COMMON BLONDE TYPE 247 



brown, without any red or chestnut colour in it, gene- 

 rally of a dull or dusty hue ; and the eyes are a pale 

 greyish-blue, with small pupils, and in very many 

 cases a dark mark round the iris. The deep blue, any 

 pure blue, in fact, from forget-me-not to ultramarine, 

 is as rare in this commonest type as warm or bright 

 hair chestnut, red, or gold ; or as a brilliant skin. The 

 skin is pallid, or dusky, or dirty-looking. Even healthy 

 girls in their teens seldom have any colour, and the 

 exquisite roseate and carmine reds of other counties 

 are rare indeed. The best-looking girls at the time of 

 life when they come nearest to being pretty, when 

 they are just growing into womanhood, have an un- 

 finished look which is almost pathetic. One gets the 

 fancy that Nature had meant to make them nice- 

 looking, and finally becoming dissatisfied with her 

 work, left them to grow to maturity anyhow. It is 

 pathetic, because there was little more to be done a 

 rosier blush on the cheek, a touch of scarlet on the 

 lips, a little brightness and elasticity in the hair, a 

 pencil of sunlight to make the eyes sparkle. 



In figure this woman is slim, too narrow across the 

 hips, too flat in the chest. And she grows thinner with 

 years. The number of lean, pale women of this type 

 in Hampshire is very remarkable. You see them in 

 every village, women that appear almost fleshless, with 

 a parchment-like skin drawn tight over the bones of 

 the face, pale-blue, washed-out eyes, and thin, dead- 

 locking hair. What is the reason of this leanness ? It 



