanced temperament. When the latter is undergoing preparation +for the course, the object of his keeper is to make the thoracic +temperament preponderate as much as possible, for the time, in order to +increase his vigor and endurance; in the language of the turf, to give him +more strength and ‘better bottom.’ The warhorse approaches the thoracic +temperament. In the canine race, more especially in the greyhound, the +thoracic viscera hold the ascendency. Hence the muscular power of the dog +is greater, and his grade among quadrupeds higher than those of most of +the preceding animals. The same is true of the wolf, the panther, and the +tiger. In some dogs there is a considerable cerebral development, but it +is never large enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> to counterbalance the thoracic. Of all animals, the +lion affords the most finished specimen of thoracic preponderance. In +proportion to his size, his lungs and heart, especially the latter, are +immensely large. And his muscular power corresponds to them. The magnitude +of his heart is generally considered the cause of his boldness. Hence a +very courageous man is said to have a <i>great</i> heart, or to be +<i>lion-hearted</i>. All this is popular error. The heart is but a muscle; and, +in man, has no more connexion with courage than the gastrocnemii muscles; +nor, in the lion, than the muscles that move his tail. Courage is +exclusively a cerebral attribute, and has its seat in an organ +specifically appropriated to it. In none of the inferior animals does the +brain preponderate. That preponderance belongs to humanity, and, as +already mentioned, indicates its highest grade. Of all the beings below +us, some of the ape tribe have the highest cerebral development. And they +approach nearest to man in their degree of intellect. This is farther +proof that, other things being alike, the brain gives the measure of +mental power. I have lately seen a publication, in which it is gravely +asserted, that the large orang-outang catches crabs with a stick, and +makes a rude basket of osiers to contain them. Notwithstanding the +well-known sagacity of that animal, this statement savors strongly of the +‘tale of a traveller.’”</p> + +<p>“Considered in relation to these principles, temperament may be divided +into seven varieties. 1, the mixed or balanced, in which the ruling organs +are in fair proportion to each other; 2, the encephalic; 3, the thoracic; +4, the abdominal; 5, the encephalo-thoracic; 6, the encephalo-abdominal; +and 7, the thoracico-abdominal.”</p> + +<p>“1. <i>The mixed or balanced variety.</i> In this the name explains the +temperament. The external marks of it are plain. They consist in a +well-adjusted proportion between the sizes of the head, thorax, and +abdomen. If the limbs are in harmony, the symmetry of the entire person is +complete. Although individuals, in whom this temperament prevails, are +usually above the middle height, and well-formed, they are not necessarily +so. They may be of any stature, and any shape, straight or crooked, +provided the three great cavities and their contents be accurately +balanced. This is not the temperament of either early life or old age. It +commences with manhood, and continues until the fortieth or forty-fifth +year, and then passes into somewhat of the abdominal. The Apollo +Belvidere, by Phidias, is an exquisite specimen of it. But some modern +artists have violated it, in painting that statue, by making the chest and +the head loo large. Although the manifestation of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> strength, majesty, and +intellect, is heightened by this, the beauty of the youthful god is +marred. The figure, though more imposing, has lost its charm.”</p> + +<p>“2. <i>The encephalic.</i> In this variety the head is relatively large, but is +not always equally developed in every part, a circumstance which varies +greatly, as will presently appear, the characters of those who possess the +temperament. The development of the thorax and abdomen is moderate, the +person lean, and the countenance expressive of intense feeling and deep +passion. In some individuals, however, the countenance beams with +intelligence, without much passion, while, in others, manifestations of +powerful intellect and passion are united. The thoracic and abdominal +activity is never high; yet in many instances the personal hardihood and +endurance are invincible. It is men of this temperament alone that can +immortalize themselves by great achievements, good or bad. All history and +observation testify to this. Is the development very large in the moral +and intellectual regions of the brain, and so moderate in the animal as to +be held fully in check? The individual will distinguish himself by a +dignified purity of deportment, and by the performance of great and good +deeds.”</p> + +<p>“Are the animal and mere knowing compartments largely developed, and the +moral and reflecting very slightly? As relates to vice and profligacy in +their foulest shapes, this is the worst of all temperaments. Nothing more +prone to depravity can be imagined. The person possessed of it delights in +some sort of animality alone; and if he ever engages in anything higher or +purer, it is for a sinister purpose, that he may return to his chosen +indulgences in more security, or on a broader scale.”</p> + +<p>“Is the development very large, and equally so in all the departments of +the brain, animal, moral, and intellectual, giving to the head unusual +size? The individual possessing it has a lofty and powerful character, is +capable of attaining the highest renown, and making an impression, not to +be erased, on the age and country in which he lives. His career may be +occasionally stained by irregularities and checkered with clouds, but will +be brilliant in the main. His designs are vast, because he feels his +power, the instruments with which he works are men, and he wields them in +masses. The term <i>little</i> has no place in his vocabulary, nor its +prototype in his thoughts. His aim is greatness of some kind—high +achievement or deep catastrophe.”