148 



A HISTORY OF 



that time, drawn down, it also draws down 

 with it the skin, and, consequently, the fea- 

 tures of the face. By these means the visage 

 takes a particular form ; the lower eye-lids, 

 and the corners of the mouth, are drawn down- 

 wards ; so that the eyes are enlarged, and the 

 mouth lengthened ; and women, in these cir- 

 cumstances, are said, by the midwives, to be 

 all mouth and eyes." 



The arms of men but very little resemble 

 the fore feet of quadrupeds, and much less 

 the wings of birds. The ape is the only ani- 

 mal that is possessed of hands and arms ; but 

 these are much more rudely fashioned, and 

 with less exact proportion, than in men ; " the 

 thumb not being so well opposed to the rest 

 of the lingers, in their hands, as in ours." 



The form of the back is not much different 

 in mail from that of other quadruped animals, 

 only that the reins are more muscular in him, 

 and stronger. The buttock, however, in man, 

 is different from that of all other animals 

 whatsoever. What goes by that name, in 

 other creatures, is only the upper part of the 

 thigh ; man being the only animal that sup- 

 ports himself perfectly erect, the largeness 

 of this part is owing to the peculiarity of his 

 position. 



Man's feet, also, are different from those of 

 all other animals, those even of apes not ex- 

 cepted. The foot of the ape is rather a kind 

 of awkward hand ; its toes, or rather fingers, 

 are long, and that of the middle longest of all. 

 This foot also wants the heel, as in man ; the 

 sole is narrower, and less adapted to main- 

 tain the equilibrium of the body in walking, 

 dancing, or running. 



The nails are less in man than in any other 

 animal. If they were much longer than the 

 extremities of the fingers, they would rather 

 be prejudicial than serviceable, and obstruct 

 the management of the hand. Such savages 

 as let them grow long, make use of them in 

 flaying animals, in tearing their flesh, and such 

 like purposes ; however, though their nails 

 are considerably larger than ours, they are 

 |jy no means to be compared to the hoofs or 

 the claws of other animals. "They may 

 sometimes be seen longer, indeed, than the 

 claws of any animal whatsoever ; as we learn 

 that the nails of some of the learned men in 

 China are longer than their fingers. But 



these want that solidity which might give 

 force to their exertions ; and could never, in 

 a state of nature, have served them for an- 

 noyance or defence." 



There is little known exactly with regard 

 to the proportion of the human figure ; and 

 the beauty of the best statues is better con- 

 ceived by observing than by measuring them. 

 The statues of antiquity, which were at first 

 copied after the human form, are now become 

 the models of it; nor is there one man fouiid 

 whose person approaches to those inimitable 

 performances, that have thus, in one figure, 

 united the perfections of many. It is suffici- 

 ent to say that, from being at first models, 

 they are now become originals ; and are used 

 to correct the deviations in that form from 

 whence they were taken. I will not, how- 

 ever, pretend to give the proportions of the 

 human body, as taken from these, there being 

 nothing more arbitrary, and which good pain- 

 ters themselves so much contemn. Some, for 

 instance, who have studied after these, divide 

 the body into ten times the length of the face, 

 and others into eight. Some pretend to tell 

 us, that there is a similitude of proportion in 

 different parts of the body. Thus, that the 

 hand is the length of the face ; the thumb the 

 length of the nose ; the space between the 

 eyes is the breadth of an eye ; that the breadth 

 of the thigh, at thickest, is double that of the 

 thickest part of the leg, and treble the small- 

 est ; that the arms extended, are as long as 

 the figure is high ; that the legs and thighs 

 are half the length of the figure. All this, how- 

 ever, is extremely arbitrary; and the excel- 

 lence of a shape, or the beauty of a statue, 

 results from the attitude and position of the 

 whole, rather than any established measure- 

 ments, begun without experience, and adopt- 

 ed by caprice. In general, it may be re- 

 marked, that the proportions alter in every 

 age, and are obviously different in the two 

 sexes. In women, the shoulders are narrow- 

 er, and the neck proportionably longer, than 

 in men. The hips also are considerably lar- 

 ger, and the thighs much shorter, than in men. 

 These proportions, however, vary greatly at 

 different ages. In infancy, the upper parts of 

 the body are much larger than the lower ; the 

 legs and thighs do not constitute any thing 

 like half the height of the wkole figure : in 



