640 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ally by artificial light, and in a gas-befouled atmosphere. Her 

 hours for work, meals, and sleep are all utterly bad from the 

 hygienic point of view ; and not infrequently she makes bad 

 worse by falling into those bohemian habits which are an im- 

 memorial tradition of her class. Her secret, apart from the laws 

 regulating the expression and nutrition of the face above stated, 

 consists chiefly of avoidance of monotony and petty worries 

 those archenemies of feminine good looks and good temper. Her 

 work, if arduous, is generally performed both with earnestness 

 and lightness of heart ; and, above all, she gets a sufficiency of 

 bodily exercise of the kind (although not under the conditions) 

 most conducive to health viz., exercise involving quick and gen- 

 eral movements of the muscles, combined with a certain amount 

 of mental excitement. 



Any one who considers the preservation of female beauty 

 worthy of serious attention can draw from the facts here stated 

 some general principles, resting on a sound and scientific basis, 

 upon which to found rules for the guidance of the sex. I see 

 no reason why the average British matron should not be phys- 

 ically qualified to play Juliet at fifty if she will observe all the 

 conditions favorable to the preservation of youthful good looks. 

 Indeed, when we bear in mind the many adverse circumstances 

 in a stage career, a lady who goes to bed at half past ten and 

 rises at seven or eight, should be able to give an actress ten 

 years, and beat her easily. 



Descending from the realm of Venus to that of Vulcan, let 

 us consider, while we stand among the smoke and sparks of the 

 forge, the problem already alluded to as to the reaction of the 

 expression on the mind. As the smith wields his hammer with 

 an energy which has something fierce and vengeful about it, he 

 automatically contracts his brow into a frown. He does this 

 partly, no doubt, to protect his eyes from the flying flakes of 

 metal ; but if you watch the face of the man who holds the iron 

 on the anvil, you will find that although he lowers his eyebrows 

 somewhat as the sledges descend, he does not scowl as do the 

 strikers. In most blacksmiths the constant exercise of the corru- 

 gator supercilii muscles causes a permanent frown, and gives the 

 face a somewhat hard expression ; but whether there is any in- 

 ward and spiritual state corresponding with this outward and 

 visible sign I am not quite sure. Certainly there is a popular be- 

 lief that, as a rule, the blacksmith is a serious and downright 

 person, who " looks the whole world in the face," and who does 

 not take chaff kindly ; but the popular mind is peculiarly liable 

 to be biased by such obvious arguments as are presented by the 

 smith's lowered brow and huge biceps, and does not stop to weigh 

 their pertinence in deciding questions of character. I remember 