</p> + +<p>“3. <i>The thoracic.</i> Under this variety the head is small, usually round, +and covered with thick curling hair, the abdomen of limited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> dimensions, +the chest spacious and powerful, and the muscles swelling and firm. +Whether fair and ruddy or otherwise, the complexion is strong. Respiration +is full and deep, and the action of the heart regular and vigorous; and +the pulse has great volume. Like the result, in every other kind of +inordinate vital action, the animal temperature is high. This temperament, +in which neither feeling nor intellect prevails, begins to show itself +about puberty, and continues until the decline of life, when it undergoes +a change. The Farnesian Hercules is the <i>beau ideal</i> of it. This shows +that it was known to the ancient Greeks, who were probably indebted for +their acquaintance with it to observations made on the persons of their +wrestlers. In modern times it is strongly developed in boxers and porters, +and sufficiently so in bakers, wood-choppers, operative agriculturists, +and others who have been habituated to labor from their boyhood. I have +observed no little of it among the London boatmen, the occupation of whose +life is to ply the oar, a mode of exercise well calculated to develop the +chest, together with the muscles of the upper extremities. I have seen +good specimens of it also in the African race.”</p> + +<p>“4. <i>The abdominal.</i> This temperament is easily recognised by the +character it imparts to the person and intellect. The pelvis is broad in +proportion to the shoulders and thorax, the abdomen large and prominent, +and the adipose matter abundant, filling up the interstices of the +muscles, and often forming a layer between them and the skin, in +consequence of which the limbs are round and smooth and soft to the touch. +In such constitutions, ecchymosis succeeds with unusual readiness, to +slight contusions. Circulation in the skin being feeble, the complexion +may be fair and delicate, but never very ruddy or strong. The size of the +head is limited, the intellectual moderate, the eye deficient in lustre +and the countenance in expression, and the movements heavy and seldom +graceful. The abdominal viscera seem to draw everything into the vortex of +their action. The amount of vitality is evidently below its common measure +in the human system, and, in some instances, the flesh seems to hang as a +load on the spirit.”</p> + +<p>“5. <i>The encephalo-thoracic.</i> This temperament is a type of power both +bodily and mental. Its compound name expresses fully the external +appearances that mark it, as well as the attributes that always accompany +them. With an abdomen of moderate dimensions, the head of the individual +who possesses it is large and vigorous to conceive and direct, and his +chest and muscles powerful to execute, and hardy to endure. It is the +temperament<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> of masculine and comprehensive thought and strong propensity, +united to energetic action, rather than of seclusion and profound +meditation. As in all other cases, the character is varied in it according +to the portion of the brain that is most largely developed. He to whom it +belongs feels himself in his proper sphere when he is among men, and is +well fitted to act his part in times of tumult and scenes of difficulty. +Is his brain large in each of its compartments? If an occasion present +itself, he not only mingles in the moral storm, but aspires to direct it. +In case of his becoming a warrior, his genius and sword are alike +formidable. In battle, previously to the invention of fire-arms, such a +man was the terror of his enemies and the hope of his friends. Ulysses, as +sketched by Homer, is as fairly the <i>beau ideal</i> of this temperament, as +Hercules is of the thoracic. That chieftain was alike wise to counsel, +intrepid to dare, and powerful to perform. Plato, so called from the +uncommon breadth of his chest, who had also a very large head, is another +excellent model of the same. Even in times of peace the corporeal +attributes of a man of this description add to his influence. Jupiter, the +emblem of wisdom and power, as represented by the ancient statuaries, with +an immense head and trunk, and arms of matchless strength, is as finished +a specimen of the encephalo-thoracic temperament, as Apollo is of the +mixed.”</p> + +<p>“6. <i>The encephalo-abdominal.</i> Here again the name bespeaks sufficiently +the development, form, and character of those who possess the temperament. +The head and abdomen are comparatively large, the thorax small, and the +shoulders narrow. Hence the sensibility is keen, and the intellect, if not +powerful, active and respectable. For the reasons given, when the +abdominal temperament was considered, the limbs and person, under the +present one, are round and smooth, and the flesh is soft; but, owing to +the influence of a well-developed brain, and nerves that correspond to it, +the movements are sprightly and the air graceful. Though rarely powerful, +the character is attractive. This is the temperament of childhood and +woman, much more than of adult life and man. Fine genius, but elegant and +playful, rather than strong and brilliant, is often connected with it. It +is females, in whom the encephalic development is larger than usual, that +possess minds truly masculine.”</p> + +<p>“7. <i>The thoracico-abdominal.