324 SEXUAL SELECTION: MAN. [Tart II 



In South America, as Humboldt remarks, " a mother 

 would be accused of culpable indifference toward her chil- 

 dren, if she did. not employ artificial means to shape the 

 calf of the leg after the fashion of the country." In the 

 Old and New World the shape of the skull was formerly 

 modified during infancy in the most extraordinary man- 

 ner, as is still the case in many places, and such deformi- 

 ties are considered ornamental. For instance, the savages 

 of Colombia 39 deem a much flattened, head an " essential 

 point of beauty." 



The hair is treated with especial care in various coun- 

 tries ; it is allowed to grow to full length, so as to reach 

 the ground, or is combed into " a compact frizzled, mop, 

 which is the Papuan's pride and glory." 40 In Northern 

 Africa " a man requires a period of from eight to ten 

 years to perfect his coiffure." With other nations the 

 head is shaved, and in parts of South America and Africa 

 even the eyebrows are eradicated. The natives of the 

 Upper Nile knock out the four front teeth, saying that 

 they do not wish to resemble brutes. Further south, the 

 Batokas knock out the two upper incisors, which, as Liv- 

 ingstone 41 remarks, gives the face a hideous appearance, 

 owing to the growth of the lower jaw; but these people 

 think the presence of the incisors most unsightly, and on 

 beholding some Europeans, cried out, " Look at the great 

 teeth ! " The great chief Sebituarii tried in vain to alter 

 this fashion. In various parts of Africa and in the Malay 

 Archipelago the natives file the incisor teeth into points 

 like those of a saw, or pierce them with holes, into which 

 they insert studs. 



39 Quoted by Prichard, ' Phys. Hist, of Mankind.' 4th edit. vol. i. 

 1851, p. 321. 



40 On the Papuans, Wallace, 'The Malay Archipelago,' vol. ii. p. 445, 

 On the coiffure of the Africans, Sir S. Baker, ' The Albert N'yanza,' vol 

 L p. 210. 



41 « Travels,' p. 533. 



