AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XI, 17 March 1900, Page 521

AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE FORM. Something closely akin to bodily to perfection lies within the range of almost every woman’s possibilities. , _ All women desire beauty of figure. The majority regard it as a special gift of nature to the envied few- and secretly repine at their own deficiencies, failing to comprehend the fact that vast improvement lies within their reach if they will pay the price. By this it is not meant that it caji he purchased with current coin. It is not applied beauty, but acquired beauty, which we are considering. The price demanded is sonne selisacrifice, a little time and considerable perseverance. With such equ iv ' alent can be obtained not only bodilj symmetry, but health, vigour and a larger growth. Said a well-known ' “You will never get fine thought out of a coarse body, nor will you get sound thought out of an unsound The perfection of floral beauty has been evolved from blossoms that were once insignificant. That the human race is just as susceptible of cultivaUon along the lines of physical beauty, health, grace and longevity cannot be gainsaid. The human form is plastic aven up to old age, and can be moulded a will and by will. That it is much more difficult in mature years none will deny, but if the melination for improvement exists at all and p into determined and persistent practice it is never too late to take the desired steps towards physical imPl FreSi en vitality may be imparted to the languid frame, elasticity to the stiffening joints, obesity trained down to something approaching beauty's standard, unsightly angles transformed into graceful curves, and the infirmities and deformities of age indefinitely postponed. THE BENT TWIG.

At birth. With few exceptions, an infant is perfectly formed. Itsjshtei business is to grow. Given pure air, proper food, cleanliness, exercise, sufficient sleep and dress which allows free action of the muscles, it should otow into healthy and beautiful pronortions. But human ignorance, negligence, or stupidity often thwarts nature’s tendencies. The baby is put to bed continually upon one side, which develops a tendency to lop-sidedness and unequal growth of internal organs. It is carried perpetually upon one arm. am. that often the left, so that its fiist grasp of objects is done with its left A little later in life, if a girl, she is debarred from active sjKirts, put into a stiff corset and high collar, and with contracted chest and rounded baek pores over her books by the hour. . , When womanly maturity is attained she wonders why her ehest is flat, her throat so thin and her neck has such deep hollows above the collarbones. It is the imperative duty of every mother of a growing girl to see that her dress is kept unconstricted and that she has daily some system of physical exercise, with special movements designed for any deficiencies or imperfections of figure that have made themselves manifest. The Greeks made physical culture the foundation of their whole system of education. Hence we look to them for types of physical perfection. For a long period we of modern times have cultivated the mental to the exclusion of the physical, until.

under the intellectual forcing system of our schools and colleges, we have made, as has been expressed, “brilliant mathematicians and miserable dyspeptics, fine linguists and bronchial throats, good writers and narrow chests, high foreheads and pale complexions, smart scholars, but not that union which the ancients prized so highly of a sound mind in a sound body.” . , Happily, of late, a reaction has set in, and out-door sperts and gymnasiums for women as well as men are largely patronized. AN OLD BONE OF CONTENTION. The first essential of physical perfection in woman is the absence of angles. But a superfluity of exagger-

ated curves in conformity with a false standard of proportion is not beautiful. While the present fashion of dress prevails it is an impossible task to wean woman from her corset. Her eye has become so accustomed to artificial lines that, except upon canvas, or in marble, no woman will accept the natural or artistic standard as desirable. The female figure has been squeezed and padded, coaxed and bullied, into proportions requisite for the tailor's measure, and the woman moulded to fit the modiste's model. The Venus of Milo herself would cut but a sorry figure in a modern corsage, with its impossible waist, high bust, broad hips and choker collar. Until garments are devised, both practical and beautiful, which shall lend attractiveness to the pliant, natural outlines of a woman's form, will she steadily repulse all efforts to create a different standard. If the stout woman will not take the trouble to train down her too generous proportions and the lean one take no steps to acquire natural curves, both will continue to cling with unflinching persistency to an article of apparel that suppresses adipose tissue of the one and supplies artificial outlines for the other. Even the woman of really good natural figure, with sufficient muscular development to dispense with the support afforded by steel and whalebone. will often do violence to her health, intelligence and artistic sense by compressing her graceful curves into the artificial mould of the tailor’s dummy.