</i> In this temperament the head is +comparatively small, and the thorax and abdomen large, with a +corresponding size of the muscles and bones, and much adipose substance. +It is the temperament of mere animal strength and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> patient endurance, +without any of the elevated, sprightly, or attractive qualities of human +nature. It forms good laborers and fatigue-men, but is entirely unfit for +those whose province is to meditate, plan, and direct. It comports well +enough with the character of soldiers of a certain description, but is +altogether out of harmony with that of an officer. It is, I think, more +favorable to health than any of the other temperaments, except perhaps the +mixed. If those who possess it have weak intellects, their passions are +usually moderate, and rarely hurry them into pernicious excesses. The +tenor of their lives is but little interrupted by either irregularity or +disease. Hence they retain their vigor uncommonly well, and are often +day-laborers and industrious husbandmen at an advanced age. True, their +appetite for food is strong; but they are not prone to an excessive +indulgence of it; I mean at a single meal. Like those possessed of the +abdominal temperament, they eat often rather than superabundantly at once. +Besides, such is the strength of their chylopoetic viscera, that they +subdue and digest without sustaining any injury, as much food as would +produce disease in those of different constitutions. Nor are they so much +endangered by vascular fulness as persons of the simple abdominal +temperament. The reason of this is plain. Their bloodvessels are larger, +and their excretions more copious, especially those by the skin and the +organ of respiration. From the warmth of their constitutions, owing to an +abundance of well-arterialized blood, and a concomitant vigorous +circulation, they perspire freely, and secrete and exhale copiously from +the lungs. This temperament is rarely found among women, and is not very +common among men.”</p> + +<p>Dr. C. maintains that at certain periods of life, one temperament passes +into another, as the result of the natural changes which take place, in +the progress of the growth and decay of the human body; and that every +one, who attains longevity, partakes, in the progress of growth and +decline, of five temperaments; the purely <i>abdominal</i>, which prevails +before birth; the <i>encephalo-abdominal</i>, which exists at birth, and for +some years afterward; the <i>encephalo-thoracic</i>; the <i>mixed</i>; and the +<i>abdominal</i> of real senility. Thus passes the circle of life, beginning +with the abdominal temperament of the foetal state, and terminating in +that of extreme old age.</p> + +<p>That there is an intimate connexion between temperament and personal +beauty, will be manifest from the above view of the subject. Our limits, +however, forbid an application of Dr. Caldwell’s views in illustration of +Mr. Walker’s theory; these, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> have been given so much in detail, +that the reader will be able to make the application for himself.</p> + +<p> </p> +<h3>G.</h3> + +<p>There is hardly any habit relating to female dress more destructive of +grace and beauty, at least of deportment, than that of compressing the +foot in a shoe of one half the proper size. It would seem that our ladies +were trying to ape the fashion of the Chinese, in this respect, and though +they do not at present carry it to the same extent, yet they carry it +sufficiently far to destroy their comfort. We look in vain for the +sprightly, light, and elastic step, where the feet are bound tight, and +cramped up in disproportionately tight shoes; and it would be strange in +such a case, if we did not find an unhappy and distressed expression of +countenance—the muscles of the face sympathizing with the distorted and +painful feet. Such a custom, also, interferes materially with taking that +measure of exercise which is necessary to health. Mrs. Walker, in her work +on Female Beauty, remarks as follows: “Ladies are very apt to torture +their feet to make them appear small. This is exceedingly ridiculous: a +very small foot is a deformity. True beauty of each part consists in the +proportion it bears to the rest of the body. A tight or ill-made shoe, not +only destroys the shape of the foot, it produces corns and bunions; and it +tends to impede the circulation of the blood. Besides, the foot then +swells, and appears larger than it is, and the ankles become thick and +clumsy.”</p> + +<p>The pernicious effect of tight or ill-made shoes, is evident also in the +stiff and tottering gait of these victims of a foolish prejudice; they can +neither stand upright, walk straight, nor enter a room properly.</p> + +<p>To be too short, is one of the greatest defects a shoe can have; because +it takes away all chance of yielding in that direction, and without +offering any compensation for tightness in others, and in itself, it not +only causes pain, and spoils the shape of the foot, by turning down the +toes, and swelling of the instep, but is the cause of bad gait and +carriage. Many diseases arise solely from the use of shoes of very thin +materials in wet weather; but no female who has the slightest regard for +her health, or indeed for the preservation of her beauty, will object to +wear shoes thicker than are usually worn, if the pavement is at any time +wet or damp.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span></p> +<h3>H.