propos_ of polygamy, to finish.

Not long ago one of the most popular novelists of England was calling
on a lady, one of the most popular novelists of America. That
Englishman is, perhaps, the plainest man I have ever set my eyes on.
He, too, held, in conversation, that every man was born a polygamist.
The lady said nothing. But when he had gone, she turned towards her
guests, and said: 'Well, I should like to know who would "polyg" with
him!'

CHAPTER XIX

DO WOMEN DRESS TO PLEASE MEN?

The female attire--Women dress for breakfast and undress for
dinner--You don't know them from Eve--Society likes to be
exposed--How French, English, German and American women
dress--Simplicity in dress the coquetry of some women--What would
happen if two women remained alone on the face of the earth.

Never in the history of female attire have women dressed so exquisitely
as they do in this year of grace 1901. The figure is gracefully
accentuated; all the sculptural lines are discreetly indicated without
any exaggeration. No more bustle, no more outrageous sleeves, no more
deformities of any sort. Many a woman would have been in despair if
Nature had made her as fashion has often made her appear.

To-day it is the female form divine, beautifully draped in beautiful
limp materials of soft, delicate hues, gracefully relieved by lovely
lace and refined trimmings, the whole with a touch of simplicity that
never fails to enhance the beauty of the wearer. No, never since the
classical days of Athenian dress have women looked so beautiful as they
do now.

The majority of us men are, I believe, conceited enough to think that
women dress and try to look as beautiful as possible to please us. My
firm conviction is that women dress to please themselves--or to kill
other women with envy. To the question, Do women dress to please men? I
answer most emphatically, No, they do not. Quite the contrary.

And now, may I be permitted to remark that when I reflect that Eve,
after eating an apple, discovered that she was naked, I cannot help
thinking that a little bite at that fruit might be of service to many
ladies before they leave their dressing-rooms to go to a ball, a
theatre, or a dinner party? Is it that the fashion of the day requires
the train to be so long that there remains no material to make a
corsage with? From the way in which women dress in the evening, you
might almost mistake them for Eve.

The fact