THE PERFECT WOMAN. The dimensions of a perfect woman are these; Five feet five inches in height; weight, one hundred and twenty-eight pounds; arms, extended, should measure from tip to tip of each middle finger just five feet five inches, the same as her height. The length of her hand should be one-tenth of her height, her foot one-seventh, and the diameter of her chest one-fifth. From her thighs to the ground she should measure just the same as from her thighs to the top of her head. The knee should come exactly midway between the thigh and the heel. The distance from the elbow to the middle finger should be the same as from the elbow to the middle of the chest. From the top of the head to the chin should be just the length of the foot, and the same distance from the chin to the arm-pits. A woman of this height should measure twenty - four inches around the waist, thirty-four about the bust, if measured under the arms, and forty-three if measured over them. The upper arm should measure thirteen inches and the wrist six inches. The calf of the leg should measure fourteen and one-half inches, the thigh twenty-five and the ankle eight.

THE WAIST. The evils resulting from unnatural slimness of waist are too well knowui to need discussion. Leaving out of account the hygienic aspects of the question, a rigid waist is not a beautiful one. Stiffness is incompatible with grace. Undue compression results in disproportion. Any garment which prevents deep breathing is a foe to health and beauty. A figure dependent entirely upon the corset for support is apt to be deficient in strength in the waist muscles. The figure can be so shaped and strengthened by exercise that the corset will become a distasteful and superfluous device. A natural method of reducing the size of the waist, which at the same time promotes the general health, is by a simple system of free gymnastics, practised ten or fifteen minutes night and morning. The old method of trying to touch the floor with the tips of the fingers, without bending the knees, is a good exercise. Have the room freshly ventilated. if too cold to keep the window open, before beginning any exercise. Take a long, slow, deep breath between each movement.

Stand erect, heels together, knees rigid. Raise the hands, palms front, high above the head. Bend body forward, without relaxing knees, until finger tips are near the floor. Raise, breathe deeply and repeat. Each day the body will become more supple,until you can touch the floor with ease.Another wnist exercise is this:

Stand, heels quite close but not touching. Extend arms horizontally. Twist the body around at the waist so that the right arm is as far to the left as possible. Repeat in the opposite direction. Stand with hands upon the hips. Bend the body at waist line as far forward as possible, keeping the knees stiff. Bend to right—to left—then backward. Repeat each of these exercises slowly until slightly fatigued. THE NECK AND THE SHOULDERS. The perfect neck in woman is white, smooth, pliant and well rounded. It should slope gently toward the shoulders. A neck disclosing its bony structure is unattractive, and, provided the owner has ordinarily good health, unnecessary. A good, nutritious diet, freedom from throat and waist restriction, massage and exercise will gradually but surely round it into symmetrical contour. A frequent cause of imperfect throats—the high collar —was discussed in the last number of the “Ledger Monthly.” It is the implacable foe of rounded contour, for it seriously impedes circulation. A prominent authority asserts that no woman under sixty need despair of the restoration of her throat and neck if she will work for it. Certainly, then, no young woman with undeveloped throat and neck should be discouraged. If the neck is thin and scrawny, daily exercises, massage with a good skin food, deep breathing and freedom from constriction as much as possible, will fatten and develop it. Electricity is also a valuable accessory. For the girl with bony neck, who is unable to incur the expense of the professional masseuse, there has been invented a massage roller, which has been productive of wonderful results in development of neck and bust. It acts gently but effectively upon the deep tissues, blood vessels and nerves, thus

stimulating the torpid glands to healthful action. A special exercise, which is invaluable for filling out hollows above the collar-bone, and which will also ex-

pand the chest and lengthen the waist, is as follows:—Extend the right foot slightly in advance of the left. Reach forward and upward with right arm, stretching it out as far as possible. Place the left hand upon the hip. Turn the face over the left shoulder. Now swing the right arm freely from the shoulder in a large circle, ten times. Repeat this in the same manner with the left arm. Do this until you can swing each arm one hundred times once or twice daily. For a rounded back or protruding shoulder blade practise this exercise. Rend the arms at right angles to the body, and throw the shoulders well back. Run a short round stick across the back, holding it firmly in place with the bent elbows. This will maintain a correct carriage, as it is impossible for the shoulders to bend forward. Take deep inspirations of fresh air, filling the remotest lung cavity; holding the air as long as possible. Walk lightly about the room for ten minutes, touching the ball of the foot first to the floor. Practise this daily until a correct bodily carriage has become natural. The exercise immediately preceding should be practised in connection with this for strengthening the back muscles. Another good exercise is to raise the shoulders as high as possible, then drop them forcibly. Repeat until the muscles feel slightly fatigued. This is good practice for filling out a hollow "*Do not fall into the habit of sleep ing on one side only. The ultimate result will be a one-sided figure. One shoulder will become rounded, one lung more crowded, and one side of the face more wrinkled. Large, soft pillows heat the head and tend to make a person roundshouldered. A low hair pillow is preferable to a feather one . Sometimes the skin of the shoulders and upper arms is coarser and rougher than that of the face. This is on account of torpidity of the glands of the skin, due to lack of friction. Daily bathing of the parts with pure soft soap, tepid water, 'followed by a thorough sponging with cold water and vigorous friction with a Turkish towel will, in a short time, make the skin as fine and smooth as velvet to the touch.

