conduits of the
food and the air; there, the great blood-vessels pass to the head, and
its base is modified by their form as they pass from the heart. When
broad and full, it denotes a vigorous physical life,--a plethoric
constitution. A distinguished teacher of midwifery, Professor Pajot of
Paris, says that when he sees one of those necks full in front, like
that of Marie Antoinette, as shown in her portraits, he prepares himself
to combat childbed convulsions. That queen, it is well-known, nearly
perished with them.

The back of the neck contains the vertebral column, and is close to the
brain. It reveals the mental constitution. The short round neck of the
prize-fighter betrays his craft. The slender, arched, and graceful neck
of the well-proportioned woman is the symbol of health and a
well-controlled mind. Burke, in his _Essay on the Beautiful_, calls it
the most beauteous object in nature. It is a common observation, that a
sensual character is shown by the thick and coarse development of this
portion of the body.

The hair, also, has a significance. Fine whitish hair, like that of a
child, goes with a simple, child-like disposition; black hair denotes a
certain hardness of character; red hair has long been supposed to be
associated with a sensual constitution, but it rather indicates a
physical weakness,--a tendency to scrofula. This is, however, a tendency
merely. Thin hair is often the result of protracted mental labor, though
many other causes produce it.

Every great man, says Herder, has a glance which no one can imitate. We
may go farther, and say that every man of decided character reveals it
in his eyes. They are the most difficult organs for the hypocrite to
control. Beware of the man who cannot look you in the eyes, and of him
in whose eyes there lurks an expression which allures yet makes you
shudder. The one has something he dares not tell you, the other
something you dare not listen to.

Symmetry, strength, grace, health,--these are admirable qualities in a
man. From the remotest ages they have been the marks of heroes.
Secondary though they are to moral and mental qualities, they should be
ever highly valued. A _manly_ man! Nature designs such to be the sires
of future generations. No danger that we shall fall to worshiping
physical beauty again. The only fear is that in this lank, puny, scrawny
generation of ours, we shall, out of vanity, underrate such beauty. Let
it be ever remembered that t