</h3> + +<p>The effect of alcoholic drinks upon beauty, has not been over-estimated by +Mr. Walker, though he is doubtless mistaken in supposing that none but +those who reside amid the artificial customs of city life, experience the +deleterious influence of such beverages. Not only alcoholic stimulants, +but tea and coffee, and especially opium, which has of late come into very +extensive use as a substitute for the former, tend to produce an unhealthy +action of the skin, from their influence upon the secerent system, causing +blotches, pimples, and discolorations, in a greater or less degree. Where +used moderately, they produce either an unnatural paleness, deadness, or +duskiness of complexion, or a bloated appearance, far removed from the +fresh roseate hue of health. Such is the effect of wine, cordials, and +malt liquors, which are extensively employed by ladies, particularly in +cities, during the period of nursing, under a mistaken impression that +they cause a greater flow of milk, and tend to invigorate the system. +Whoever desires to attain health, strength, and beauty, should not seek +them through the agency of bitters, tonics, and cordials, or distilled, or +fermented liquors, which only inflame the blood, but from free exercise in +the open air, regular occupations, tranquillity of mind, a mild diet, and +a proper allotment of time for sleep.</p> + +<p>It has been remarked that the lower classes of females in cities, consume +as much, and probably more intoxicating drinks, than men of the same +class, and this is no doubt true. But to the honor of our countrywomen, a +great change has been brought about within last few years, with respect to +the use of alcoholic liquors, not only in this, but in other countries, +with a corresponding improvement in health, happiness, and beauty. In +advancing this blessed reform, the ladies have borne a conspicuous +part—as they have in every other philanthropic work—and their <i>combined</i> +influence is only needed, to banish such drinks entirely from civilized +society.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />THE FACIAL LINE OF CAMPER.</p> + +<p>In order to determine the cerebral mass, and, consequently, the +intellectual faculties, Camper draws a base line from the roots<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> of the +upper incisors, to the external auditory passage; then another straight +line, from the upper incisors to the most elevated point of the forehead: +according to him, the intellectual faculties of the man or animal, are in +direct proportion to the magnitude of the angle, made by those two lines. +Lavater, with this idea for a basis, constructed a scale of perfection +from the frog to the Apollo Belvidere. As nature really furnishes many +proofs in support of this opinion, it has been generally received, even by +anatomists and physiologists; and, notwithstanding the arguments by which +it is victoriously opposed, the learned cannot resolve to abandon it. +Cuvier himself furnishes a list of men and animals, in support of this +doctrine; few naturalists oppose it, but almost all give it their +support.<small><a name="f61.1" id="f61.1" href="#f61">[61]</a></small></p> + +<p>Camper’s attempt necessarily failed; for his manner of drawing the lines +and measuring the facial angle, enabled him to take into consideration the +anterior parts only of the brain situated near the forehead: he entirely +neglects the posterior, lateral, and inferior cerebral parts. This method, +then, at most, could decide upon those faculties only, whose organs are +placed near the forehead.</p> + +<p>Cuvier estimates the facial angle of the new-born infant at ninety +degrees; that of the adult, at eighty-five; that of decrepit old age, at +fifty.</p> + +<p>From this statement it appears, that, at different ages, changes take +place in the form, either of the brain or the cranium; hereafter I shall +prove that such changes really occur.</p> + +<p>The forehead of the newborn infant is flattened; on the contrary, that of +a child some months old, and until the age of eight or ten years, +especially in the case of boys possessed of superior talents, it is +projecting, and forms, notwithstanding the approximation to the age of +puberty, a larger facial angle than in the adult; this angle, therefore, +does not diminish in the inverse ratio of the age. In like manner we find +decrepit old men, whose facial angle is as great as it was in the vigor of +manhood; for, although in decrepitude the brain is subject to atrophy, +there are old men, the exterior contour of whose crania undergoes no +change. The angle, as stated by Cuvier, for different ages, were measured +upon different individuals; if it were estimated upon the same persons at +different epochs of his life, the result would be entirely different.</p> + +<p>In general, the proportion between the forehead and the face, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +different in different individuals. No conclusion can be drawn from the +proportions, which exist in one person, relative to those of another; +among a hundred individuals of the same sex and age, no two can be found, +in whom the same proportion exists between the forehead and the face; it +necessarily follows, then, that no two will have the same facial angle. +Physiologists seem to admit, that the proportion between the brain and the +bones of the face, is different in different species of animals: but they +appear to think that, in all the individuals of the same species, all the +young, all the adults, all the old, there exists a constant proportion +between the cerebral mass and the face.</p> + +<p>The researches of Blumenbach show that threefourths of the animals known, +have nearly the same facial angle; and yet what a disparity between their +instincts and faculties! What information, then, do we derive from +Camper’s facial angle?