The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-02-01
Hundsome Women.

Beauty" says the old proTerb, "is
but skin deep;" but there are many old
proverbs which will not stand the test
of intelligent analysis, and this is
among the number. Beauty but skin
deep, quotha! Why, if beauty consist
ed simply and exclusively in the mat
ter of complexion, the wise saw would
still be an absurdity; for a fine COM
~plexion depends, not on the skin itself,
but on the circulation and on the gener-
al h%ealthfulncss of the mysterious pro-
cesses which are going on below it. A
beauty with the ,jaunders is Il beauty no
longer; but this is not by reason of the
uninvitiug color of her skin, but be-
cause of the hillary arrangement where
of that color is only the symptom. Be-
sides, who has not seen women who
were really beautiful without having
what are called fine compilations and
women who were really ugly with
them, So far as the saying conveys q
general impression Of the superciality
of mere good looks, and of the foolish
ness, as a matter of philosophy, Of re-
garding them as of any weight in COM
parison with the mental graces, it may
be accepted as reasonable enough; but
-....v,eIy considerable we can so con-
slider q superficies-the proverb is rs
fiat and Improbable as it is, beyond all
question, stale.
The older men grow the more apt
they are to see beauty in a woman's fig
ure rather than in her face. Your
youngster will bow down and worship
before q pretty face mounted on q
broomstick or a pair of tongs, but so
will not your practiced connoisseur of
forty. Experience teaches so thor
oughly the value of health, that its out
ward manifestations become more and
more valued as the eye is trained to de-
tect them. Thus, it often happens that
a middle-aged man will gaze with Won
der at n skinny, dyspeptic-looking girl,
perceiving that she is exactly what her
mother was before her, and unable to
comprehend how on earth it was that
lie himself was in love with that moth
or twenty years ago. He may be more
prosaic, perhaps, than of yore; but, de-
pend unon it, he is more appreciative.
His ideal now would BIO q much more
healthful and harmonious creature, and
probably Il much better tempered one,
than his ideal was ~then-which is q
very strong argumentagainst early mar
riages. No doubt there are other things
worth weighing in q wife besides mere
physical health; but if for the sake of
pOsterity alone, mere physical health
fulness goes = great way. Now, al
though health and beauty may be found
ASSOCIATED, their eternal tendency is to
unite, to intermingle. and to attain to
ideal perfection together. Seulptors
and PSYCHOLOGISTS know this, sometimes
through study and sometimes by the in
stinct of genius, and the more cult
waited the average man or woman, the
more clear and definite the impression
in them which is intended to serve one
Of the most positive a. well rs one Of
the most beautiful purposes Of the crea-
ton. - t1''' s''Ei ."3. ""
The women of America are growing
more and more handsome every year for
just this reason. They arc growing
rounder Of chest, fuller of limb, gaining
substance aud development in every Ill
rection. Whatever may be urged to the
contrary, we believe this to be y d.
monstrative fact, We have been So
much accustomed to hear dismal means
over dyspepsia and the heat of stoves,
bad food and bad habits of life gener-
ally, that an impression of degencracy
finds place in many minds, and the
proposition, therefore, that American
women are visibly growing handsomer
may at first provoke a good deal Of dis
sent. We believe, however, that re-
lection and observation will sustain it.
The change may be less marked among
the poorer classes, and may be more
pronounced in the chief centres Of pop
u~lation and refuemenft; but that it has
taken piace,'i Is progressing, and is pro-
badly DESTINED fayorably to affect the
community at. large, we have not the
least denbt. When the rising genera
alton of Amerisan girls once began to
wear thick shoes, to take much exer-
else in the open air, to skate, to play
croquet, and to affect the saddle, it not
only began to grow more wise, but
moro healfhful, mndAwhich must FOL
low as the night the day-more heauti,
full. Wealth Individually has o tenden-
cy to produce refinement Of feature, fol-
reasons or through seawes which here
need no elaboration; simultaneously
unless its privileges are abused, il also
tends to induce both health aud sym.
metry. Poor immigrant women, whose
figures and faces are alike misshapen