Roxey Ann Caplin

“ Every nation has an idea of beauty peculiar to itself; and almost every individual has his own notions and taste concerning this quality. The empire of beauty, however, amidst all 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. ”

“ How wonderfully is the eye em­bedded in its socket, the palate and tongue in the mouth, the organs of speech in the larynx, the olfactory nerve in the nostrils, the auditory nerve in the ears, and what exquisite sensibility is treasured up in the tips of the fingers! ”

“ The sides should be long, and the hips wider than the shoulders, and should turn off and go down gra­dually to the knee. The knee should be even and well rounded; the legs straight, but varied by a proper rounding of the more fleshy parts; and the feet finely turned, white, and small. Beauty, therefore, is not a question of face only. If you look at the face alone of the Venus de Medici, it appears extremely beautiful, but if you consider all the other elegancies of her make, the beauty of her face becomes less striking, and is almost lost in a multiplicity of charms. ”

“ It is enough for our pur­pose to observe that no absolute standard of beauty can be fixed, each style having its own peculiar excellences; and that, therefore, before any adaptation of dress can be successfully constructed, the contour of the body should be carefully observed, and no attempt made to regulate its form by any preconceived standard of fashion which is based upon any but that particular type.
The great secret of beauty, however, is ex­pression; and this, although varied in everyone according to age, sex, and temperament, is always adorable. ”

“ Cousin, in his Philosophy of the Beau­tiful, says:—"The figure of man is of a grave and severe beauty, because it announces dignity and power; the figure of woman is of a delicate beauty, because it reflects kindness, tenderness, and grace. In each sex the beauty will be different only according as the expression differs." ”

“ It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that tastes differ widely in reference to what constitutes female beauty. Fortunately for us, the goddess which one man adores, is only a plain, homely, and very ordinary person to another; and so far does this vagary of liking extend, that more than one learned author has written in favour of a woman with a crooked leg. But for this variety of taste, marriages would seldom take place, except with those of one particular temperament. It is im­possible, therefore, to establish a standard which shall comprehend all, without discrimination. ”

“ For the body itself is "fearfully and wonderfully made." Supported by over two hundred bones, which are welded together by ligaments and ten­dons, and again overlaid by hundreds of muscles—the bands and pulleys by which action and locomotion become possible—permeated by thousands of nerves which give sensibility and vitality to the living mass, and clothed by a soft and flexible skin which charms at once the eye and the touch. ”

“ The mechanical powers, the geometrical figures, the motion and weight of the fluids, and the operations of chemistry, are continually engaged in the support and renewal of the frame; uniting an accumulation of force with a simplicity of operation truly wonderful—all contributing by their million operations to produce that beauty of the outward form which we are now seeking to illustrate. ”

“ And here we may be permitted to define what we mean by a beautiful woman, since much of the value of our suggestions will depend upon our having a correct standard or idea of beauty, and a proper appreciation of the manner in which a prompt obedience to the laws of health will enable everyone to approximate to that standard. For although the individual type of beauty must always be in the grace and the expression, and be therefore innate, still it depends neither upon the size nor temperament of the possessor: the stature may be tall, or even short ”

“ What we require in a beautiful woman is, that the head should be com­pact and well rounded, and should not appear too large; the forehead white, smooth, and open, with the hair receding from it. The hair should be bright and glossy, and if falling in curls around the neck the better, as it serves to relieve the deadness of the skin. The eyes should be bright, full, and lively, expressive of kindness, affection, and good humour. ”

“ The head is the treasure-vault of all our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and pas­sions; the thorax contains the heart and lungs; the abdomen all the digestive and secretive organs; and even the orifices are all mysteriously furnished. ”

“ We must, however, assume, that since there is no beauty without health, so, also, that without a good general knowledge of the conditions under which health may be preserved, there will always be a vast amount of sickness and deformity in the community. ”

“ This, then, we may take for granted, that all the ills which flesh is heir to arise from one simple cause—ignorance, and the consequent indulgence and imbecility of mankind—for Nature is beneficent in all her operations, both in the construction of the body, and in its relations and adaptation to the external circumstances by which it is surrounded. ”

“ It is as well, also, to remember that besides beauty and utility, a grand adaptation of the most simple means to the great end and purposes of life is always kept in view in the structure and relation of all the organs. ”