</p> + +<p>Moreover, as Cuvier himself observes, the cerebral mass is by no means +placed in all animals, immediately behind or beneath what is called the +forehead. In a great many species of animals, on the contrary, the +external table of the frontal is at a considerable distance from the +internal, and this distance increases with the age of the animal. The +brain of the swine is placed an inch lower than the frontal bones seem to +indicate; that of the ox, in some parts three inches; that of the +elephant, from six to thirteen. In other animals, the measurement is +generally commenced at the frontal sinus instead of the cerebrum. From +these considerations, Cuvier was induced to draw a tangent to the internal +instead of the external surface of the cranium. The cerebrum of the wolf +and many species of dogs, especially when the individuals are very old, is +placed directly behind the frontal sinuses. In the wolf, especially the +large and most ferocious variety, it is depressed as in the hyena; in the +dog it is situated higher or lower, according to the species; but, +notwithstanding this difference in the situation of the brain, the facial +angle, as it is commonly measured, must be the same; from this the +inference would be, that the dog, the wolf, and the hyena, have the same +qualities, and each in the same degree. In the greater part of the +rodentia, the morse, &c., the brain is so depressed and so placed behind +the frontal sinuses, that the facial line cannot be drawn. The facial line +of the cetacea, on account of the singular conformation of the head, would +lead to results absolutely false.</p> + +<p>I know many negroes, who, with very prominent jaws, are quite +distinguished for their intellectual faculties; yet the projection of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> the +jaws renders the facial angle much more acute, than it would be with the +usual conformation of Europeans. In order that the same angle should exist +in a European, the forehead must be flattened and retreating. But the +foreheads of the negroes in question, on the contrary, are very +projecting. Who, under these circumstances, would expect to find the same +amount of intellect corresponding to the same facial angle?</p> + +<p>The facial line cannot be applied to birds, as many naturalists have +already observed.</p> + +<p>From what has been said, we should expect that naturalists would at length +renounce the facial angle of Camper; but the most ignorant are generally +the most conceited.</p> + +<p>In spite of this complete refutation of Camper’s facial line, Delpit +extols it in the following terms:—</p> + +<p>“If ever a relation of this kind presented characters of generality and +fixedness, adequate to excite a reasonable confidence in matters belonging +to the domain of empiricism, rather than that of science, it is the +relation or proportion of magnitude, which Camper first perceived and +revealed, by comparing the brain of man with that of the different species +of animals. We here see a successive decrease of intelligence, +proportionate to the acuteness of the facial angle and the consequent +diminution of the cerebral cavity. This affords a constant and fixed +relation. It can be appreciated with a sufficient degree of exactness by +the direct light of comparative anatomy, and by observation of the habits +and intelligence of the different classes of animals; it can also be +verified by the comparison of men very unequally endowed with intellectual +faculties, in whom the contraction of the cerebral cavity and the +magnitude of the facial angle exhibit the most remarkable diversities. +Here the physiognomical sign has, if I may be allowed the expression, a +wide extent of acceptation; it rests upon a broad basis, upon a definite +division, and one of easy comprehension and verification; for, if there is +some discrepancy of opinion, in regard to the number and nomenclature of +the faculties of the mind, the sentiments of the soul, the modifications +or shades of character which give birth to particular passions, moral +dispositions, habits, whether virtuous or vicious; if these +classifications are, in a great measure, arbitrary, and the language used +somewhat vague; if, in short, the greater part of these nominal faculties +are mere abstractions of the mind, purely imaginary existences, and +therefore cannot be actually located in any part of the brain; the case is +quite different, when we merely seek to establish a general relation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>between a constant sign manifested in the organization, and the degree of +reason, mind, or intellect, attributed to different men, or the degrees of +sagacity attributed to different species of animals. Here, no one is at a +loss, because there is ample latitude for comparing and judging; in the +system of Gall, on the contrary, the comparisons rest upon minute points, +which are subject to discussion, exceptions, a thousand uncertainties in +the signs and various applications.”<small><a name="f62.1" id="f62.1" href="#f62">[62]</a></small></p> + +<p>If the reader will review what I have said against Camper’s facial line, +he will find a refutation of all this reasoning of Delpit; a proof that he +defends it merely because it is in vogue. It is this very generality and +fixedness, which render it, in almost all cases, inapplicable; this is the +inherent defect in the supposed importance of Camper’s facial angle. It is +implicitly supposed, that no difference but that of degree, exists between +the capacities of the different species and individuals of the human race, +and the different species and individuals of the animal kingdom. Thus the +intelligence of men and other animals would always be proportioned to the +magnitude of the facial angle. This being premised, I ask, which, out of +two, three, four, &c., has the most intelligence, the dog, ape, beaver, +the ant, or the bee? Ants and bees live in an admirable republic, and form +astonishing constructions, which they know