THE BUST. The undeveloped girl usually suffers from lack of proper nutriment, insufficient exercise, too much contraction of the chest from over-study, or wearing a dress or under-garment too tight across me chest. She should be allowed plenty of room for chest expansion. If a corset is worn, it should be properly fitted to the figure, and never laced from the extreme top. Elastic lacings are advisable. Simple calisthenics should be a part of the daily curriculum. TO KEEP THE JOINTS SUPPLE. As years increase, the muscles become stiffer, the joints less supple. Light gymnastics, affecting the whole body, become imperatively necessary, if one would retain elasticity. The Oriental practice of anointing the body, especially the knee-joints, is a valuable one. Sweet almond, olive oil and goose grease, perfumed, if desired, are good unguents. If the muscles of the back become tired or weak, a good rubbing with either of these after the bath, will bring a delightful sense of rest and elasticity. . Au oint inent used by professional dancers is given by Lola Montez as follows:—The fat of deer or stag, eight ounces; olive oil, six ounces; virgin wax, three ounces; white brand v, one-half pint; musk, one •rrain;‘ rose water, four ounces. ” The fat, oil and wax are melted together; the rose water stirred into the brandy, after which all the ingredients are beaten together. Besides giving suppleness to the limbs in dancing, it is excellent to relieve the stiffness which follows violent exercise. Any perfume may be used instead of musk.

© © © THE WEDDING RING. ITS ORIGIN AND MEANING. According tn legend. Jupiter sent to Prometheus, in honour of his deliverance by Hercules, a ring in which was set a piece of the stone to which Prometheus had formerly been bound in chains. In northern mythology the ring symbolises the bridge from this world to the next, or according to another idea the rainbow symbol of eternity. Hence it is plain that from most ancient times the ring wits the symbol

of remembrance and eternal recollection. Sinee the earliest days of Christianity the ring has been a precious means oi faithfulness, the talisman Of two souls forming a sacred life union. The custom of wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand goes back for its origin to the Egyptians, from whom the Greeks borrowed the custom and handed it on to the Romans. The fourth finger was dedicated to Apollo, the sun god, and gold was an additional symbol of the sou. Besides, it was believed that A)h>ll'o’s finger was connected by a nerve directly with the heart, and it was most appropriate that the sign of loving union should rest on this finger. Aiioth-r theory is that the ring was the .‘ign of slavery, and was therefore worn on the left, the weaker hand. In Germany the engagement ring often serves lor the wedding ring also, being worn on the right hand until the marriage, when it is transferred to the left. In Spain the engagement ring is most ornate, and is invariably worn on the fourth finger of the right hand.

A WOMAN’S GOOD AND BAD POINTS. We are speaking of her physical, not her moral points. For the better study of the latter it is necessary to tabulate the good and bad features in two divisions. The first has to do with those which are the result of more distant causes, such as heredity, pre-natal influences, etc. The second covers defects that rest more directly upon the will and common sense of the girl and those who have to do with her rearing. This is the first division:— GOOD FEATURES. DEFECTS. Roimd r Hm n iS. bones ‘ Heavy, thick bones. k llmbs - Angular limbs. Full breasts. Flat breasts. Broad pelvis. Small pelvis. Luxuriant.long hair. Thin, short hair Smooth lips. A moustache, thin, soft skin. Thick, hard skin. £° uI ). d skull. Angular skull. Small face Large face. ts de<?P eye ’ Small eyesockets. High, small eye- Lowering. bushv brows. eyebrows. Delicate lower jaw- Broad lower jawbone. bone. Even surface be- Sharply separated tween cheek and neck and promineck. nent jaw. Rounded neck. Bony neck and , Mb*- Adam’s apple. Slender wrist. Plump wrist. Narrow hand, with Broad hand, wijth long index finger. long ring finger Weil rounded shoul- Bony shoulders ders. Straight, small col- Curved, thick collarbone. larbone. Hollows over the Elat over the loins, loins. Round, thick upper Thin, flat thigh, thigh. Rounded calf. Thin and angular calf. Slender ankle. Heavy ankle. Thin foot, with thin Plump foot, with toes. broad toes. Second toe long. Great toe longest little toe short. and little toe prolonged. SECOND DIVISION. Symmetry of the Asymmetry between upper and lower the two parts of parts of the body. the body. Normal weight. Too heavy or too light. Shining.elastic skin. Dull, hard skin. General muscular Poor muscles. development. Slender joints. Thick, .swollen joints. Well formed upper Prominent upper lip, lip. thick or too short. Even, regular teeth Projecting.irregular teeth. Slender. straight Broad, pug, or flat nose. nose. Round chin, with; Sharp or double dimples. chin. Rounded shoulders. Angular shoulders. Flat.round stomach. Protruding stomach. Arched back. Flat back. Rounded elbows. Pointed elbows. Slender, long hands. Short, broad hands. Long second finger. Long forefinger. Arched, long nails. Flat, short nails. Slender, long foot. Plump, broad foot. Straight legs. Bow legs or knock knees. Straight great toe. Great toe turned inward. Longer second toe. Longer great toe. This second table might be increased in many particulars, yet it is sufficiently comprehensive to show how much care and common sense can do towards preserving and making beauty in the feminine form.

