The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-28
AS SEEN BY HIS VALET.
Napoleon's Personal Appearance De
scribed by Constant.

SCrlDeu Dy constant.
In the "Recollections Of the Private Life
of Napoleon" Constant. his famous valet,
gives an interesting description of the per-
sonal appearance of his great master. 1t
was just after his return from Egypt and
Bonaparte was then very thin and sallow,
his skin was copper colored, his eyes were
sunken, and his figure, though perfect in
shape, was very slender. His forehead
was very high and already bare; his hair
thin, especially on the temples, but very
fine and soft and of rich brown color
his eyes were deep blue, expressing with
almost incredible vivacity the various
emotions by which he was affected; some
times they were extremely gentle and
caressing, sometimes severe and even in
flexible. His mouth was very handsome :;
the lips were straight and rather firm ly
closed, particularly when irritated His
nose, of a Grecian shape, was well
formed, and his sense of smell was acute.
His ears were small, perfectly formed,
and well set. His whole frame was
beautifully proportioned, though at this
time Q800) his extreme leanness prevented
the beauty of his features from being
especially noticed and had an injurious
effect upon his general appearance. His
Hedu was very IdTSe, HOb only III compare
son with the size of his body, but abso-
lutely being twenty-five inches in circum-
ference; it was little longer than it was
broad; it was SO extremely sensitive that
Constant had his hats padded and wore
them several days to break them in before
he gave them to his master. Napoleon
feet were also very tender and he had to
have his shoes broken in by a boy en-
ployed in the wardrobe who wore
hn ci1 @1a
peror. Napoleon's height was 5k feet.
He had a rather short neck, slop-
ing shoulders, broad chest almost
free from hair, a well-shaped leg and thigh,
a small foot, and well-formed fingers; his
arms were finely nodded and well hung to
his body; his hands were beautiful and
the nails particularly well-shaped. OF his
hands, as indeed of his whole person, he
took the greatest care. He would bite his
nails slightly, however, when Impatient,
or preoccupied. Later on he grew much
stouter, yet without losing the beauty OF
his figure. On the contrary. in constant
opinion he was handsomer under the en-
pire than under the consulate; his skin.
previously sallow, had then become very
white, and his expression animated. 1t
appears that, during his long hours OF
labor nd of meditation, Napoleon was
subject to peculiar spasmodic twitching,
which seemed to be a nervous affec-
ton, and which chung to him all his
life. 1t consisted in raising his right
shoulder frequently and rapidly, and per-
sons who were not acquainted with this
habit sometimes interpreted the move
ment as a gesture of disapprobation, and
inquired with anxiety in what way they
could have offended him. AS matter of
fact, he was unconscious of the movement.
A remarkable popularity OF the mperor' s
was that he never felt his heart beat He
mentioned this often to his valet, and
more than once made Constant pass his
hands over his masters breast in order to
observe this singular fact. Never could
the slightest pulsation be felt Another
popularity was that his pulse at the wrist
was only forty to the minute.