how to modify according to +circumstances. The beaver and penduline build with equally marvellous +skill, and with a foresight which seldom errs; the dog and the ape have +very little foresight, and are incapable of the most insignificant +construction. Which has the greater intelligence, Voltaire or Descartes? +Could the former have been a mathematician and the latter a poet? Which +has the higher degree of intellect, Mozart or Lessing, who, with all his +genius, detested music? In short, which has the most intelligence, my dog +who retraces his steps through the most complicated routes, or myself, who +am always going astray? Measure now the facial angle of the ant, bee, +beaver, penduline, ape, my dog, and of myself, and estimate the result. +Acknowledge, then, that your division, so definite, so easy to be +apprehended, is absolutely useless, and that you are obliged to advert to +divers instincts, propensities, faculties, and their different degrees of +energy, to which your facial angle is wholly inapplicable. Your +intelligence, instinct, address, are in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> reality mere abstractions, +imaginary existences. Do you consider the propensity to procreation, the +love of offspring, the carnivorous instinct, the talent for music, poetry, +&c., as imaginary existences? You see, then, that it is more convenient to +tread the beaten path, than to verify observations.—<i>Gall on the +Functions of the Brain</i>, page 195.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p> + +<p><a name="f1" id="f1" href="#f1.1">[1]</a> Utopia, Book II., chap. viii.</p> + +<p><a name="f2" id="f2" href="#f2.1">[2]</a> I do not wish to be forced into any discussion of this last point. +But, if necessary, I shall not decline it.</p> + +<p><a name="f3" id="f3" href="#f3.1">[3]</a> We fear that Mr. Walker’s analogical reasoning here is not very +conclusive. To reason from a living to a dead subject may be very logical +but it is not altogether satisfactory.</p> + +<p><a name="f4" id="f4" href="#f4.1">[4]</a> “The Magazine of The Fine Arts,” No. VI, for October 1833.</p> + +<p><a name="f5" id="f5" href="#f5.1">[5]</a> I am not here called upon to vindicate the errors and absurdities +which poets and others introduced into mythology.</p> + +<p>[6] Appendix A.</p> + +<p><a name="f7" id="f7" href="#f7.1">[7]</a> George IV., though the “first gentleman” in England, was guilty of +cheating at a horserace.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p> + +<p><a name="f8" id="f8" href="#f8.1">[8]</a> The above remark is true of the same class of females in this +country.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p> + +<p><a name="f9" id="f9" href="#f9.1">[9]</a> Appendix B.</p> + +<p><a name="f10" id="f10" href="#f10.1">[10]</a> Appendix C.</p> + +<p><a name="f11" id="f11" href="#f11.1">[11]</a> To the reader unaccustomed to inquiries of this kind, it may save +trouble to peruse first the brief Summary of the contents of this +important chapter, beginning in page 120.</p> + +<p><a name="f12" id="f12" href="#f12.1">[12]</a> Regularity expresses the similarity of parts considered as +constituting a whole; and uniformity, the similarity of parts considered +separately.</p> + +<p><a name="f13" id="f13" href="#f13.1">[13]</a> Appendix D</p> + +<p><a name="f14" id="f14" href="#f14.1">[14]</a> The common character of these arts has been overlooked.</p> + +<p><a name="f15" id="f15" href="#f15.1">[15]</a> Proportion is here employed, not as expressing an intrinsic relation, +as in the beauty of inanimate beings, but as expressing an extrinsic +relation to fitness for ends.</p> + +<p><a name="f16" id="f16" href="#f16.1">[16]</a> “The Nervous System, Anatomical and Physiological: in which the +Functions of the various Parts of the Brain are, for the first time, +assigned.”</p> + +<p><a name="f17" id="f17" href="#f17.1">[17]</a> Communicated by the writer to the “Magazine of the Fine Arts,” No. +11, for June, 1833.</p> + +<p><a name="f18" id="f18" href="#f18.1">[18]</a> “Human Nature,” chap, ix., sec. 13.</p> + +<p><a name="f19" id="f19" href="#f19.1">[19]</a> “Reflexions Critiques sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture.”</p> + +<p><a name="f20" id="f20" href="#f20.1">[20]</a> “Reflexions sur la Poetique.”</p> + +<p><a name="f21" id="f21" href="#f21.1">[21]</a> “Adventurer,” No. 110.</p> + +<p><a name="f22" id="f22" href="#f22.1">[22]</a> Essay on Tragedy.</p> + +<p><a name="f23" id="f23" href="#f23.1">[23]</a> To some it may appear, that the organs and functions of digestion, +respiration, and generation, are not involved by this arrangement; but +such a notion can originate only in superficial observation.</p> + +<p>Digestion is a compound function easily reducible to some of the simple +ones which have been enumerated. It consists of the motion of the stomach +and contiguous parts, of the secretion of a liquid from its internal +surface, and of that heat, which is the common result of all action, +whether mechanical, vital, or mental, and which is better explained by +such motion, than by chymical theories. Similarly compound are respiration +and generation.</p> + +<p>Thus, there is no organ nor function which is not involved by the simple +and natural arrangement here sketched.</p> + +<p>Compound, however, as the organs of digestion, respiration, and +generation, are, yet, as they form so important a part of the system, it +may be asked, with which of these classes they are most allied. The answer +is obvious. All of them consist of tubular vessels of various diameter; +and all of them transmit and transmute liquids. Possessing such strong +characteristics of the nutritive or vital system, they are evidently most +allied to it.