Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-13
BEAUTY AND PHysIoUR.
CHARACTERISTICS OF the Different Races q
Mankind.
From the London spectstcr.

From the london spectstor.
Beauty 10 a rcsult OF circumstances. such AZ
personal freedom and mode OF life ana OF con.
tinuous diet not OF intelligence and stiIl less Of
the acquisition of knowledge. which latter can
only benefit the individual whose features are
fixed past serious change before study is even
begun. man n woman who inllcrits his or
her face and iaental habitnde. though IL may
greatly affect its meaning. can no more alter
its shape than assiduous training can turn q
smooth fox terrier into the wiry kind FROM
Airedale.
IL may even be doubted strange rs manr wiz
deem the assertion, whether continuous educa-
ton will produce beauty. whether the growth Of
intelligence will even in ages yield the physical
result which We notice the authors OF UtopiAs
always assume. as II u were scientifically
demonstrahle consequence of the new society.
The most beautiful black race ia Africa tribe
OF Nyassaland. Oh whose looks even mission-
aries grow eloquent. and who arc really as per
iect as bronze statues. are as ignorant 40
fishes, and though they have discovered
=, we use ,s OF ire. have never riscn
OF any kind. The 0taheitan when discovered
was as uncuitured the rapuan now is; yet
the former approached as nearly 60 positive
beauty AZ the latter does 20 positive deiormity.
Inc keenest race In Asia and. rs al who know
tnom assert the strongest m character. the
ohinese. ~ decidedly the ugliest of somi-ciyil-
lzed mankind, while the Hindoo. n sufficiently
iea' u. even when ne ignorant as an animal,
almost invariably handsome. The Circsa-
sisns. who know nothing and are rather
stupid than exceptionally intelligent are
physically faultlcss race-far more 40 than
the Germans, who, though tho best trained
people IN the world. display marked com.
monness OF feature, as IL the great SCULPTOR
Nature-had used good clay. bu, taken no
trouble about the modelling Some OF the yerv
aeiest among them belong 20 the fiat-nosed,
pufy-cheekcd. loose-lippea variety. The Keen
est race IN tho world, and probably the one
most susceptible 20 culture, the jew. presents
Few types OF beauty. being usually at once
hook-nosed and habby-cheeked thourh
| In physique, as in thought. that race
occasionally throws out transcendent .x-
amples. The tanned Arabs OF Egypt
who seem 10 possess poor brains. aud,
OF course, have no education. are often extra
ordinarily handsome; while in 1850 the grand
est head In Asia, head which every artist
copied as his ideal of Jove, belonged TO an
Arab horse dealer. who. outside his trade, knew
| nothing. No modern men OF culture would
pretend. in mere perfectness of form, 20 rival
the old Greek athletes. who intellectually were
probably animals. or the Bersekers, who were
for the most part only hard drinking soldiers
The royal caste, which has been cultivated fog
1,Ov0 years, seldom produces beautiful men
and still schooner beautiful women, most prin-
cesses, though sometimes dignifed, having
been marked, as TO features. by certain or
pecially the poor OF certain dstrIcts like
Devon in England and Aries and Marseilles in
France. Devon is no better taught than Sut-
folk. but mark the difference in peasant forms.
In the last century the ablest men in Europe
were remarkable for certain superfluity OF
flesh. OF which Gibbons face is the best known
and most absurd example. and in our own
! time intellect even hereditary intellect. 10
constantly found associated from good looks,
and even from distinction. some of the abb, 50
men being externally heavy and gross. aud
some OF the ablest women marked by
an indefniteness Of check and chin, az
If they had been carved by the
fingers in putty. No stranger ever saw Jenny
son without turning round. but Browning
| would have passed unnoticed in any English
or Austrian crowd. The air OF physical refine
mcnt, which is what continuous culture should
give, is precisely the air which is often lacking
among the cultivated, as ii is also ia mauy
aristocratic families. Indeed though caste
must mean more or less hereditary culture. ID
is doubtful IL il secures beauty. 1t does not in
the royal houses, and in any regiment. though
an officer or two will probably stand first. the
proportion Of splendid men will be found
| greater among the non-commissioned than the
commissioned officers