History of Monsters. 67

# SYMMETRY

We can conclude that the proportion and symmetry of the human body are truly marvelous from the fact that architects model all the structures of temples, houses, and ships upon it. Indeed, it is said that Noah’s Ark was constructed according to the dimensions of the human body. Since the human body measures three hundred units in length, fifty in width, and thirty in height, the Ark was similarly built to a length of three hundred cubits, a width of fifty, and a height of thirty. Furthermore, according to Pliny, a three-month-old infant is said to possess half the measure of the stature it is destined to reach in adulthood. Nature has composed the human body so that its parts maintain the greatest possible proportion to one another.

Beginning with the head, that small groove observed in the upper lip is the smallest dimension of the entire face, yet its multiplication reveals a perfect and certain rule. Doubled, it typically completes the space from the nose to the lip. Quadrupled, it establishes the measure of many other parts: namely, the length of the mouth, the space between the eyes, and the distance from the lower lip to the tip of the chin. The length of the nose and ears, their maximum circumference, the space from the nose to the hairline, and the distance from the nose down to the chin are all equal in measure; these stand in a 3:2 ratio to the four previously mentioned small parts, equaling six of those smallest units.

The circumference of the mouth and ears, as well as the space spanning from the outer corner of one eye to the other, corresponds to the parts just named in a double proportion, equaling twelve of the smallest units. However, the length of the entire face and the circumference of the forehead exceed the circumference of the mouth by a 3:2 ratio, comprising eighteen of those smallest units.

The space of the hair from the top of the forehead to the first vertebra of the neck, as well as the space from the chin to the crown of the head, represents the length of the face in a 3:2 ratio, encompassing twenty-four of the smallest units. Furthermore, the hand, acting as a servant to the whole body, is also a measure of the face. We should consider the natural length of the face to be equal to the distance from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. This same distance also corresponds to the space from the bridge of the nose to the coronal suture—a rule used by surgeons to locate that suture when they must apply a cautery to the crown of the head. This calculation fails in very few individuals. Indeed, we do not only measure all parts of the face by a certain proportion; the parts of the hand itself have a reliable dimension in relation to each other and to the rest of the body.

Initially, the length of the index finger from the tip of the nail to the third joint (speaking of the exterior side) indicates exactly half the size of the whole hand, and it is always found to be equal to the remaining space extending to the wrist. On the inside, the middle finger demonstrates this total: if we measure from the tip to the base across the mound of the palm, we find as much space as the rest of the hand contains from there to the wrist. The nails of each finger also possess a length equal to the space from the root of the nail to the first joint. Likewise, the circumference of the thumb corresponds by a certain measure to its length.

Finally, the entire face can be easily reconstructed from the hand as if from a template; for the length of the face and the circumference of the forehead are equal to the length of the hand. The space extending from the hairline through the forehead to the tip of the nose is measured by the middle finger, while the remainder to the tip of the chin is exactly measured by the rest of the hand. Furthermore, the height of the forehead is represented by the part of the palm near the index finger—that is, the first and largest joint of the index finger. We will observe that the second joint, combined with the third ending at the tip of the nail, never differs from the space measured from the eyebrow to the tip of the nose. The first and larger part of the middle finger is found to be entirely equal to the space extending from the nose to the bottom of the chin, while the second part measures the chin itself. Moreover, the larger part of the ring finger matches