96 REPORT 1851. 



question, I must observe that the facilities for the study of anatomy are, out of Cal- 

 cutta, exceedingly few, from the fact that exhumation is absolutely necessary in the 

 case of Mussulmen; and the body of a Hindoo is almost unattainable, because that 

 of the rich man is almost invariably subjected to cremation, while the Ganges is the 

 final home for the bodies of the poor. They have no practices for modifying their 

 form or appearance in any way, and never trouble themselves with a superfluity of 

 clothing. 



The pelvis in the female is largely developed, and hence the facility and com- 

 parative absence of pain in parturition. The foot, generally speaking, is well-formed; 

 and in cases where hard labour has not affected the frame, the foot, hand and arm 

 may be taken as models for the sculptor. 



There is in the district of Lower Bengal only one race of men, no intermixture; 

 but there is sometimes in the same family a v.'onderAd difference in the complexion. 

 1 have in my own service two brothers, natives of Orissa, a district south of Calcutta, 

 one the eldest, the other the youngest of the family. The skin of the first is re- 

 markably dark, almost black, while that of his younger brother is particularly fair, 

 and I have remarked this in other instances. Jt is worthy of observation that this 

 occurs in a family where no polygamy has ever occurred. Among the Hindoos it is 

 not allowed for separate castes to intermarry, but this law does not extend to the 

 whole family of the Mahomedans, of whom there are five distinct sects, namely the 

 Patan, the Mogul, the Syud, the Shaik, and the Sheah, intermarriage being permitted 

 among some of these, but not all. 



The inhabitants of Lower Bengal are anything but a long-lived people; and I am 

 inclined to think this is the case throughout Hindostan ; the causes may be more 

 than I can enumerate, for they are many. Foremost, that of early marriage, much 

 more physical weakness naturally than the men north of Behar, who are stronger 

 and more athletic. I mention Behar for two reasons : first, it is the extremity of 

 the Bengal Presidency ; and secondly, I have myself observed the fact and been 

 struck by it. Poverty of food probably has some weight, but the consumption of 

 opium and hemp in various forms doulJtless tends to swell the list of unfavourable 

 influences. 



Language. — Among the working classes, the common Bengalee language, which 

 is nearly pure, is spoken; all their accounts are kept in Bengalee; their native 

 newspapers, of which there are several published in Calcutta, are in the same. 

 Among the middle classes vve find Hindostanee in use, occasionally interspersed 

 with words of Bengalee. But at court, and in the highest ranks of the natives, 

 Hindostanee in its purity, and also Persian, are commonly found. The Bengalee 

 does not rule anywhere beyond the three districts I have mentioned, Bengal, Behar, 

 and Orissa. The people of the last-mentioned district, or Ooriahs, have, in addition, 

 a language of their own; but little Bengalee is spoken in Behar. 



The literary knowledge of the Mussulman is almost confined to his Koran; and, 

 to his Shastres, that of the Hindoo. They have their native songs, set to very 

 simple airs, and appointed for different times of the day and night; those for the 

 morning, the day, and a part of the night being of a varied and cheerful description, 

 while those after midnight and towards the break of day are extremely plaintive and 

 agreeable; the subjects of these latter may be divided into two, — the love ditties of 

 the country, and the morning invocations to the various deities. These latter, to the 

 ear of a lover of music, are exceedingly pleasing, being sung in a delicate falsetto 

 voice. 



Individual and Family Life, — There is a general rejoicing at the birth of a son ; 

 but from the low esteem in which women are held throughout the whole of India, 

 the birth of a daughter as a first-born child is considered as an aflliction in the family. 

 Should however a daughter be the second child, the distress of the event is con- 

 siderably mollified. 



I have never known infanticide in the case of a son, but the above reasons induce 

 a degree of want of affection for female children, who, happily however, are not so 

 extensively destroyed as in times past. 



Less pains in dressing or clothing children cannot be taken than by the Hindoo : 

 there is no artificial plan of modifying the form in any way, either amongst Hindoos 

 or Mussulmen. 



