Beauty

erceptibly; and we can distinguish the strong characters of different and distinct ages, only at periods remote from each oth

extends from birth to

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

es are the more remarkable, the earlier the

her person differs from that in which the growth is terminated: it presents another

contracted, because the apparatus of smell and of mastication are not yet developed. Nor is the head only

favor the action of the extensor muscles, a circumstance which is opposed to standing perpe

unches, and magnitude of the pelvis. That part is scarcely more developed in the female than in the

proportion to the limbs, which are

s, the middle of the body then corresponds to the region of the umbilicus. An infan

ction of the bones, and to bestow a peculiar character upon their combination in the skeleton. The fleshy and o

performed in the same manner. The want of nourishment is unceasingly renewed, and the movements of the pulse,

analogy; and similar moral dispositions prevail. Little girls, it has been observed, have in some measure t

developed, little girls walk nea

o her, long before we can discern any of the symptoms of puberty; and although the especial marks which distinguish her sex do not yet show themselves

man, is not yet secreted. She is now perhaps more easily distinguished by the nature of her inclinations and the general character of her mind: whil

oward puberty, appears to remove less than man from her primitive constitution; she always preserves somethi

o puberty, woman becom

gs and the arteries; the pelvis enlarges; the haun

nger, as in the little girl and in man, the anteroposterior diameter which is the greatest, but the transverse one. It has been observed that the same oc

development of the cellular tissue, the delicacy of all the outlines, th

a new want, which various circumstances may for a time enfeeble or silence, but can never entirely stifle; and with it come t

ow no longer the same; and the voic

rnal structure, her external form, her faculties, are all developed promptly. It would appear that the parts which compose he

ars of age, as completely formed as that of a man at thirty. Thus beauty and grace, as has been

he sexual organs enter into action, and determine a revol

tem predominates in young women, even in figures promising the

or, we may say, from the period of full growth, the general time of bearing c

s. She is not now distinguished merely by the organs which are the direct instruments of reproduction: ma

lenderer than in the male. The ancients accordingly gave seven heads a

ensions of the different part

thighs, and the parts connected with the abdomen, are ample and large. Hence, her body tapers upw

he middle point, which is at the pubis in the male, is situated higher i

embers still c

, but her haunches are more apart, her hips more elevated, her abdomen larger, her memb

d the polish, of all the forms, by the gradual and easy transitions between all the parts, by the number and the harmony of the undulat

n, and the cellular tissue which serves to unite them,

assive state to which nature has destined woman, an

ight press against some essential organ; and the liquids being impeded in their course, would in that

ions. It is therefore necessary that her organs should be of such structure as to yield readi

han when a moderate plumpness bestows on her organs, without too

ation of the natural mobil

to be executed with more rapidity, the less their bulk. It has been observed, that the arteries of the ox beat only thirt

curs to render more mobile the vario

ircumstances. But it is thence that spring woman's suppleness an

have a particular organization, on which depends the elegance of the forms, the viv

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 cha

, woman, by yielding, withdraws from their action, and adds to beauty, a gent

s distinguishing the two sexes, which is t

ivity to the character, so when, in woman, the periodical excretion appears, the breasts expand, the eyes sparkle, the countenance bec

approach to those of women, by the softness and feebleness of their

d, 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

nd habits to men. It is stated, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1805, that an adult female, in

females in the decline of life, and the circumstance that female-birds, when they have ceased to l

e of her new faculty determines remarkable modificat

trix orienti

m poterit circ

ral habits totally change: and many women ow

t those of cooler regions and calmer temperament, whose placid featu

h the organs derived their form and coloring, abates; and a less agreeable flaccidity succeeds to the elast

irstmentioned class of women retain

uently become meager, and lose their fresh

ns and preservative cares be not employed, it is the

y during the second age, hasten debility in feeble and ill-constituted women; espec

has often been observed, "when premature infirmities or misfortunes, the exercise of an unfavorable profession, or a wrong

tissue under the skin and elsewhere; and this effaces any wrinkles which might have begun to furrow the skin, rounds

stains the forms, and sometimes confers a majestic air, which, in wome

cles are more feeble; the movements are less light; and in plump women we observe those brok

the organs of voice. Women, therefore, to whom si

ution, as every one must have observed, changes entirely; it becomes st

ich supported the reliefs has abandoned them; the sinkings and wrinkles are mu

mness; the hemispheres of the bosom no longer sustain themselves; the clavicles project; the neck becomes meage

fineness of the look, the air of sentiment, the amiable expression of the countenance, and, in women of elegant mi

changes, and the constitution of woman approaches to that of man; th

ecrepitude fi