THIRD SPECIES OF BEAUTY—BEAUTY OF THE THINKING SYSTEM.
In woman, the organs of sense are proportionally larger, and the sensibility is more quick and delicate than in man.
Hence, also, the mental quickness and delicacy of woman are greater. Her perceptions succeed with rapidity and intenseness; and the last of them generally predominates. In well-organized women, accordingly, the forehead and the observing faculties are peculiarly developed.
The general nervous system of woman is likewise far more mobile than that of man.
Beauty of the thinking system in woman depends especially upon these fundamental facts, and those tendencies of structure, which thus distinguish her from man.
In the woman possessing THIS SPECIES of beauty, accordingly, the greater development of its upper part gives to the head, in every view, a pyriform appearance;—the face is generally oval;—the high and pale forehead announces the excellence of the observing faculties;—the intensely expressive eye is full of sensibility;—in the lower features, modesty and dignity are often united;—she has not the expanded bosom, the general plumpness, or the beautiful complexion, of the second species of beauty;—and she boasts easy and graceful motion, rather than the elegant proportion of the first.—The whole figure is characterized by intellectuality and grace.
This species of beauty is less proper to woman, less feminine, than the preceding. It is not the intellectual system, but the vital one, which is, and ought to be most developed in woman.
First Variety or Modification of this Species of Beauty.
In woman, the nervous extremities appear to be larger than in man; a pulpy appearance is more remarkable in them; and the papillæ in which they terminate, appear to have less rigidity.
The organs of sense are proportionally larger, and more delicately outlined. There is indeed in woman more development in the organs of sensation, than in that of understanding, reasoning, and judging; while the contrary is the case in man. The sensations, accordingly, are in woman more acute, and their minute differences are more easily discerned. Man reflects more than he feels: woman always feels more than she reflects.