SOCIETY. 25 



State, or were born here. The typical Californian of the next 

 generation will be plump, ruddy in complexion, full in the 

 chest, and melodious in voice. In other words, he will resem- 

 ble the Briton more than the Massachusetts man. Even 

 among those natives of the Eastern States who have come to 

 California as men and women, there is much change. Many 

 of them have lost their sallow complexions and thin figures, 

 and when they return to their brothers and sisters in the East 

 the contrast attracts attention immediately. Age does not 

 show so rapidly in California. Our women as a class are con- 

 siderably heavier than in New York, and the sizes of corsets 

 and shoes sold there are too small for the main demand of the 

 San Francisco market. Many English tourists, writers of 

 books, have observed the physical peculiarities of Californians 

 as compared with other Americans ; and among them is W. F. 

 Rae, who wrote thus : 



" From points about which travelers differ it is a pleasure 

 to turn to one about which there has been and must be perfect 

 unanimity. The beauty of the women is without the pale of 

 controversy. It cannot be likened to the beauty for which 

 English girls are universally and deservedly admired ; for 

 which Italian maidens have been immortalized on canvas or in 

 verse ; for which the sprightly damsels of France, and the 

 coquettish ladies of Spain, have won applause, and by means 

 of which they have won conquests. If I were to select a par- 

 ticular locality in the United States, I might truthfully com- 

 pare the type of beauty predominant thereto that of a partic- 

 ular country in the Old World. But America is a world in 

 itself. Within the bounds of the Republic of the West are all 

 climates which give diversity to Europe, from Rome to Copen- 

 hagen and from London to Madrid. Where climates vary, 

 female faces vary also. In New England, may be seen those 

 delicately chiseled features and transparent complexions which 

 in Europe are characteristic of the fascinating beauties of the 

 North. In the Southern States, the imperious and indolent 