</p> + +<p>In short, digestion prepares the nutritive or vital matter, which is taken +up by absorption—the first of the simple nutritive functions; respiration +renovates it in the very middle of its course—between the two portions of +the simple function of circulation; and generation, dependant on +secretion—the last of these functions, communicates this nutritive +matter, or propagates vitality to a new series of beings. In such +arrangement, the digestive organs, therefore, precede, and the generative +follow, the simple nutritive organs; while the respiratory occupy a middle +place between the venous and the arterial circulation.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be more improper, as the preceding observations show, than +considering any one of these as a distinct class.</p> + +<p>More fully, therefore, to enumerate the nutritive or vital organs, we may +say, that, under them, are classed, first, the organs of digestion, the +external and internal absorbent surfaces, and the vessels which absorb +from these surfaces, or the organs of absorption; second, the heart, +lungs, and bloodvessels, which derive their contents (the blood) from the +absorbed lymph, or the organs of circulation; and third, the secreting +cavities, glands, &c., which separate various matters from the blood, or +the organs of secretion, and of which generation is the sequel.</p> + +<p><a name="f24" id="f24" href="#f24.1">[24]</a> Appendix E.</p> + +<p><a name="f25" id="f25" href="#f25.1">[25]</a> In perfect consistency with the assertion, that, though the organs of +digestion, respiration, and generation, were really compound, still they +were chiefly nutritive or vital, and properly belonged to that class, it +is not less remarkable, that, in this division of the body, they are found +to occupy that part, the trunk, in which the chief simple nutritive organs +are contained. This also shows the impropriety of reckoning any of these a +separate system from the vital.</p> + +<p><a name="f26" id="f26" href="#f26.1">[26]</a> The bones resemble these, in containing the greatest quantity of +earthy mineral matter.</p> + +<p><a name="f27" id="f27" href="#f27.1">[27]</a> It is the possession of vessels which constitutes the vitality of +vegetables.</p> + +<p><a name="f28" id="f28" href="#f28.1">[28]</a> In animals, alone, is nervous matter discoverable.</p> + +<p><a name="f29" id="f29" href="#f29.1">[29]</a> Plants have no real circulation, nor passage of their nutritive +liquids through the same point.</p> + +<p><a name="f30" id="f30" href="#f30.1">[30]</a> This arrangement of anatomy and physiology was first published by me +in 1806; and, notwithstanding its being the arrangement of nature, it has +not been adopted by any one that I know of, until very lately, when it was +in some measure used by Dr. Roget, without acknowledgment.</p> + +<p>The originality, as well as the truth and value, of this arrangement, will +be illustrated by referring to any other published previous to 1806, or +even to 1808, when I republished it in “Preliminary Lectures,” Edinburgh.</p> + +<p><a name="f31" id="f31" href="#f31.1">[31]</a> The cause of this has never been explained; and it could not well be +explained, without a perception of the views in my preceding physiological +arrangement.—The brain, at this period, becomes more subservient to +purposes connected with generation; the communication between the trunk +and the head is more frequent, intense, and sustained; and the neck, which +contains the communicating organs, necessarily increases in size. This +unexplained circumstance led to the mistake of the craniologists +respecting the cerebel. Here, therefore, as in other cases pointed out in +my work on Physiognomy, Gall and Spurzheim ascribe to deeper-seated organs +what belongs to more superficial ones.</p> + +<p><a name="f32" id="f32" href="#f32.1">[32]</a> Appendix F.</p> + +<p><a name="f33" id="f33" href="#f33.1">[33]</a> Appendix G.</p> + +<p><a name="f34" id="f34" href="#f34.1">[34]</a> Memoire sur le Beau Physique.</p> + +<p><a name="f35" id="f35" href="#f35.1">[35]</a> A curious but true remark is made by Moreau, namely, that if these +conditions are met with without being united to a certain expression, and + +to the most complete combination of the elements of beauty of countenance, +they frequently give an air of insensibility and of mental weakness, which +greatly enfeebles the impression that a first view had caused.</p> + +<p><a name="f36" id="f36" href="#f36.1">[36]</a> Statistical results in relation to the supply of hospitals and +prisons, carry the expense of a man much beyond that of a woman.</p> + +<p><a name="f37" id="f37" href="#f37.1">[37]</a> Appendix H.</p> + +<p><a name="f38" id="f38" href="#f38.1">[38]</a> Appendix I.</p> + +<p><a name="f39" id="f39" href="#f39.1">[39]</a> See the causes of this explained in my work on “Physiognomy.”</p> + +<p><a name="f40" id="f40" href="#f40.1">[40]</a> Pallas—Voyages en Siberie.</p> + +<p><a name="f41" id="f41" href="#f41.1">[41]</a> Humboldt’s Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain.</p> + +<p><a name="f42" id="f42" href="#f42.1">[42]</a> It is remarkable that, in infants, the nose is almost always flat, +and that, in some members of the same family, it always remains so, while, +in others, it rises. This is attended by difference of function.</p> + +<p><a name="f43" id="f43" href="#f43.1">[43]</a> “Physiognomy founded on Physiology, and applied to various Countries, +Professions, and Individuals: with an Appendix on the Bones at Hythe—the +Sculls of the ancient Inhabitants of Britain, and its Invaders: +illustrated by Engravings.”—Smith, Elder, & Co., Cornhill.</p> + +<p><a name="f44" id="f44" href="#f44.1">[44]</a> Of the best works on this subject, those of Mengs alone, I believe, +have been translated; but the translation is so inaccurate as to be +worthless.