336 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



"While the negro is capable of eating meat in an unpleasant 

 state of decomposition, he is very sensitive against some tastes, 

 and will make evident manifestations of his dislike of them. He 

 is careful about the outer matters in drinking. He will always 

 rinse his mouth first, even when he is intensely thirsty. If the 

 cup is not too small, he takes it in both hands ; and he likes to sit 

 down with it. If the vessel is large and open, he draws in the 

 water from the surface with his lips, without bringing them in 

 contact with the dish. Sometimes negroes pour water into their 

 mouths. When drinking at ponds and rivers, the water is carried 

 to the mouth with the hand. For some mystic reason it is consid- 

 ered bad to lie flat down when drinking from rivers. The fear of 

 being snapped up by a crocodile may have something to do with 

 the matter. 



Great attention is given in most of the tribes to the care of the 

 body. The teeth are cleansed with a stick which has been chewed 

 into a kind of brush. The hands are washed frequently, not by 

 turning and twisting and rubbing them together one within the 

 other, as with us, but by a straight up-and-down rubbing, such as 

 is given to the other limbs. This manner of washing is so charac- 

 teristic that an African might be distinguished by it from a Euro- 

 pean without reference to the color. The sun is their only towel. 



The pocket handkerchief is as abhorrent to the negro as his 

 manner of dispensing with it would be to us. The African finds a 

 use unknown to us for his nose by making it a receptacle for car- 

 rying his roll of tobacco. Another tobacco-storage place is found 

 behind the ears. 



While joyous emotions are expressed in the most lively man- 

 ner by negroes, signs of love and tenderness can hardly be read in 

 their faces. The kiss is foreign to them, and no negro child has 

 experienced the delight of being petted by its mother. The whole 

 treatment of the child is neutral, and a matter of business. Signs 

 of affection toward women from men are not permitted in public 

 or in the presence of third persons. A negro man can only stare 

 at a woman who pleases him. The women understand coquetry 

 well, and, aside from a greater sensuality and lustfulness in 

 expression, yield nothing in that respect to their white sisters. 

 Marks of mutual regard are observed only among women, in em- 

 bracings and hand-shakings. 



The eye furnishes a very prominent mark of distinction be- 

 tween the white man and the black. The negro's eye usually 

 gives an impression of shyness, which arises from the absence of 

 any sharp line of distinction between the iris and the pupil. The 

 resulting unsteadiness of the look gives the negro an expression 

 of the animal which is not softened by his facial type. His 

 assumed indifference often passes into consequentiality as when 



