GENERATION. 



jeft, are not always equally remarkable, and at one lime 

 cannot be diftintHy traced. In the firil years of life, the in- 

 dividuals of the two fexes do not differ from each other at 

 the firft view ; they have nearly the fame general air, the 

 fame delicacy of organization, the fame gait, and the fame 

 voice. Experiencing the fame wants, exercifmg the fame 

 funftions, and often partaking together of the fame infan- 

 tile fports, they excite in the mind of the fpeftator who 

 watches them with pleafure, no ideas of diftinguifhing 

 characters ; they both appear to him only as awakening that 

 tender emotion which we always feel at the contemplation of 

 innocence joined to weaknefs. Indifferent and ifolated, each 

 as yet hves only for hi.mfelf ; their exiilence, purely indi- 

 vidual and independent, exhibits hitherto none of the rela- 

 tions which conftitute in the fequel a fource of mutual de- 

 pendence. However, this equivocal ftate does not lall loni>' ; 

 man fpeedily afTumes the features and charatter which mark 

 his deftination ; his lin-.bs lofe the foftnefs and the gentle 

 forms which he partook with the female ; the mufcles, the 

 chief inilruments of animal force, condenfe, by their reite- 

 rated contractions, which are confequent on more violent 

 and long continued exercife, the cellular fubftance, which 

 filled their interitices and gave a roundnefs to their form ; 

 hence they become more prominent, and give to the limbs 

 more rough and decided outlines. It is no longer the fame 

 individual : the deeper tint of the countenance, the increafed 

 depth and ftrength of the tone of voice announce an accels 

 of vigour necefiary for the purpofes of his future charafter. 

 The timidity of infancy has given way to an inftinft which 

 makes him defpife danger ; he fears nothing, becaufe the 

 impetuous current of his blood makes him difregard all ob- 

 flaclcs. His fupenor ftature, his deteiTnined gait, his new 

 talles and ideas all confpire to mark in him the image of 

 ftrength, and to give the charafters of that fex which is to 

 protect the other. 



Woman, in advancing towards the age of puberty, de- 

 parts from her primitive conftitution lefs fenfiblv than man. 

 Delicate and tender, ilie even rctainsfomething of the tempera- 

 ment belonging to children. The texture of hrr organs 

 does not lofe all its original foftnefs. The developement, 

 produced by age in all the parts of her body, never be- 

 flows on them the farse degree of confiftence which they ac- 

 quire in man : yet, in proportion as the traits of the female 

 are fixed, her figure, form and proportions exhibit differences, 

 feme of which did not exilt before, while others were fcarce- 

 ly fenlible. Although (he fets off from the fame point as 

 man, fhcis developed in a manner peculiar to herfelf, and 

 arrives foonerat the term of her developement. Every where 

 puberty arrives earlier in the female than in tlie male fex. 

 Has nasure a greater talk to perfonn in the latter than in 

 the former ? Does it cofi; her greater efforts to bring man 

 to perfeAlon than v-'oman ? Or does the eafe which cha- 

 rafterizes female motions and aftions exhibit ilfelf already 

 in the firil developements of Iier phyfical conllitution ? 

 Perp.aps nature terminates her work the fooner from the fe- 

 male organ", being of lefs volume tiian the male, as her ope- 

 rations are conducted within a more limited fphere. How- 

 ever we may exph^in it, man is ft ill fubjeft to the laws 

 which govern him in infancy, while woman experiences alrea- 

 dy a new mode of exiitenc, and finds herfelf, perhaps with 

 aftonifhment, provided with new attributes and fubjedt to a 

 clafs of functions not obferved in man, and hitherto un- 

 known to herfelf. From this inftant tliere is unfolded in 

 her a nev/ chain of pliyfical and moral relations, on which 

 depends that new and attraiSive interell with which fhe in- 

 fpires man, and which has already become a fource of new 

 wants and aifeftiois. 