THE CARE OF BRUSHES. As hairbrushes need to be washed once a fortnight at the least, it stands to reason that unless properly done they will soon l>e spoiled. The backs should never be damped at all, and the hand in which me brush is held should be kept as dry as possible. For washing, dissolve a piece ot soda the size of a walnut in a quart of hot water in which you can comfortably l>ear your hand, or, if you prefer it,

you can ufee a tablespoonful of ammonia instead of the soda. Free the brush from all hairs, and dip it, bristles downwards, in and out of the water till it looks clean; rinse by dipping in and out of cold water in the same way.

Shake as dry as you can; wipe the back and handle carefully, and dry at once either in the open air or before a fire, the former if possible. Soap makes the bristles soft, so should not be used for washing. Silver backs of brushes, if rubbed daily with a chamois leather, will very seldom need a regular cleaning. If. however, you prefer to give a good clean occasionally, moisten a little whiting with methylated spirit, and brush the silver with this. Brush out again, and polish with a soft chamois.

The backs and handles of ebony brushes should be rubbed over with a very little boiled linseed oil after washing, and then rubbed with a soft duster till every vestige of oil is removed. Special care is needed in cleaning silver initials on these, and only very slightly - moistened whiting should be used, or it is apt to leave a nasty white mark on the wood, which is extremely difficult to remove. In brushing the whiting off after cleaning, be careful not to scratch the ebony, for once scratched it is spoiled. Ordinary wooden-backed brushes

can be treated with linseed oil in the same way as ebony ones. Tooth and nail brushes should always be stood in such a position that all water can drain from them. Household brushes last much longer if taken care of and washed regularly. Remember that tey should never be allowed to rest on the bristles. Long-handled ones should be hung up by the heads, and short ones either propped upright on a shelf or suspended by a piece of twine. Hearth brushes will last nearly as long again if they are kept hung up. For cleaning household brushes, make a solution of soda by dissolving one pounl in one quart of water. Stir over the fire till dissolved, then bottle for use. Add one tablespoonful to a quart of water; wash the brushes in this, using also a little soap for the soft hair ones; rinse in clean cold water and dry in the open air. Brushes that have been used for paint can be cleaned with turpentine, and spirits of wine will remove varnish.

WHEN A MAN PROPOSES. Th< re are many times in a man’s life when he precipitates hinjself into a situation which suddenly brings him face to face with a crisis which, in the choice English of the day, “keeps him

guessing.” It is safe to assume that the real crisis of a man’s life comes when he contemplates matrimony seriously enough to dwell upon the pnee of fried potatoes for two, and to become absorbed in and with the installment furniture advertisements, which offer things at rates sufficiently low as to almost be an inducement to man to marry. But when the best girl replies in the affirmative and her “yes” doesn’t mean “no,” as her “no” might mean “yes,” is the time that he must act and act quick. It is impossible to say what a man should do in this trying situation by reference to the acts of others similarly situated, because no man has ever told what he did, perhaps for the reason that he was so overcome by joy at the supreme moment of his triumph that he cannot remember any of the particulars. It is fair to assume that no two men act alike when she says “yes” at the time of the proposition to pay for her hats and other luxuries. Men 'being of different temperaments, it is not likely that their actions are the same. If a phlegmatic man should act precisely as a nervous man does, or if a man 45 years old with yellow hair should act in a manner not unlike that of a man 65 years old, with a wen on his neck, it would go to prove that the business of proposal and acceptance is a. very prosaic and unpoetic proceeding after all. Then the surroundings might exert a certain influence. A plumber in the moonlight by the sobbing sea might be surcharged with halcyon dreams that would cause him to be a different sort of being from that which he might be if he were accepted in a thunderstorm while awaiting a flash of lightning to satisfy him that he is really on the earth. It is not an easy thing 'by a long shot to say what a man ought to do when his best girl says “yes” in response to the very important and momentous question. It would be as easy, perhaps, to say what the girl should do when the question is put to her.

