The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-02-19

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Width of shouldcr,..... IL. 1a 10.
The weights IF the first and the las,
are between 1870 ans l3J pounds. ~,lie
the New York girl Nei%hs about l:G.
Polvcletu AN old G.,ak sculptorfrom
Licyon. left ruits 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 til"
wrist unusually slender: that twice the
wrist is the size of the neck. which Is
about the case IN Il well lieuortioned
woman: that twice the neck Is once
round the waist. which is about so. 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 shoald be six ti,lc~ the length
OF the foot. which would limit mos
men. whose feet average ten inches III
length. to "A stature Of five feet. The
gentleman from Licyon is evidently not
a Trustworthy guide.
Referring to the above table. it will be
observed that the waist OF the New
Yorker is much smaller than that OF the
other two. The fashion of small waists
is the rage in the east, and the desired
result is obtained by tight !.cins, which
is carried to such ali extent that the
phvsiognomist is lost in Arrangement IA
to where the lady has bestowed her vital
organs. No statue in existence exhibits
such a diapropor,ion between the waist
and those portions Of the trunk which
lie above and below il. The compression
of the girth is a mere fashionable fad
which good taste must condemn. Our
California girl wears a at-inch corset.
which might easily he reduced to a 3d.
inch if the wearer saw fit to sacrifice
comfort to eastern fashion. There are
bellies in New York who are not satisfied
till they have squeezed themselves into a
l.-inch corset. Such persons. it would
seem, would have enjoyed the Scottish
boot.
The bust and hips should, in "a perfect
~ formed woman, be exactly the same
in circumference. They are SO in Bal
lows ideal. in the Venus of Milo. i'll the
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.
Ballow does not give the dimensions
Of his ideals feet or hands. He merely
says that they are lin proportion" which
is rather vague. The rule among sculp'
tors is that the foot should measure one
head, which is unsatisfactory, as some
large women have small heads. and some
small women large heads.
The female foot is probably smaller in
New York society than here, for the sim
pie reason that it has less to carry. Shoe
makers say here that they sell more
and A shoes than any others, but many
ladies in society buy 81, 3. and even q
shoes. The knights of st. Crispin dt
not believe in the sculptor's rule about
feet. They say that small feet, like largs
wits, are a gift from heaven, and ma,
be found attached to persons of any di
mansions. Everybody has observed thai
there is no necessary connection between
the hands and the figure; that some slim
girls have Large hands, and some girl
with opulent figures small hands ant
fingers.
Take all the measurements together
and the conclusion is forced that tn
Californian girl more closely resemble
the Cuidian Venus than the Venus o
Medici. and that a representative Cali
fornian statue should be cast after
study of that masterpiece as well as o
the Venus of Milo and the Venus Cali
pyge.-San Francisco Argonaut.