Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/237

BE A of the male is apparent strength, or agility. Expression is the effect of the passions on the muscles of the hu- man countenance, and the different gestures The finest union of pas- sions, is a just mixture of modesty and sensibility. Indeed, all die be- nign affections, such as love, hope, joy, and pity, add to beauty, while the predominance of hatred, fear, or envy in the mind, deform the vi- sage. Grace is the noblest part of beau- ty. The mouth is the chief seat of grace, as the expressive beauty of the pactions is principally in the ayes. There is no grace without motion, nor can impropriety be united with grace. Lord Bacon says: " In beauty, that of favour is more than that of colour; and that of gracious and decent motion, more than mat of favour." With regard to the final cause of beauty, our taste for regularity, or- der, and simplicity, contributes to our happiness ; and, as beauty is frequently connected with utility, it is highly conducive to improve- ments in agriculture, architecture., and manufactures It also concurs in an eminent degree with mental qualifications, in promoting social intercourse, and forming connections among in- jdividiuls in. society. lMural Beauty may be defined to consist in that uniform conduct, which, independently of personal interest or advantages, is influenced by no other consideration than th.;. of conscious rectitude. Hence it cannot be applied to a man who virtuously, because he is re- warded, and finds no inducement to vice : — nor to persons who are deterred from the commission of crimes, by the apprehension ut jso. II. — vol. I. B E A {209 punishment, whether temporal .or eternal. BEAVER, or Castor, a qua- draped, of which mere .re three species. 1 . T&JiLer, or common beaver, which inhabits the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, in the banks of rivers or lake.-., at a distance from the dwellings of men, and is there a gregarious animaL, In populous countries, however, such as Germany, Prussia, and Poland, it is a solitary creature $ and the skin, on account of its con- stant residence under ground, is less valuable than that of the social beaver. The latter is principally found in North America, where many hundreds setde together on the bank of a river, and construe! regular habitations, with admirable ingenuity, such as far excel the primitive huts and hovels erected by mankind. They chiefly subsist on lobsters and odier fish, and at- tain to an age of fifteen or twenty years. The beaver's tail is from six to nine inches long, and one inch thick ; its flesh has the flavour of fish, and is esteemed as delicate food. Near die rectum of both sexes, there air. two little bags, about the size of a hen's egg, con- taining a brownish oily matter, called editor, which is a peculiar deposition of fat interwoven with cellular membrane. This sub- stance has a disagreeable, narcotic smell, and a bitterish, acrid, nau- seous taste. By drying it in the smoke of a chimney, it may be pre- served for seven or ekht years. It has long been celebrated as a n._r- vine and anti-hysteric medicine, though its efficacy has often been doubted. Yet, we are convinced from experience, that the genuine castor affords mi excellent remedy, P and