36 English and American Physique. [January, 
dress, and gesture. The European woman steps with a 
firmer tread than the American, and with not so much light- 
ness, pliancy, and grace. In a multitude, where both 
nations are represented, this difference is impressive. In 
the hourly operation of shaking hands one can tell, in some 
cases, the American woman of the higher order from a 
European, Swiss, or German in the same rank. The grasp 
of the European woman is firmer and harder, as though on 
account of greater strength and firmness of muscle. In the 
touch of the hand of the American woman there are a nicety 
and tenderness that the Englishwoman destroys by the force 
of the impaCt. It is probable that the interesting and re- 
markable feat of muscle-reading, popularly called “ mind- 
reading,” would not be so skilfully and successfully per- 
formed by English as by American ladies, for the reason 
that the Americans are physically more delicate and nimble, 
and their susceptibility to external impressions far greater. 
This delusion of “mind-reading” was born in this country, 
and within the past few years. It may be rationally claimed 
that it could not have originated, or at least have attained 
so wide popularity in England, Germany, or Switzerland, 
since not enough could be found there who were capable of 
performing it to the amusement and astonishment of large 
audiences. 
The voice of the American woman is on a higher key than 
that of the Englishwoman ; and the partially deaf can hear 
it more easily. 
The attractiveness of American women would appear to 
be the direCt effeCt of climatic conditions, since beauty of 
the most precious sort requires fineness of organization, 
delicacy of features, nimbleness and sprightliness of expres- 
sion. The same influence that makes the American female 
more handsome also causes her beauty to decay earlier than 
in Europe. The Englishwoman is less beautiful, less 
delicate and attractive between fifteen and twenty-five, yet 
she retains her beauty longer. Women, like plants, need 
abundant moisture, else they wither. The rains, the clouds, 
and the storms that enrobe castles and cathedrals in ivy, 
and keep the meadows green throughout the year, bring 
freshness and colour to the face ; so the English matron of 
forty-five or fifty is, perhaps, sometimes handsomer as well 
as healthier than at fifteen and twenty. 
