in graceful curls; her eyebrows should resemble the rainbow, her eyes, the blue sapphire and the petals of the blue manilla-flower.  Her nose should be like the bill of the hawk; her lips should be bright and red, like coral or the young leaf of the iron-tree.  Her teeth should be small, regular, and closely set, and like jessamine buds.  Her neck should be large and round, resembling the berrigodea.  Her chest should be capacious; her breasts, firm and conical, like the yellow cocoa-nut, and her waist small—­almost small enough to be clasped by the hand.  Her hips should be wide; her limbs tapering; the soles of her feet, without any hollow, and the surface of her body in general soft, delicate, smooth, and rounded, without the asperities of projecting bones and sinews.” (J.  Davy, An Account of the Interior of Ceylon, 1821, p. 110.)

The “Padmini,” or lotus-woman, is described by Hindu writers as the type of most perfect feminine beauty.  “She in whom the following signs and symptoms appear is called a Padmini:  Her face is pleasing as the full moon; her body, well clothed with flesh, is as soft as the Shiras or mustard flower; her skin is fine, tender, and fair as the yellow lotus, never dark colored.  Her eyes are bright and beautiful as the orbs of the fawn, well cut, and with reddish corners.  Her bosom is hard, full, and high; she; has a good neck; her nose is straight and lovely; and three folds or wrinkles cross her middle—­about the umbilical region.  Her yoni [vulva] resembles the opening lotus bud, and her love-seed is perfumed like the lily that has newly burst.  She walks with swanlike [more exactly, flamingolike] gait, and her voice is low and musical as the note of the Kokila bird [the Indian cuckoo]; she delights in white raiment, in fine jewels, and in rich dresses.  She eats little, sleeps lightly, and being as respectful and religious as she is clever and courteous, she is ever anxious to worship the gods and to enjoy the conversation of Brahmans.  Such, then, is the Padmini, or lotus-woman.” (The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, 1883, p. 11.)

The Hebrew ideal of feminine beauty is set forth in various
passages of the Song of Songs.  The poem is familiar, and it
will suffice to quote one passage:—­

“How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter! 
Thy rounded thighs are like jewels,
The work of the hands of a cunning workman. 
Thy navel is like a rounded goblet
Wherein no mingled wine is wanting;
Thy belly is like a heap of wheat
Set about with lilies. 
Thy two breasts are like two fawns
They are twins of a roe. 
Thy neck is like the tower of ivory;
Thine eyes as the pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim;
Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon
That looketh toward Damascus. 
Thine head upon thee is like Carmel
And the hair of thine head like purple;
The king is held captive in the tresses thereof. 
This thy stature is like to a palm-tree,
And thy breasts to clusters of grapes,
And the smell of thy breath like apples,
And thy mouth like the best wine.”