The Exact Proportions of Ideal Beauty.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue IX, 1 March 1902, Page 392

The Exact Proportions of Ideal Beauty.

Tt is the natural and laudable aim of every girl and woman to be as healthy and beautiful as possible; for health and beauty go hand in hand. No standard of beauty, however, exists save that left us by the Greeks, which is surely a trifle in need of being brought up to date.

The German scientist, Dr. Stratz, who has made a life study of the beauty of women of all nations, considers that he found the most perfect and harmonious development of form among the Javanese. His idea; proportions differ from the Greek slightly, and he gives as follows his “normal proportions” of the perfect woman, deduced from averaging the measurements of many: — “The height should be seven and a half times the length of the head, ten times the length of the face, nine times the length of the hand, and six to seven times the leugth. of the head, and the leg four times the length of the head, 'me shoulders should be two heads wide. When standing erect, perfee.. developed legs should touch at the thighs, the knees, the ealves, and the ankles.” So much for the bodily proportions. With regard to the head, to which we always look when considering beauty, the hair should be luxuriant. long, and more or less glossy in appearance. Indeed, good hair will often make an otherwise plainlooking girl pass tor a most attractive beauty. Eyes too large or too small, too close to each other, or too far apart; eyes that are too round, or that follow a slanting direction, are not perfect, and detract from beauty. The eyes should be in proportion with the dimensions of the oval and the features of the face, to combine with them in a harmonious and perfectly graceful whole. Healthy and well-formed eyes should be neither too widely opened nor too closed. The colour of the eyes cannot be changed, but it is

possible to modify the opening by much repeated pulling, in which case the height lost is gained in the width. The conformation of the eye opening slantingly and half - closed by the upper eyelid .s arrived at by constantly repeated twitchings of the upper eyelid and of the external angle of the eye. Protuberance and sinking of the eyes are both imperfections that detract from the beauty of the countenance. The beauty of the eyebrows consists in the dark and brilliant hue of their thick and silky hairs, in their being clearly defined and slightly arched; and, lastly, in the perfection of their extremities, of which the two towards the centre should be thick and round, and the others terminate in a sharp point.

Nothing is more rare than a real.y perfect uose; that is, one which unites harmony of form, correctness of proportion, and proper affinity with the other features. Being the most prominent feature of the face, the nose is naturally liable to be judged by severer standards than would be applied to the lips, mouth or chin. The following are, according to the rules of art, the conditions requisite to the beauty of this organ: The nose should have the same length as the forehead, and have a n depression at its root. From its root to its extremity the nose should follow a perfectly straight line, and come exactly over the centre of the upper lip; the bridge of the nose, parallel on both sides, should be a little wider in the centre. The tip of the nose should be neither too thin nor too fleshy, and its lower outline neither narrow nor too wide. The lobes must be gracefully defined by a slight depression. Seen sideways, the lower part of the nose will have but a third of its total length. The separating integument should divide the nasal cavities into two equal parts, and the nostrils, round at the start, arched in the centre. and ending in a point, must be exactly similar. A nose so formed is

not only handsome, but also, according to Lavater, indicates a fine morale and a remarkable mind.