Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-10-25

prey to this aggravating custom
when they were already well advanc-
ed in civilization. The reason given
is that they misunderstood an orac.e
cf Apollo, that declared If they wish
ed to have good citizens, they were
to put what they held most precious
into the ears of their children.
Greek avarice prevailed over Greek
philosophy, and instead of putting
words of wisdom into their children's
ears, they put literal gold and jew
els into the lobes."
When the thrilling possibilities of
the earring are exhausted in their
! present reign of favor We may ex-
{ the next sensation, the ear itself.
By that time some n will probably
find out hat ears are sh~ockingly I'M
moral. Some vagary of hair dress
ing will show UP ears in all their
terrible immodesty and at once cap
able censors will be organized to
fight the new ena to the public
" %elfare. If the prophecy that ears
are to be important, fashionably
speaking, is fulfilled they may prove
almost as good a subject for war
fare as knees have been.
Seriously speaking, however, the
return to popularity of the ear will
undoubtedly meet with the approval
of many people. Women's ears have
been hidden so long hat standards
of beauty for the ear have been prac-
tically forgotten. Yet beautiful the
ear certainly is, according to the ver-
dict of artists of every age.
Sculptors may perhaps be said to
concern themselves with the ear
more than painters. A study of any
collection of famous paintings shows
comparatively few in which wom-
ems ears are clearly depicted. Cen
orally they are Swallowed and partly
or altogether hidden by the line of
the hair.
In sculpture, on the other hand,
where a faithful portrayal of ana
tony is intended, and where an am
biguous line is impossible, the ears
appear in mor detail. The human
ear to the sculptor is IN interesting
problem. From the time of the
Egyptians and the Greeks, statues
of women have worn ears partly or
entirely revealed.
Beauty Depends Upon Size
Henry X. Bush-Brown noted
sculptor. says that artists have al
ways considered the ear an ornamen.
to the head. Its beauty, however.
is sometimes enhanced when it Is
partially concealed, he explains. He
points out that the Greek sculptors
often obtained a beautiful effect by
~portraying the lower part OF the ear
showing below a graceful hair line.
The beauty of the ear" Mr.. Bush
Brown says. depends somewhat on
its size. 1t should not be too large,
nor yet too small. For symmetry 1t
should be about the length of the
lose, and graceful in line and model
ing. The ears should. of course. be
set close to the head"
Many of us would say off-hand
that the ears are not a particularly
distinguishing feature. This sculptor
says that there Is probably more var
lance in ears than in any other fea-
tIre. A seventeenth century scholar
of Venice, who attempted to classify
ear found no less than SO genera
types. Miss Ellis has pointed out
that this number can be multiplied
by three because of three sizes of
ears, large. medium and small, and
also again by four, because ears are
long. short, square and round in
shape. This makes 432 general
classes of ear.
Some physiognomists have at
tempted to prove hat character car.
be read in the ear-that certain pro-
portions. lines, and angles of an ear
indicate certain qualities in the pos
SCISSOR. This is an extension of such
popular beliefs as the one that a
long ear signifies long life. Aged
people often do have long ears, IL Is
true. But close observers have de
clared that the a becomes slightly
enlarged in old age. In other words
a person has not reached old age
because he has long ears: his ears
appear long because of his age. Aside
from this change. most students of
the ear agree that the ears do not
alter after they attain their full size.
1t is also generally agreed hat eaT~
are more useful as earring holders
than as indexes to character.