ANIMALS. 4-05 



of varying the scene ; and all that falls beyond 

 it must be irksome expectation. 



From this avarice of women, if I may be al- 

 lowed to express it so, has proceeded that jea- 

 lousy and suspicion which ever attends the miser : 

 hence those low and barbarous methods of keep- 

 ing the women of those countries guarded, and 

 of making and procuring eunuchs to attend them. 

 These unhappy creatures are of two kinds, the 

 white and the black. The white are generally 

 made in the country where they reside, being 

 but partly deprived of the marks of virility ; the 

 black are generally brought from the interior 

 parts of Africa, and are made entirely bare. 

 These are chiefly chosen for their deformity : the 

 thicker the lips, the flatter the nose, and the more 

 black the teeth, the more valuable the eunuch ; 

 so that the vile jealousy of mankind here inverts 

 the order of nature, and the poor wretch finds 

 himself valued in proportion to his deficiencies. 

 In Italy, where this barbarous custom is still re- 

 .tained, and eunuchs are made in order to im- 

 prove the voice, the laws are severely aimed 

 against such practice ; so that being entirely pro- 

 hibited, none but the poorest and most abandoned 

 of the people still secretly practise it upon their 

 children. Of those served in this manner, not 

 one in ten is found to become a singer ; but such 

 is the luxurious folly of the times, that the suc- 

 cess of one amply compensates for the failure of 

 the rest. It is very difficult to account for the 

 alterations which ' rastration makes in the voice, 

 and the other parts of the body. The eunuch is 