“ To the in­tellect she presents the key of the treasures of knowledge; to the heart she opens the fountains of love, and in life and death links our destiny with the beautiful, the pure, and the good. Nature, our beneficent mother, like a careful parent, has sur­rounded us with the best possible conditions, and all she requires from us is obedience to her laws.
Health, then, depends upon the manner in which the various organs of the body are enabled to per­form their several functions. ”

“ The heart must always beat and keep the blood in constant circulation, and the various secretions and excretions of the body go on without let or hindrance. The air and the food must be pure, the skin refreshed by daily ablutions, and the body strengthened by proper exercise, or perfect health cannot be long enjoyed. ”

“ Among the ancients, a small forehead and joined eyebrows were charming features in a female coun­tenance; and in Persia, large joined eyebrows are highly esteemed. In some Indian countries, black teeth and white hair are necessary ingredients in the character of a beauty; and in the Marian Islands it is a capital object with ladies to blacken their teeth with herbs, and to blanch their hair with certain liquors. Beauty, in China and Japan, is composed of a large countenance, small and half-­concealed eyes, a broad nose, minute feet, and a prominent abdomen. ”

“ The mouth, the pharynx, the œsophagus, the stomach, and other digestive apparatus through­out the long winding circle through which the food passes on its way to the heart, must digest and transmute the whole mass so as to eliminate every nutritive particle from it. ”

“ We must come to regard this mass as a whole, and must, as before remarked, understand the utility and relations of the various organs to one great end, before we can properly appreciate the conditions of health and the means of cultivating or preserving beauty.
Nor has nature been niggardly in furnishing the external universe to supply us with everything that can minister to our wants and pleasures. For the eye, what scenes of beauty and objects of wonder ”

“ There must, in order that this desirable state of existence may be fully enjoyed, be perfect respiration—the air passing down into the lungs, and inflating every little cell where the new blood comes to be baptized in a fresh atmosphere. ”

“ The stature of woman is about five or six inches below that of man, and her muscles are less projecting—partly because they are smaller and less power­ful, and partly from their fatty covering, which contributes so much to the rounded and undulating outline of her form. The breast and haunches of the male and female are in inverse proportion—the chest being broad, and the hips narrow in the former, the reverse in the latter ”

“ The neck of the thigh-bone is shorter and more sloping in man than in woman, and in him, therefore, the basis of support is greater, and is more immediately in the centre of gravity. The femurs being further apart, and the knees closer in woman, diminishes the base of support, and imparts a peculiar rolling motion to her progres­sion; hence, walking is more difficult in woman than in man, and cannot be so long continued. ”

“ These conditions pertain to, and are ap­plicable to all people; but in a proper system of hygiene, regard must always be had to age, sex, temperament, and constitutional force.
But as we write exclusively for the use of ladies, it may be as well here to notice some of the more striking distinctions between the perfect male and female form that may be easily perceived. The bones of the female are lighter, softer, and more elegantly shaped than those of the male. The female head is smaller, the pelvis is broader and deeper, and the cavity of the acetabulum less deeply sunk than in man. ”

“ The neck should be of a moderate size, white, straight, and of a soft, easy, and flexible make, less above, and gently increasing towards the shoulders. The whiteness and delicacy of the skin should be continued, or rather go on improving, to the bosom. The skin in general should be white, properly tinged with red, with a softness and visible sign of shining health in it. ”

“ In the fine head of Jupiter the hair rises from the forehead, and descends in abundant flow­ing locks on each side of the face and neck to the shoulders; the forehead is muscular, expressive of great strength ”

“ Again, when in a recumbent posture on the back, the breast of the man will be the highest part, but the pubes in the woman. The female loins are also the broadest, and the hollow of her back the greatest, in order that the due inclination may be given to the pelvis. ”

“ Some tribes, both in America and Asia, compress the heads of their children between two wooden planks, with a view to enlarge and beautify the face; others compress them late­rally; others depress the crown only ”

“ In the se­cond, the trunk is larger and longer, the waist and hips broader, the lower limbs shorter, affording ample space for the development of all the vital organs. In the third, the trunk is shorter, the extremities longer and more powerful, the head smaller, and generally speaking, the character more determined. ”