Licence: In copyright
Credit: A Neisser story / by E.S. M'Kee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![[Reprinted from The Lancet-Clinic, May 26,1906.] A NEISSER STORY. BY E. S. M7KEE, M.D., CINCINNATI. In transition from sweet sixteen to sour seventeen was Little Eva (pseudonym) when first I met her, and how well do I remember the beauty! Her cheeks had the soft glow of a combination of youth and health, and her eyes the hue of the campanilla. When she blushed there came to them a shade midway between that of the Alpine rose and the California peach, though she herself was an American Beauty. In the act of respiration her bountiful bosom rose and fell like the gen- tle swelling and sinking of the pacific Pacific. Under the effects of that abun- dant mirth which we find only in healthy youth, there was observed a panorama of subdued swells and backing billows. She carried about her a mingled expression of timidity and fearlessness, the fearlessness of the consciousness of her own spotless- ness. She was frequently brought to blushes at the praises of her own loveli- ness. u How beautiful is youth! Ah, if youth had but discretion and old age ability! Remember the truth of the old Spanish proverb, “El melon y la mujer, malos sont de conocer ” (hard to judge by senses human are a melon and a woman). That this girl was not as sweet as she looked, was very sad indeed. Her surroundings influenced her detrimentally. Her grand- mother—she did not live with her mother, with whom she should have lived—and her grand-mother’s sister, an old maid who lived with her, were to my mind the mean- est women on earth—and who can be meaner than a woman? Dishonest, dirty, vile, scandal-mongers, belonging to that class of whom it is too truly said, “At every word a reputation dies,” and who- could “ Convey a libel in a frown And wink a reputation down.” Little did they dream that to them were coming home the lies they told about every one they knew. These things all told badly on the beauty’s temper, and recall the words the Mexicans used in describing the Aztec mistress of Cortez—“Hermosa comma Diosa ”—(beautiful as a goddess), to which we will add, “ Perro endimon- iado ” (but possessed of the devil). Her commingling of beauty and temper led to the following lines original with the au- thor : When Eva smiles and shows her teeth, I sigh and feel a deep relief; Her rose-red lips between unfurl Two glistening rows of prettiest pearl. I treasure more that radiant smile Than many a millionaire his pile. When shown her teeth without a smile* I wish myself a thousand mile Up Egypt’s bullrush bordered Nile; Hastily seize my coat and hat, Absent myself, avoid a spat, And feel just like an old door-mat. The girl grew in stature and in beauty. Lovers came—singly, doubly, in triplets—• and went. That “ poor girls have more lovers than husbands” seemed proven, and “ fair flowers remain not long by the way- side ” seemed disproven. At last the one came. There was— “ An undefined and sudden thrill, Which made the heart a moment still, Then beat with quicker pulse.” They were in love. Ah, the commin- gled pleasure and pain! All other pleas-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2241762x_0003.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