</p> + +<p><a name="f45" id="f45" href="#f45.1">[45]</a> Thus it is not correct, as stated by Leonardo, that when some parts +are broad or thick, all are broad; though, in peculiar combinations, that +may occur.</p> + +<p><a name="f46" id="f46" href="#f46.1">[46]</a> Lib. II. in Timæum Platonis.</p> + +<p><a name="f47" id="f47" href="#f47.1">[47]</a> This member of the Royal Academy was suspected of having written that +“republics had done more for the advancement of the fine arts than +monarchies.” The late George III., who did not approve of truths of that +kind, was thereby so much enraged, that he instantly sent for the list of +the members of the academy, and therefrom erased the name of Barry. The +academicians humbly submitted to the indignity which hereditary wisdom +thus inflicted. It would appear, however, that bad principles are +spreading among the Royal academicians; for the works of this expelled +member are now daringly given by them as a prize to students at the +academy!</p> + +<p><a name="f48" id="f48" href="#f48.1">[48]</a> This rule is well explained, and variously illustrated by Donald +Walker, in his work, equally philosophical, instructive, and amusing, +entitled “Exercises for Ladies,” a knowledge of which, and the practice of +its principles, would render beauty, and especially beauty of the +shoulders and arms, far more common in every family.</p> + +<p><a name="f49" id="f49" href="#f49.1">[49]</a> It was at the extremity of the modern Cape Crio, anciently Triopium, +a promontory of Doris, a province of Caria, that was built the celebrated +city of Cnidos. Here Venus was worshipped: here was seen this statue of +that goddess, the most beautiful of the works of Praxiteles. A temple, far +from spacious, and open on all sides, contained it, without concealing it +from view; and, in whatever point of view it was examined, it excited +equal admiration. No drapery veiled its charms; and so uncommon was its +beauty, that it inflamed with a violent passion another Pygmalion.</p> + +<p><a name="f50" id="f50" href="#f50.1">[50]</a> The phrenologists have told us that the head of this Venus is too +small. They might as well have said, that the head of the Minerva, or of +the Jupiter, is too large, or a hundred other ignorant inapplicabilities, +and ridiculous pedantries. But to set aside ideal forms, I may observe, +that sex makes a vast difference in the head, and a woman with a small +head often produces a son with a large one.</p> + +<p><a name="f51" id="f51" href="#f51.1">[51]</a> This is beautiful, but is evidently borrowed from the great +philosophical poet’s</p> + +<p class="poem">“Te, Dea, te fugiunt ventei, te nubila coeli,<br /> +Adventumque tuum.”</p> + +<p><a name="f52" id="f52" href="#f52.1">[52]</a> That, in plants, these odors are even necessary to their +reproduction, is proved by their uniform existence at that period. And if +being affected by odors implies a sense of smell, or some modification of +it, then must plants possess it.</p> + +<p><a name="f53" id="f53" href="#f53.1">[53]</a> In all grossly sensual nations and individuals, the lips are everted +even at the angles.</p> + +<p><a name="f54" id="f54" href="#f54.1">[54]</a> See this explained in “Physiognomy.”</p> + +<p><a name="f55" id="f55" href="#f55.1">[55]</a> “Venere suol tenere alquanto aperte le labbra, come per indicare un +languido desiderio ed amore.”—<i>Storia delle Arti.</i></p> + +<p><a name="f56" id="f56" href="#f56.1">[56]</a> In the Cupid, the form of the head is godlike. The hair not only +curls with all the vigor of early years, but, with perfect knowledge of +nature’s tendency, is bent into a ridge along the middle of the upper +head. The brow, full, open, and charmingly rounded, is the evident throne +of young observation, and it flows with such beauty into the parts behind, +as if it actually <i>said</i> its purpose was to fling its observations back on +thought and will. Its beginnings at the eyebrows display exquisite +knowledge: the bony ridge is admirably shown to be yet unformed; and while +its outer extremity forms but the orbital convexity, or shell for the +globe of the eye, the inner extremity of the eyebrow is with infinite art +drawn over soft and hollow space, as if the few hairs that composed it +made there its only convexity. In short, in every part of the face, fine +and faint as is every youthful feature, no detail is lost; and this, added +to the pointed chin and upper lip, declare the purpose of the little god.</p> + +<p><a name="f57" id="f57" href="#f57.1">[57]</a> Appendix K.</p> + +<p><a name="f58" id="f58" href="#f58.1">[58]</a> I speak not of paint here. It is now used only by meretricious +persons and by those harridans of higher rank who resemble them in every +respect, except that the former are ashamed of their profession, and the +latter advertise it.</p> + +<p><a name="f59" id="f59" href="#f59.1">[59]</a> Combe’s Phrenology.</p> + +<p><a name="f60" id="f60" href="#f60.1">[60]</a> Physiologie des Temperamens on Constitutions. Paris, 1826.</p> + +<p><a name="f61" id="f61" href="#f61.1">[61]</a> This doctrine is revived, <i>Dict. des Sciences med.</i> Delpit and +Reydellet.</p> + +<p><a name="f62" id="f62" href="#f62.1">[62]</a> Dictionnaire des Sciences Méd. t. xxxviii. p. 263.</p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong> Footnote 6 appears on page <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; however, it has no corresponding marker.</p> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Beauty, by Alexander Walker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUTY *** + +***** This file should be named 35409-h.htm or 35409-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/0/35409/ + +Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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