The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-02-17

The weights OF the nfSt ;.iiu the la>i
are between 1870 ana l35 pounds. while
the New York girl weighs about l26.
Polycletos. IN old Greek sculptor from
Licyon. left rules governing the relative
proportions Of the female frame. He
said that twice the thumb was once
round the wrist. which it is not. unless
the thumb is unusually large and the
wrist unusually slender: that twice the
wrist is the size of the neck. which is
about the case in Il well propor.ioned
that twice the neck is once
round the waist. which is about sc. But
he also says that the hand and foot and
face should all be of the same length.
Which is very rarely the case. and that
the body should he six times the length
Of the foot. which would limit most
men. whose feet average ten inches in
length. to a stature of tive feet. Tie
gentleman from Licyon Is eviael.ily not
a trustworthy guide.
Referring 10 the above table. it will be
observed that the waist of the New
Yorker is much smaller than that OF tie
other two. The fashion Of small waists
is the rage i'll the east, and the desired
result is obtained by tight iacing, which
is carried to such an extent that the
physiognomist is lost in amazement as
to where the lady has bestowed her vital
organs. No statue in existence exhibits
such a disproportion between the waist
and those portions of the trunk which
lie above and below it. The compression
of the girth is a mere fashionable fad
,,,l:a1 r,or1 ta.ta ,p,,sf ,.cp,1a.pn (iII1.
California girl wears a 2i-inch corset.
which might easily be reduced to "A 3D.
inch if the wearcr saw tit to sacrifice
comfort to eastern fashion. There are
bellies in New York who are not satisfied
till they have squeezed themselves into a
1.-inch corset. Such persons, it would
seem, would have enjoyed the Scottish
boot.
The bust and hips should. in IA perfect
" formed ona be exactly the same
in circumference. They are so in Bal
lows ideal. in the Venus of Milo, i'll thu
Cnidian Venus and in the California
girl. In the New Yorker the circum-
ference of the bust is half an inch
greater than that of the hips, which IS
probably the work of art, not nature.
Bailow does not give the dimensions
of his ideals feet or hands. He merely
says that they are ''in proportion which
is rather vague. The rule mon sculp-
tors is that the foot should measnr one
head, which is unsatisfactory, as some
large women have small heads. and some
small m large heads.
The female foot is probably smaller iii
New York society than here. for the sin
pie reason that it has less to carry. Shoe
makers say here that they sell more 1
and II shoes than any others, but many
ladies in society buy 81. 3, and even q
shoes. The knights Of st. Crispin do
not believe in the sculptor's rule about
feet. They say that small feet. like large
wits, are a gift from heaven, and may
be found attached to persons of any d.
mensions. Everybody has observed that
there is no necessary connection between
the hands and the figure; that some slim
girls have large hands, and some girls
with opulent figures small hands and
fingers.
Take all the measurements together,
and the conclusion is forced hat the
Californian girl more closely resembles
the Cuidian Venus than the Venus OF
Medici, and that a representative Cali
fornian statue should be cast after a
study of that masterpiece as well as of
the Venus of Milo and the Venus CALI
pyge.-San Francisco Argonaut.