48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 33 



14 were evenly divided in their affection for sisters ; all girls between 

 II and 15 unhesitatingly named an older sister. Reasons why boys 

 love their brother were "I like him," "He has an all-around good 

 will," "He is the dearest one," "He is good to me." Girls like their 

 sisters because "She gives me presents," "She gives me money," "She 

 has good will toward me." 



Children of the several wives of a man made no distinction among 

 themselves. "We called each of my father's wives mother, and all 

 the children of all the wives called each other brother and sister." 



CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR 

 BATHING, CARE AND DRESSING OF THE HAIR, PERSONAL APPEARANCE 



A very small child is given a bath by its mother when the mother 

 takes her own. Older children take their own baths daily in all seasons, 

 in brooks or rivers, at springs, or by swimming in deep waters of lakes. 

 Bathing is usually done just before sundown. Girls of a family may 

 go to the bathing place in groups but bathe singly ; boys do likewise, 

 but at a diflferent time. Bathers scatter along the shore some distance 

 apart. The hair is washed at each bathing; occasionally it is sham- 

 pooed with suds made by rubbing bark of quillay between the hands. 

 Children were often seen coming from bathing with dripping hair 

 hanging loose over the shoulders. No soap or substitute is used in 

 bathing. Winds are relied on for drying. 



Washing the hair in human urine gives it luster, and occasionally a 

 child will do so. "The odor is unbearable," said a teacher; "I send 

 such a child to the brook to wash its hair. Only last Saturday a girl 

 came for a sewing lesson with her hair in that condition." 



The hair is combed, today, with factory-made combs, if one Is 

 owned. Persons living close to Argentina make the traditional family 

 hairbrush (rana) from calle calle or from riina (unidentified), plants 

 that grow in Argentina ; in Alepue area, rsna were made from coral, 

 the plant from which brooms, too, are made. "The brush, so long 

 [4 to 6 inches], is merely roots tied together with grass. We wet the 

 hair first and then brush it." When in use, the root ends of the plants 

 are grasped so that bristles are toward the little finger. 



Formerly a boy's hair was cut neck length; today it is cut short 

 "like Chileans wear theirs." Formerly a girl's hair was never cut; 

 that of a small girl hung loose, or had narrow woven bands twisted 

 into portions of it and tied back in a manner to keep the hair from the 

 eyes. Today many small girls have the hair bobbed, "but old people 



