POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



delicate secretions of the dark skin in warm 

 countries. . . . The germs of European vices 

 are carried too often with European clothes. 

 It is a fact significant of more than female 

 conservatism, to which Mr. Herbert Spencer 

 attributes it, that generally the women of a 

 nude tribe are the last to adopt the fashion 

 of putting on clothes. They are always re- 

 luctant, and sometimes show such shame in 

 their first dress as a European would feel 

 without clothing. In many parts of India 

 there is a profound suspicion of the irrelig- 

 iousness of clothing. The fakir is distressed 

 even by the regulation rag upon which the 

 Government modestly insists, and a fully 

 dressed fakir would be scouted. The late 

 Brahmo minister, Keshub Chunder Sen, ex- 

 pressed the belief that India would never 

 accept a Christ in hat and boots. The mis- 

 sionary should remember that clothes-mo- 

 rality is climatic, and that, if a certain de- 

 gree of covering of the body has gradually 

 become, in the Northwest, associated with 

 morality and piety, the traditions of tropical 

 countries may have equally connected elabo- 

 rate dress rather with the sensualities of 

 Solomon in his glory than with the purity 

 of the lily as clothed by Nature." 



Persian Carpets. According to a report 

 by Consul-General Benjamin, of Teheran, 

 the Persian carpets, the manufacture of 

 which constitutes one of the most important 

 features of the industries and commerce of 

 the country, are woven chiefly by the women 

 and children of the peasantry in the villages. 

 A countryman will have a rug made in his 

 own house, and will then take it to the 

 nearest town and sell it for what it will 

 bring. The rooms of the peasantry are 

 small, and hence the rugs are commonly 

 small. Of late years, a larger carpet has 

 been manufactured for the foreign market. 

 Four kinds of carpets are made, large ones 

 and small ones or rugs, the ghilcems, and 

 the umad, or felt carpets. Most of the car- 

 pets intended for the covering of floors, of 

 whatever size, are produced in the central 

 province of Irak and in the districts of Sar- 

 ravend, Garrouste, and Malahir, and are 

 known by the generic name of pharaghan. 

 They are more solid and massive than other 

 Persian carpets, and arc adapted for rooms 

 of large size. Large Persian carpets, which 



deviate from the usual shape, are made to 

 order, and for an increased price. There 

 are numerous varieties of Persian rugs. In 

 some classes, such as Turkoman, there is 

 general similarity of design, although no two 

 rutrs are altogether identical. In other 

 classes, such as the rugs of Kerwan, Dyo- 

 chegan, or Kurdistan, there is endless va- 

 riety in design or texture. The colors for- 

 merly used in the rugs of Persia were imper- 

 ishable, and rugs a hundred years old show 

 no deterioration in tint. The introduction 

 of aniline dyes at one time threatened the 

 ruin of the manufacture of textile fabrics, 

 but the use of those dyes has been forbid- 

 den by law. The ghikcm, which is largely 

 made in the province of Kurdistan, has a 

 pattern identical on both sides, with firm 

 and brilliant colors, and designs often of 

 extraordinary beauty. Their lightness and 

 flexibility qualify them for portieres and 

 table and sofa covers, and render them easy 

 for transportation. The namids, or felt 

 carpets, are made by forming a frame of 

 the thickness required, or by excavating a 

 space in the ground-floor of a size and depth 

 corresponding with those of the intended 

 fabric. The hair is laid in this and beaten 

 out with mallets, and a design of colored 

 threads is then beaten into the upper sur- 

 face. Silk rugs are peculiar to Persia, and 

 are rare and expensive, although rugs of the 

 finer types, with silken fringes and some- 

 times with a woof of silk in the body of the 

 rug, are not uncommon. 



Brazilian Oranges. Oranges flourish 

 and are profitable in all parts of Brazil, and 

 the exportation of them amounts to several 

 millions annually. The Umbigo, the favor- 

 ite variety at Bahia, is without seeds, large, 

 sweet, and delicious, begins to ripen about 

 May, and lasts till September. The most 

 common aDd popular kind at Rio Janeiro is 

 the Siletta, which has a sweet and delicate 

 flavor. The Tangerina is a smaller variety 

 than the Siletta, many-seeded and ripening 

 at about the same time, and has a deep or- 

 ange-colored skin that breaks easily in peel- 

 ing, with an aromatic odor. The orange- 

 orchards are generally situated on low and 

 sandy land, convenient to transportation by 

 water. The trees are planted along from 

 February to May, about fifteen feet apart, 



