WHEN WOMEN ARE MOST ATTRACTIVE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1027, 7 November 1882, Page 3

WHEN WOMEN ARE MOST ATTRACTIVE.

In an. interesting paper, entitled ' When Women Grow Old,' Mrs Blake lias brought facts to show that the fascinating power of the sex is oftentimes retained much longer than is generally assumed. She tells us of Aspasia, who between the a.qes ot 30 and 50 was the strongest intellectual force in Athens ; of Cleopatra, whose golden decade for power aud beauty was between 30 and 40 ; [of Livia, who was not far from 30 when she gained the heart of Octavius ; of Anne, of Russia, who at 38 was thought to be the most beautiful Queen in Europe ; of Catherine, 11., of Russia, who when at the silver decade was both beautiful and imposing ; of Mademoiselle Mars, the actress, whose

beauty increased with years, ami cuimi. nated between 30 and 45 ; of Madame Recamier, who between 25 and 40, and even later, was the reigning beauty of Europe ; of Ninan d'Enolos, whose own son—brought up without knowledge of his parentage—fell passionately in love with her when she was at the age of 37 , and who even on her 60th birthday received an adorer young enough to be her grandson. These facts, the representatives of many others, establish that the golden decade of fascination is the same as the decade of thought; that womau is most attractive to, and most influential over, man at that period when both man and woman are nearest the maximun of their cerebral force. The voice of our great prima donnas is at its very best between 27 and 35 ; but still some retain, in a degree, its strength and sweetness even in the silver decade. The voice is an index of the body in all its functions, but the decay of other functions is not so readily noticed.