marriages would seldom take place, except with those of one particular temperament. It is impossible, therefore, to establish a standard which shall comprehend all, without discrimination. Among the ancients, a small forehead and joined eyebrows were charming features in a female countenance; and in Persia, large joined eyebrows are highly esteemed. In some Indian countries, black teeth and white hair are necessary ingredients in the character of a beauty; and in the Marian Islands it is a capital object with ladies to blacken their teeth with herbs, and to blanch their hair with certain liquors. Beauty, in China and Japan, is composed of a large countenance, small and half-concealed eyes, a broad nose, minute feet, and a prominent abdomen. Some tribes, both in America and Asia, compress the heads of their children between two wooden planks, with a view to enlarge and beautify the face; others compress them laterally; others depress the crown only; and others make the head as round as possible. Every nation has an idea of beauty peculiar to itself; and almost every individual has his own notions and taste concerning this quality. The empire of beauty, however, amidst all these discordant ideas with respect to the qualities in which it consists, has been very
