So far this is pretty damn good considering the 1900 pub date - from the title but unknown to the characters there's a bacterial infection that grants extreme beauty. The victim, meaningfully named Helen, is a biology student at a NY university (lots of 'NY agrees with her'). Her beau, who until recently was out West, goes to visit her during class, and the professor discusses physical beauty / biological form / morality with him as they look over a sea anemone, while Helen works with slides and praises the slide-making skills of the older students. Suspect the author disagrees with the professor on the unity of those traits. There's realistic descriptions of paraffin wax embedding and carmine dye.