Chap. XIX. Man— Beauty. 577 



In most, but not all parts of the world, the men are more 

 ornamented than the women, and often in a different manner ; 

 Eometimes, though rarely, the women are hardly at all orna- 

 mented. 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 characteristic 

 selfishness of man that they should not be allowed to obtain, or 

 use the finest ornaments. Lastly, it is a remarkable fact, as 

 proved by the foregoing quotations, that the same fashions in 

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

 painting, tattooing, in 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 practices, followed by so many 

 distinct nations, should be due to tradition from any common 

 source. They indicate the close similarity of the mind of man, 

 to whatever race he may belong, just as do 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. I have heard it maintained that savages are quite 

 indifferent about the beauty of their women, valuing them solely 

 as slaves ; it may therefore be well to observe that this conclusion 

 does not at all agree with the care which the women take in 

 ornamenting themselves, or with their vanity. Burchell 53 gives 

 an amusing account of a Bush-woman who used as much 

 grease, red ochre, and shining powder " as would have ruined 

 " any but a very rich husband." She displayed also " much 

 " vanity and too evident a consciousness of her superiority." Mr. 

 Winwood Eeade informs me that the negroes of the West Coast 

 often discuss the beauty of their women. Some competent 

 observers have attributed the fearfully common practice of 

 infanticide partly to the desire felt by the women to retain their 

 good looks. 54 In several regions the women wear charms and 

 use love-philters to gain the affections of the men ; and Mr. 

 Brown enumerates four plants used for this purpose by the 

 women of North-Western America. 55 



53 'Travels in S. Africa/ 1824, ' Voyages,' &c. torn. ii. p. 116. 



rol. i. p. 414. 55 On the vegetable productions 



54 See, for references, Gerland used by the North- Western Ameri- 

 Ueber das Aussterbender Naturvol- can Indians, ' Pharmaceutical Jour- 



cer,' 1868, s. 51, 53, 55 ; also Azara nal,' vol. x. 



