824 POPULAR SCIEN-CE MONTHLY, 



way some peculiar features of mutilation hitherto obscure to eth- 

 nologists are reasonably explained — deformations practiced in all 

 the quarters of the world by diverse peoples in no way related to 

 one another, but urged by the same thought arising spontane- 

 ously in their minds. The value of the object inserted in the ear, 

 lips, or nose varies according to the wealth of the wearer. The 

 rich use something that is considered precious, as alabaster, rock 

 crystal, or ivory among- different African tribes ; while a jjoor 

 man contents himself with a disk of horn or metal, or even a sim- 

 ple rolled leaf. The more wealthy he is, the heavier is the orna- 

 ment and the more accentuated the deformation. While atten- 

 tion has not been particularly directed to this point, some travel- 

 ers have noticed that the degree of mutilation varies in the same 

 people according to the coquetry, wealth, or rank of the person. 

 Sometimes the fancy runs to enormous bracelets and rings, the 

 Bongo women wearing such ornaments weighing twenty-five 

 kilogrammes. These shackles of enormous weight have been in- 

 terpreted by some sociologists as reminiscences of slavery ; Park 

 Harrison supposed that the enlargement of the ear lobe was an 

 offspring of sun worship ; and other authors have invented a de- 

 sire to resemble venerated animals as the promx)ting motive for 

 mutilations. 



Of kindred character with the deformations already described 

 are those due to a desire to show that the subject is not obliged 

 to work for his living. The mandarins and literati in Annam 

 and China let their finger nails grow long and inclose them in 

 sheaths. A similar custom exists in Polynesia and some parts of 

 Africa. Fatness is a mark of woman's beauty and signifies ease 

 and wealth in Uganda and among the Tuaregs. In contrast to 

 these, the Javanese are proud of extreme thinness, and eat clay to 

 produce it. This is an exaggeration of a characteristic of their 

 race, for they are naturally slender. 



Whatever is the fashion comes from the principle of exaggera- 

 tion, and our clothes are shaped according to the same law. It is 

 not more ridiculous to stretch the ear lobe till it lies on the shoul- 

 ders than, as was done at the end of the fourteenth century, to 

 wear shoes with toes so long that the ends of them were tied to 

 the knee ; or to wear the enormous ruffs of the reign of Henry III 

 of France, and those structures which nearly doubled the height ; 

 or the headdresses of the time of Louis XIV, or the extravagant 

 crinolines of thirty years ago. 



We look upon the ways of our ancestors as ridiculous and 

 incomprehensible, without considering that we are acting very 

 much like them. We often meet at parties and balls persons who 

 go beyond the present fashion, some exposing more of the shoul- 

 ders, and some wearing more pointed shoes. A fashion modest in 



