Chap. XIX. Man — Beauty. 58 1 



It is remarkable that throughout the world the races which 

 are almost completely destitute of a beard, dislike hairs on the 

 face and body, and take pains to eradicate them. The Kalmucks 

 are beardless, and they are well known, like the Americans, to 

 pluck out all straggling hairs ; and so it is with the Polynesians, 

 some of the Malays, and the Siamese. Mr. Veitch states that the 

 Japanese ladies " all objected to our whiskers, considering them 

 " very ugly, and told us to cut them off, and be like Japanese 

 " men." The New Zealanders have short, curled beards ; yet 

 they formerly plucked out the hairs on the face. They had a 

 saying that " there is no woman for a hairy man ;" but it would 

 appear that the fashion has changed in New Zealand, perhaps 

 owing to the presence of Europeans, and I am assured that 

 beards are now admired by the Maories. 64 



On the other hand, bearded races admire and greatly value 

 their beards ; among the Anglo-Saxons every part of the body 

 had a recognised value ; " the loss of the beard being estimated 

 " at twenty shillings, while the breaking of a thigh was fixed at 

 " only twelve/" 55 In the East men swear solemnly by their 

 beards. We have seen that Chinsurdi, the chief of the Makalolo 

 in Africa, thought that beards were a great ornament. In the 

 Pacific the Fijian's beard is " profuse and bushy, and is his 

 " greatest pride ; " whilst the inhabitants of the adjacent archi- 

 pelagoes of Tonga and Samoa are " beardless, and abhor a rough 

 " chin." In one island alone of the Ellice group " the men are 

 " heavily bearded, and not a little proud thereof." 66 



We thus see how widely the different races of man differ in 

 their taste for the beautiful. In every nation sufficiently ad- 

 vanced to have made effigies of their gods or of their deified 

 rulers, the sculptors no doubt have endeavoured to express their 

 highest ideal of beauty and grandeur. 67 Under this point of view 

 it is well to compare in our mind the Jupiter or Apollo of the 

 Greeks with the Egyptian or Assyrian statues ; and these with 

 the hideous bas-reliefs on the ruined buildings of Central 

 America. 



I have met with very few statements opposed to this conclusion. 



64 On the Siamese, Prichard, ibid. tion,' 1870, p. 321. 



rol. iv. p. 533. On the Japanese, 66 Dr. Barnard Davis quotes Mr. 



Veitch in ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' Prichard and others for these facts 



1860, p. 1104. On the New Zea- in regard to the Polynesians, in 



inaders. Mantegazza, ' Viaggi e ' Anthropological Review,' April, 



Studi,' 1867, p. 526. For the other 1870, p. 185, 191. 



nations mentioned, see references in 67 Ch. Comte has remarks to this 



Lawrence, ' Lectures on Physiology,' effect in his ' Traite" de Legislation, 



fcc. 1822, p. 272. 3rd edit. 1837, p. 136. 



65 Lubbock, 'Origi-a of Civilisa- 