It might be well to ascertain from married women how their husbands acted when they replied in the affirmative. Possibly they remember, and if such data could be obtained it would not only make fine reading, but supply a solid basis for such an article as this. Now, how does a woman act, and what does she do when she proposes to a man and the latter says “yes?” Does she jump to see if her hat is on straight, or does she say she has forgotten her gloves in the excitement that causes her to forget that she has them on? And suppose a Mormon pioposes to three women at the same time and in sporting parlance “takes three straight.” Whatever he does, doesn’t he do three times as much of it as he would if the trio had refused him? Would he embrace them all at once, or one at a time? If one at a time, No. 3 would .be madder than No. 2. No. 2 would be madder than No. 1 and gladder than No. 3, while No. 1 would be happier than No. 2 and No. 3 combined. And if he embraced and kissed them all at once and all together, there would be no proof of favouritism and consequently no cause for jealousy, which would be unsatisfactory, as it would prove the existence of a man who could love with equal desperation and intensity three women at one and the same time. Let us imagine the following conversation after the albove purely imaginary scene: “Why did you embrace us all at once?” “Because,” replies the thrice happy man, “you are twice as much numerically this way.” “But we don’t understand you.” “Of course you don’t, but I understand my business, I consider you in the arithmetical light of one, two, three, which added together makes six. Yet shall I be happiest on that happy day that shall see us made three.” That would be the way a man should act in the event of such a crisis. Once upon a time I was wandering along the seashore in the bright sil-

very spray of a full moon, and at my side was a languid, high-strung gazelle, who was usually gloomy and pensive as if lost in the tangles of some kind of a divine despair that defied dyspepsia tablets. Finally we paused, and she, wringing her dainty jewelled fingers, looked at me in a way that aroused my sympathy and said: “Why was I ever put into this weary, weary world?” “In order,” I replied quickly, “to be a reason and an excuse for my existence.” The crisis was safely passed a moment later. Now what did I do? Did I say: “What kind of an engagement ring do you want, and how soon do you want it; or shall we board with your mother or take a flat? I did not say any of one of these things. I took out a memorandum book and began to write. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Nothing,” I replied. With a woman’s chain-lightning intuition she said: “Are you making a memorandum of the fact that we are engaged; do you think that otherwise you would forget it, and do you think I could forget to remind you of it if you should?” A month later, when we were back in town, I said to her: “Do you remember how 1 made a memorandum that moonlight night on the Wellfleet sands?” “I do,” shet said. “Well, it was simply a memorandum of the fact that when you asked me why you were put into this weary world, I told you it was to be a reason and an excuse for my existence, which question and answer I this day sold to a comic paper for $2 to print under a Bar Harbour society cut. Thus may you see, my dear, how the high-handed poet turns everything into gold when he has the hard horse sense of the man that sells hams on commission.” It will thus be seen that what you should do in the cris’s that ensues when your best girl says “yes” depends largely upon the nature and

conditions of the crisis. It might be unwise to say just what you should do, because you would probably forget it and do something else and thus u£>set all calculations. It is a time when you will do someimng and you will always do something that will fill the bill, even if you do make a fool and a goose of yourself. But if the best girl shall only prove to be the right girl, no matter what you do in the crisis of her acceptance you will always say that, although you did make a fool and goose of yourself, you can still always congratulate yourself on the fact that you proved yourself a level-headed philosopher of the highest type in the long run in winning the object of your quest.

® ® ® \VA .XT ED—SHOEBLACKS FOR LADIES. Once again attention is drawn to the fact that in our big cities there are no shoeblacks for ladies. A lady correspondent asks if it would not be possible in large establishments, where ladies can obtain refreshments, for them also to obtain the comfort of having their shoes blacked and their skirts brushed. Numbers of ladies leave, the suburbs in the morning tor a ling day in town —shopping, making calls, visiting picture galleries or •theatres- and should their shoes become wet and muddy, so they must remain unless their wearers have the courage to have them blacked in the street. Some ladies certainly do patronise the shoeblacks in the central districts of Ijondou, but they are very few in number, probably not 5 per cent, of the total who would like to have their boots or shoes cleaned. ® ®

IU DARKEN GREY HAIR. Lockyer’s Sulphur Hair Restorei, quickest, safest, best; restores the natural colour. Lockyer’s, the real English Hair Restorer. Large Bottles, Is 6d, everywhere.—(Advt.)