Chap. XIX. BEAUTY. 343 



are tboiight by the women in one part of Africa to be 

 irresistible attractions.'^^ In most, but not all parts of 

 the world, the men are more highly ornamented than 

 the women, and often in a different manner ; sometimes, 

 though rarely, the women are hardly at all ornamented. 

 As the women are made by savages to perform the 

 greatest share of the work, and as they are not allowed 

 to eat the best kinds of food, so it accords with the cha- 

 racteristic selfishness of man that they should not be 

 allowed to obtain, or to use. the finest ornaments. 

 Lastly it is a remarkable fact, as proved by the fore- 

 going quotations, that the same fashions in modifying 

 the shape of the head, in ornamenting the hair, in 

 painting, tattooing, perforating the nose, lips, or ears, 

 in removing or filing the teeth, &c., now prevail and 

 have long prevailed in the most distant quarters of 

 the world. It is extremely improbable that these prac- 

 tices which are followed by so many distinct nations are 

 due to tradition from any common source. They rather 

 indicate the close similarity of the mind of man, to what- 

 ever race he may belong, in the same manner as the 

 almost universal habits of dancing, masquerading, and 

 making rude pictures. 



Having made these preliminary remarks on the 

 admiration felt by savages for various ornaments, and 

 for deformities most unsightly in our eyes, let us see 

 how far the men are attracted by the appearance 

 of their women, and what are their ideas of beauty. 

 As I have heard it maintained that savages are quite 

 indifferent about the beauty of their women, valuing 

 them solely as slaves, it may be well to observe that 

 this conclusion does not at all agree with the care which 

 the women take in ornamenting themselves, or with 



*8 Mantegazza, ' Viaggi e Studi,' p. 542. /CV o^® ^O^n 



/^ O _ < 



