The extreme type of this preoccupation with personal beauty is represented by the history of himself sent by a young Italian of good family to Zola in the hope—­itself a sign of vanity—­that the distinguished novelist would make it the subject of one of his works.  The history is reproduced in the Archives d’Anthropologie Criminelle (1894) and in L’Homosexualite et les Types Homosexuels (1910) by “Dr. Laupts” (G.  Saint-Paul).  I quote the following passage:  “At the age of 18 I was, with few differences, what I am now (at 23).  I am rather below the medium height (1.65 metres), well proportioned, slender, but not lean.  My torso is superb; a sculptor could find nothing against it, and would not find it very different from that of Antinotis.  My back is very arched, perhaps too much so; and my hips are very developed; my pelvis is broad, like a woman’s; my knees slightly approximate; my feet are small; my hands superb; the fingers curved back and with glistening nails, rosy and polished, cut squarely like those of ancient statues.  My neck is long and round, the nape charmingly adorned with downy hairs.  My head is charming, and at 18 was more so.  The oval of it is perfect and strikes all by its infantine form.  At 23 I am to be taken for 17 at most.  My complexion is white and rosy, deepening at the faintest emotion.  The forehead is not beautiful; it recedes slightly and is hollow at the temples, but, fortunately, it is half-covered by long hair, of a dark blonde, which curls naturally.  The head is perfect in form, because of the curly hair, but on examination there is an enormous protuberance at the occiput.  My eyes are oval, of a gray blue, with dark chestnut eyelashes and thick, arched eyebrows.  My eyes are very liquid, but with dark circles, and bistered; and they are subject to slight temporary inflammation.  My mouth is fairly large, with thick red lips, the lower pendent; they tell me I have the Austrian mouth.  My teeth are dazzling, though three are decayed and stopped; fortunately, they cannot be seen.  My ears are small and with very colored lobes.  My chin is very fat, and at 18 it was smooth and velvety as a woman’s; at present there is a slight beard, always shaved.  Two beauty spots, black and velvety, on my left cheek, contrast with my blue eyes.  My nose is thin and straight, with delicate nostrils and a slight, almost insensible curve.  My voice is gentle, and people always regret that I have not learned to sing.”  This description is noteworthy as a detailed portrait of a sexual invert of a certain type; the whole history is interesting and instructive.

Certain peculiarities in taste as regards costume have rightly or wrongly been attributed to inverts,—­apart from the tendency of a certain group to adopt feminine habits,—­and may here be mentioned.  Tardieu many years ago referred to the taste for keeping the neck uncovered.  This peculiarity may occasionally be observed among inverts, especially the more artistic among them.  The cause does not appear to be precisely vanity so much as that physical consciousness which is so curiously marked in inverts, and induces the more feminine among them to cultivate feminine grace of form, and the more masculine to emphasize the masculine athletic habit.