44 



THE POPULAR SCIEXCE MOXTRLY. 



DRESS AXD ADORNMENT. 



III. ORNAMENT. 



By Prof. FREDERICK STARR. 



THE savage loves finery. Anything bright and showy has for 

 him remarkable attractiveness. Traders have often been 

 blamed for their unequal trades with unsophisticated savages 

 whereby they get a large return for articles of little value. Yet 

 it must be admitted that often they could do little else. Truly 

 useful and desirable articles are often passed by, and tawdry or- 

 naments, beads, and tinsel are sought with avidity. The writer 

 himself has frequently found, if cash payment is offered, that 

 Indians demand preposterous prices for objects of ethnological 

 interest ; a few handfuls of beads or some yards of bright rib- 

 bon will bring about a quick and mutually satisfactory bargain. 

 Early travelers found no peoi:)le on some of the islands of the Pa- 

 cific who would give anything for new kinds of fowls, domestic 

 animals, or useful devices, but " a few red feathers would buy the 



whole island." " Ne- 

 cessity is always sec- 

 ondary to luxury " is a 

 remark that will bear 

 frequent c|uotation. 

 Ornament is univer- 

 sal. The barbarian 

 will go naked, unjjro- 

 tected, hungry, but he 

 will have his orna- 

 ments. 



The beginnings of 

 ornament lie far back 

 in antiquity, but they 

 may also be seen in 

 savage life of to-day. 

 The incentive that de- 

 velops it is personal 

 vanity — the desire for 

 self - individualization. 

 A man wishes to mark 

 himself off from his 

 neighbor by some external sign. If he kills a savage beast, what 

 is more natural than that he should use its skin, its teeth, its claws, 

 as a trophy ? Wearing these, he is known as a mighty or success- 

 ful hunter. Possibly the oldest decoration we know is a necklace 

 from Duruthy Cavern, in France. Under a stone, apparently 



Fig. 1. — American Indian with Necklace of Claws. 



