Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/32

 incomplete, and that he had painted the ear from memory only. Fortunately few people are so critical as Lavater, or the artists would have a sad time.

We have no intention of going into such minutiæ, only proposing to give in general terms what the human figure should be, and what we shall say applies particularly to the female figure. For men and queens, says an old French proverb, have the privilege of being ugly, aux hommes et aux reines on passe la laideur.

The height should be exactly equal to the distance between the tips of the middle fingers of either hand when the arms are fully extended. Ten times the length of the hand, or seven and a half times the length of the foot, or five times the diameter of the chest from one armpit to the other, should also each give the height of the whole body. The distance from the junction of the thighs to the ground should be the same as from that point to the crown of the head. The knee should be precisely midway between the same point and the bottom of the heel. The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger should be the same as from the elbow to the middle line of the breast. From the top of the head to the level of the chin should be the same as from the level of the chin to that of the armpits, and from the heel to the toe.

With these measurements at command any one can readily find out how near she approaches to the perfection of form. But let her not be dismayed at discover