788 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



It is true that all these tribes are dark-skinned people, and it 

 is claimed by some writers that a dark skin lessens the realiza- 

 tion of nakedness. Adolph Bastian said that his " skin appeared 

 abnormal and by no means beautiful by contrast " with that of the 

 dark peoples he met. Jagor said of a King from Coromandel who 

 wore only a turban and a waistcoat, " He did not look indecent, for 

 his dark color almost removed the impression of nudity." At 

 Yuma, Arizona, the Yuma Apaches flock to the passenger trains 

 and are looked at with great interest by the tourists. We have 

 been profoundly impressed with the absolute insensibility of these 

 ladies and gentlemen to the fact that the Indians are really al- 

 most naked. That a dark skin does lessen the feeling that a man 

 looked at by a white observer is naked is certain. That it lessens 

 in any degree the dark man's own perception of the fact is doubtful. 



In developing the subject still further, Peschel states that there 

 is no fixed standard for shame on account of bodily exposure. Of 

 what one is ashamed varies with race, with style of dress, and 

 with fashion. " The Mussulman of Ferghana would be shocked by 

 bare shoulders at a ball ; an Arab woman does not expose the hair 

 on the back of her head, nor the Chinese woman her bandaged 

 foot." An early traveler describes an Australian woman who 

 wore bands of shells about her head and arms and a cord of hu- 

 man hair about her waist. Without this cord she felt shame ; yet 

 it was not in the least a protection or covering. Humboldt, in 

 speaking of skin-painting among some South Americans, says, 

 "Shame was felt by the Indian if he were seen unpainted." In 

 these two interesting cases we strike the key-note of the whole 

 subject "it is the absence of the customary that causes shame." 

 To use a homely and not original illustration among ourselves, a 

 man who forgets his necktie and goes to business without it, on 

 discovering its absence feels a chagrin and uneasiness quite out of 

 proportion to the importance of the matter. We see that shame 

 for nudity is not universal, that the standard of decency in cover- 

 ing the body varies, and that the feeling of shame seems to arise 

 from the absence of what is customary. It seems to us, from these 

 facts, that the idea of clothing as a modest covering is relatively 

 recent, and that it is subsequent to dress development. 



Nor does it seem that protection has been the chief factor in 

 dress development. The Fuegians went almost naked even in bad 

 weather ; " a small square of skin hung over one shoulder and was 

 simply shifted to windward." On the other hand, clothing has 

 been developed to a very elaborate extent in many regions where 

 the climate does not at all compel its use. 



The third of the three motives mentioned remains. Dress has 

 generally developed out of ornament. That it has, after being 

 developed, often been turned into a modest covering and a protec- 