In running through a more detailed (ketch of the dif- 

 ferences obfcrvable in the two fexes, we find them differing 

 in the firft place in ftature, and in the fi/e and proportions 

 of parts. The height is lefs in the female, by about one- 

 fixth. The middle of the body in man is at the feparation 

 of the lower limbs at the pubc,^ : in wom.an it is higher, 

 and hence the lower hmbs are (horter, v. hile the lumbar re- 

 gion is longer. This gives to the female fex in general, and 

 to the Americans and NegrefTes in particular, that elegant 

 flendernefs which diftinguifhes them. The arm or leg of a 

 woman could be immediately diftinguifhed from thofe of a 

 m:in : the form of thefe parts is much more delicate, and 

 lefs marked by decided prominences. The buft is not fo 

 broad, but more rounded, and particularly diftinguifhed by 

 the fize and elegant formation of the breaft, which is com- 

 m.;nlv but little developed in man, where its greater develope- 

 ment would be regarded as a deformity. The thighs are 

 much larger, more rounded, and further apart ; they ap- 

 proach each otiitr below, fo that the knees are (lightly 

 turned in. The latter circumftarice is feen in the Venu», 

 and the whole formation of theie parts is attended with ad- 

 vantages in geftation and parturition, although tlie pecu- 

 liarity in queltion is not feen in thofe females which in com- 

 mon opinion are the beft formed. The convexities defcribed 

 by the lower limbs at their upper part, and uniting them by 

 fuch happily rounded forms with the trunk, have a very ob- 

 vious peculiarity of character in the fofter fex. They ai"e 

 more prominent, and approach in their contour more to the 

 hemifpherical form. All other parts of the lower limbs are 

 diftiniiuilhed bv their iofl!-,' rounded outlines. The foot is 

 fmaller, and the bafe of fupport for the body is proportion- 

 ally narrow. The leg gradually diminifhes from above 

 downwards, inftead of iwelling out abruptly at the calt. 

 The outlines of the upper limbs are equally flowing and 

 foft ; thus the arm of %voman is fatter and more rounded ; 

 the whole upper extremity coneiponds in its comparative 

 (liortnefs and fmallnefs to the general difference in ftature ; 

 and is terminated bv a Imall hand) and (hort, delicate and 

 flexible fingers. 



We may obferve further that the head is fmaller, the face 

 (horter, and the neck longer in woman. The cheft is not fo 

 long, but deeper ; the abdomen more prominent and round- 

 ed ; the fhoulders are carried more backwards, and ftand 

 out lefs from the trunk. Hence the breadth of this pai't is 

 much lefs conliderable than in man, where the fhoulders are 

 more fully developed and more widely fet off, and conftitute, 

 in their comparatively greater fize, a very iinpreflive feature 

 of the fuperior ftrength, which is the attribute of the male 

 fex. In the female trunk, on the contrary, the broadeit part 

 is below ; the pelvis, holding the organs of generation, be- 

 ing principally concerned in the functions of utero-geftation 

 and parturition, being, in Ihort, the feat of thofe attributes 

 which efpecially diftinguifh the female, is much more capa- 

 cious than in the male. Hence the luperior breadth of the 

 female hips : hence the oppofite characters of the trunk in 

 the two fexes, in refpeCl; to fize. The trunk of the female is 

 a pyramid, with the broa'jft part below ; that of the male is 

 juil the reverfe. Camper has fhown, that if the body of a 

 well-foriTicd man be delineated on an ellipticiJ area, tlie 

 fhouldejs pafs out ofthe ellipfe, while the pelvis falls within 

 it ; on the contrary, that the hips exceed, and the fhoulders 

 fall within the line in woman. ^Memoire furlebeauPhyfique). 

 In tho.'e fpecimens of ancient art, which may be regarded as 

 models of the moft charaCterillic formation, the difrerence of 

 breadth in thefe parts amounts to one-tliird : the ft;oulders 

 being fo much broader in the m.alc, and the hips in the fe- 

 male. The greater breadth of the pelvis gives a broader 



bafe 



