If these zoologists see in us nothing more than a mammal with thirty-two vertebrae possessing the hyoid bone and more folds in the hemispheres of the brain than any other animal; if in their opinion no other differences exist in this order than those produced by the influence of climate, on which are founded the nomenclature of fifteen species whose scientific names it is needless to cite, the physiologists ought also to have the right of making species and sub-species in accordance with definite degrees of intelligence and definite conditions of existence, oral and pecuniary.

Now the nine millions of human creatures which we here refer to present at first sight all the attributes of the human race; they have the hyoid bone, the coracoid process, the acromion, the zygomatic arch.  It is therefore permitted for the gentlemen of the Jardin des Plantes to classify them with the bimana; but our Physiology will never admit that women are to be found among them.  In our view, and in the view of those for whom this book is intended, a woman is a rare variety of the human race, and her principal characteristics are due to the special care men have bestowed upon its cultivation,—­thanks to the power of money and the moral fervor of civilization!  She is generally recognized by the whiteness, the fineness and softness of her skin.  Her taste inclines to the most spotless cleanliness.  Her fingers shrink from encountering anything but objects which are soft, yielding and scented.  Like the ermine she sometimes dies for grief on seeing her white tunic soiled.  She loves to twine her tresses and to make them exhale the most attractive scents; to brush her rosy nails, to trim them to an almond shape, and frequently to bathe her delicate limbs.  She is not satisfied to spend the night excepting on the softest down, and excepting on hair-cushioned lounges, she loves best to take a horizontal position.  Her voice is of penetrating sweetness; her movements are full of grace.  She speaks with marvelous fluency.  She does not apply herself to any hard work; and, nevertheless, in spite of her apparent weakness, there are burdens which she can bear and move with miraculous ease.  She avoids the open sunlight and wards it off by ingenious appliances.  For her to walk is exhausting.  Does she eat?  This is a mystery.  Has she the needs of other species?  It is a problem.  Although she is curious to excess she allows herself easily to be caught by any one who can conceal from her the slightest thing, and her intellect leads her to seek incessantly after the unknown.  Love is her religion; she thinks how to please the one she loves.  To be beloved is the end of all her actions; to excite desire is the motive of every gesture.  She dreams of nothing excepting how she may shine, and moves only in a circle filled with grace and elegance.  It is for her the Indian girl has spun the soft fleece of Thibet goats, Tarare weaves its airy veils, Brussels sets in motion those shuttles which speed the flaxen