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Of Health and Beauty in Woman.
5

tion, and the various secretions and excretions of the body go on without let or hindrance. The air and the food must be pure, the skin refreshed by daily ablutions, and the body strengthened by proper exercise, or perfect health cannot be long enjoyed. These conditions pertain to, and are ap­plicable to all people; but in a proper system of hygiene, regard must always be had to age, sex, temperament, and constitutional force.

But as we write exclusively for the use of ladies, it may be as well here to notice some of the more striking distinctions between the perfect male and female form that may be easily perceived. The bones of the female are lighter, softer, and more elegantly shaped than those of the male. The female head is smaller, the pelvis is broader and deeper, and the cavity of the acetabulum less deeply sunk than in man. The neck of the thigh-bone is shorter and more sloping in man than in woman, and in him, therefore, the basis of support is greater, and is more immediately in the centre of gravity. The femurs being further apart, and the knees closer in woman, diminishes the base of support, and imparts a peculiar rolling motion to her progres­sion; hence, walking is more difficult in woman than in man, and cannot be so long continued.