DRESS AND ADORNMENT. 



55 



smelt no ores, but a dozen men in the tribe make from German 

 silver neat and tasteful bracelets, armlets, rings, sakahoii, and 

 ear-rings. The jeweler's outfit consists of a square block of wood 

 for an anvil, a hammer, a pair of shears, compasses, and a set of 

 rude punches made from scrap iron, steel nails, bits of old files, 

 etc. To make a finger-ring, the workman selects a piece of German 

 silver and cuts from it a narrow strip long enough to encircle the 

 finger. A square, rectangular, or oval piece of copper may be cut 

 for a setting. This is marked with a neat design worked on with 

 punches tapped by a hammer. The strip of white metal is bent 

 into ring-form, the setting is laid upon it at the junction where 

 the ends meet, and the two are firmly held together by a brass 

 wire passed around them. A drop of solder is put upon the junc- 

 tion inside, a small stick is thrust through the ring to support it, 

 and it is held in an open fire until the solder melts, flowing into 

 the junction and cementing the whole firmly. After cooling, the 

 ring is smoothed with a file and polished. 



Sometimes we find the same object serving at once ornamental 

 and useful purposes. The arm-rings of metal or ivory with which 

 the African delights to cover his arms to the elbow are a useful 

 protection against weaj)ons. The metal rings worn by Latuka 

 warriors on their right wrists are set with four or five sharp- 

 edged knife-blades and are terrible weapons. The Isenga wear 

 rings of considerable weight and sharp-edged ; usually these are 

 incased in leather sheaths, but, when uncovered, they become 

 horrid weapons for hand-to-hand fighting. The very heavy arm- 

 bands of the Wakamba are of triple use, serving at once as orna- 

 ments, parries, and striking weapons. Ornament often becomes 

 money. The Nubian woman or the Hindoo frequently carries the 

 family wealth on her person as silver ornaments. The important 

 influence of ornament upon dress has already been considered in 

 a preceding lecture. 



We know of only one paper which treats at all fully of orna- 

 ment. It is by Mougeolles, Although we do not concur in all 

 the conclusions of this author, we wish to call attention to some 

 propositions that he lays down. With the statement of these and 

 of one or two additional, we shall close : 



(a) With the growth of dress, ornament declined. If our view 

 as to how dress developed is correct, this is natural. If dress 

 began as ornament, the ornamental idea would gradually disap- 

 pear as it passed into a modesty-covering and a bodily protection. 

 As dress develops, the sort of ornament must change: ornament 

 at first attached to the person, gradually passes into ornament 

 attached to the dress. We notice here again an example of wom- 

 an's conservatism. Man in civilization wears little ornament, and 

 what he does wear is fastened to the dress ; woman wears more 



