394 ^ Professor Flower [May 7, 



a pound, and drags down, elongates, and everts the lower lip, so as to 

 exjDOse the gums and teeth, in a manner which to our taste is hideous, 

 but with them is considered an essential adjunct to an attractive and 

 correct appearance. 



In the extreme north of America, the Eskimo " pierce the lower 

 lip under one or both corners of the mouth, and insert in each aper- 

 ture a double-headed sleeve-button or dumb-bell-shaped labret, of bone, 

 ivory, shell, stone, glass, or wood. The incision when first made is 

 about the size of a quill, but as the aspirant for improved beauty grows 

 older, the size of the orifice is enlarged until it reaches the width of 

 half to three-quarters of an inch." * These oi)erations appear to be 

 practised only on the men, and are sup230sed to possess some signifi- 

 cance other than that of mere ornament. The first piercing of the 

 lip, which is accompanied by some solemnity as a religious feast, is 

 performed on approaching manhood. 



But the people who have carried these strange customs to the 

 greatest excess are the Thlinkeets, who inhabit the south-eastern 

 shores of Alaska. t " Here it is the women who, in piercing the nose 

 and ears, and filling the ajDertures with bones, shells, sticks, pieces of 

 copper, nails, or attaching thereto heavy pendants, which drag down 

 the organs and pull the features out of place, appear to have taxed 

 their inventive powers to the utmost, and with a success unsurpassed 

 by any nation in the world, to produce a model of hideous beauty. 

 This success is achieved in their wooden lip-ornament, the crowning 

 glory of the Thlinkeet nation, described by a multitude of eye-witnesses. 

 In all female free-born Thlinkeet children, a slit is made in the under 

 lip, parallel with the mouth, and about half an inch below it. A copper 

 wire, or a piece of shell or wood, is introduced into this, by which the 

 wound is kept open and the aperture extended. By gradually intro- 

 ducing larger objects the required dimensions of the opening are 

 produced. On attaining the age of maturity, a block of wood is in- 

 serted, usually oval or elliptical in shape, concave on the sides, and 

 grooved like the wheel of a pulley on the edge in order to keep it in 

 place. The dimensions of the block are from two to six inches in 

 length, from one to four inches in width, and about half an inch thick 

 round the edge, and it is highly polished. Old age has little terror in 

 the eyes of a Thlinkeet belle ; for larger lip-blocks are introduced as 

 years advance, and each enlargement adds to the lady's social status, 

 if not to her facial charms. When the block is withdrawn, the lip 

 drops down upon the chin like a piece of leather, displaying the teeth, 

 and presenting altogether a ghastly spectacle. The privilege of wear- 

 ing this ornament is not extended to female slaves." 



In this method of adornment the native Americans are, however, 

 rivalled, if not eclipsed, by the negroes of the heart of Africa. 



* H. H. Bancroft, ' Native Eaces of the Pacific States of North America,* 

 vol. i. 1875. 



t See Bancroft, op. cit. vol. i. for numerous citations from original observers 

 regarding these customs. 



