PART I. 



OF TASTE. 



23 



ellipses, as well as all the irregular forms of nature, which are 

 without names. The cone has been reckoned the most beau- 

 tiful, as uniting the three elementary forms of the line, the 

 triangle, and the circle ; but the chief reason why we denomi- 

 nate one object more beautiful than another, is generally from 

 its relation to the female form, whence originated, not only 

 the name, but likewise all our ideas of beauty. A well-pro- 

 portioned female figure, placed erect, assumes nearly the form 

 of two cones united at their bases*. The breasts are also each 

 a cone, and the pupil of the eye a circle. The circular surface 

 prevails also throughout the whole body, and hence is consi- 

 dered as the most beautiful in other objects. 



Disposition of Forms. — Matter is not only capable of 

 producing effects which result from its modification or form, 

 but also from the disposition of these forms with regard to one 

 another. A hundred small cubes, or balls, may be regularly 

 placed at equal distances from one another upon an even sur- 

 face. This is perfectly simple and easily comprehended by 

 either the sight or the touch. But let these cubes or balls be 



* ft is remarkable, that the female dress formerly worn in this country had 

 the direct tendency to counteract the natural form of the body, and, in place 

 of two cones united at their bases, as in the naked figure, the order was completely 

 reversed, and thus we had two cones united by their apices, as may be seen in any 

 prints of the court dresses of the last century. 



