Beauty and the elective affinities les 



evidence of bad taste. To the eye of the practical 

 engineer, however, the steamship is more admirable 

 than the old three-decker — in other words, it is more 

 beautiful because he can see much in it that is not 

 apparent to the popular understanding. The curve, 

 again, is commonly spoken of as " the line of beauty." 

 Why ? Because in a great many positions — the arch 

 of a bridge, for example — the curve is the more suit- 

 able line, and it becomes by this means the basis of 

 an artistic formula. 



In considering this subject we have to divest our 

 minds of the idea that there is any such thing in the 

 universe as intrinsic beauty. Beauty exists only in the 

 eye of the admirer, who is unconsciously governed by a 

 sense of utility or fitness from his own point of view. 

 For this reason what is beautiful to one species is not 

 necessarily so to another. Probably the belle of a 

 London ballroom would leave but an indifferent im- 

 pression upon the mind of a baboon. The adoption 

 of utility as the basis of beauty prepares us for the 

 curious fact that among mankind at large various 

 standards of beauty prevail, according to climate, 

 mode of life, and other circumstances. Among 

 European races a clear skin and red cheeks are con- 

 sidered beautiful, because they are the ordinary signs 



