COSTUME. 



415 



Tf the colour is too intense, it is mixed with finely 

 powdered chalk. Another mode of making rouge 

 is to mingle cinnabar (a compound of sulphur and 

 mercury, of a vivid red colour) with chalk, and 

 with some oily substance, to form an ointment. 

 Such rouge is very injurious. Rouge dishes are 

 also common. These consist of small saucers, con- 

 taining a layer of rouge in a dry state, and are pre- 

 pared principally in Portugal : they are imitated in 

 London, but clumsily, since the colour is dirty and 

 muddy. Two other preparations, called Spanish 

 wool and Oriental wool, have been long known to 

 and esteemed by, the dealers and consumers of 

 rouge. Wool is impregnated with the colour, and 

 formed into cakes about the size of a crown piece, 

 by the Spaniards, and somewhat larger by the 

 Chinese : the latter is most esteemed, since it 

 affords (as a modern pharmacopist observes) " a 

 most lovely and agreeable blush to the cheek." 

 Both these descriptions of wool are imitated. 

 Colour Boxes, beautifully painted and japanned, 

 are also imported from China. But all the des- 

 criptions of rouge must give place to pure carmine, 

 which for colour cannot be surpassed, and, unlike 

 many of the former cosmetics, is said not to injure 

 the skin. Carmine is obtained chiefly from the 

 colouring matter of cochineal, an insect of Mexico. 

 Cosmetics for whitening the skin consist of 

 washes and powders. The most esteemed washes 

 are elder-flower water and rose-water ; also cold- 

 cream, the ceratum album of the Pharmacopoeia. 

 This is a compound of white wax, oil of almonds, 

 ind rose-water, and is useful for slight excoriations, 

 tenderness of the skin, &c. A wash is frequently 

 sold under the name of " Pearl-water," but it con- 

 tains no preparation of pearl whatever, and consists 

 of Spanish oil soap dissolved in spirits of wine with 

 oil of rosemary. The choicest of all powders for 

 the skin is " pearl-powder," a costly article, since 

 it is prepared by dissolving real pearls (the small 

 seerf-pearls of the pearl-fishery) in an acid, and pre- 

 cipitating the powder by means of an alkali. This 

 powder is also prepared at a cheaper rate from 

 mother-of-pearl and also from oyster-shells ; but 

 these furnish a powder which is not impalpably 

 tine, and they have also a shining appearance, 

 which at once shows that art has been employed 

 to whiten the skin ; whereas the real pearl- 

 powder more nearly resembles the appearance of 

 the skin. The most successful imitation of 

 genuine pearl-powder is bismuth powder, a fine 

 white powder, which has this disadvantage, how- 

 ever, that it will turn black on coming in contact 

 with fumes of sulphur or with sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen gas. Ladies frequenting spas should therefore 

 be cautious in its use, for if the water contain sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen gas, they are apt, on taking a 

 drink, to become suddenly " black in the face," to 

 the great consternation of their friends and admirers. 

 COSTUME, (a.) The subject of costumes is 

 curious and interesting. Dress is an object of 

 universal attention. It occupies no small portion 

 of our time and thoughts; it forms a distinct and 

 important trade, or, we should be more inclined to 

 call it, profession ; it constitutes a very large 

 branch of commerce. We should be somewhat at 

 a loss to determine whether civilized or barbarous 

 nations are most occupied by the cares of the 

 toilet. Certuinly a full dressed savage maites a 

 wonderful display of art. His painted countenance 

 and head, the nicely adjusted colours, the tortured 

 hair, the elaborate ornaments, the pouch and moc- 



casin skilfully embroidered with variegated porcu. 

 pine's quills, the cloak of gorgeous feathers or 

 cloth of bark, indicate plainly, that his attention 

 has been directed with no little patience and con- 

 trivance to this all-important object. And we 

 doubt not, that as much care is expended upon his 

 toilet, as the votary of civilized fashion gives to his. 

 We should be almost afraid to compute how 

 large a portion of time among civilized people 

 is occupied, either in dressing, or in thinking about 

 dress. Much less, probably, is so used in this 

 country, than in others, where a stricter etiquette 

 prevails ; but we still think we are within bounds 

 in supposing that one-third of the waking hours 

 of the community, including what is employed 

 in making and repairing, is devoted to the subject 

 of dress. 



Half-civilized nations, who show more sense in 

 their costumes than any others, barbarous or re- 

 fined, must, \re imagine, be somewhat at a loss to 

 account for their neighbours' bestowing so much 

 attention upon a subject, which for them is entirely 

 settled. Where a man, or still more a woman, 

 knows what colours and what forms of dress she 

 is to use, being the same precisely that her ances- 

 tors have worn for centuries, and where the idea 

 of fashion never dawned, there can be but little 

 time wasted upon dress. We only wonder, what 

 the fair inhabitants of such a country can find to 

 supply the place of that deep interest which the 

 subject affords to the happier heirs of civilization. 

 " What a monstrous idea !'' we fancy some of our 

 fair readers to exclaim ; " a country where there is 

 no such thing as fashion 1 where one must dress 

 like one's grandmother ; where there is no differ- 

 ence between morning and evening dresses; where 

 there are no such things as walking dresses and 

 carriage dresses, no distinctions of bonnets, and no 

 change of forms ! What becomes of the spirit of 

 a woman in such a stupid country ?'' 



What, then, are the causes of these differences 

 in different countries ? Why do the Persians at 

 this day, dress as the Persians did in the days of 

 'Cyrus the Great, while the forms of British and 

 French dresses have been constantly changing since 

 the time of the Roman conquests? Is there a 

 deep philosophy of dress to account for this ? Is 

 there any theory to explain why civilization makes 

 changes in costume, or to account for each succes- 

 sive change ? 



These questions we do not pretend to answer. 

 We will give our readers a slight sketch of some of 

 the different remarkable costumes of ancient and 

 modern times, and the various changes which have 

 been made with the advance of civilization. Per- 

 haps they may deduce some theory, to suit them- 

 selves, from the facts we shall present them. An 

 ingenious observer might possibly discover in the 

 costumes of different nations, a harmony with 

 the prevailing tastes and the general character of 

 the people. There is certainly no way in which 

 taste, whatever it is, displays itself more than in 

 dress ; and, as far as nationality of costume exists, 

 there might perhaps be found a certain correspon- 

 dence or identity in the taste in dress and in the 

 fine arts. Thus the Egyptian costume would pos- 

 sess a character very different from that of Greece 

 or Rome. The dress of one age would differ in 

 style from that of another in the same country. 

 Each would be marked by the peculiar taste and the 

 prevailing spirit of the time. The costume of a 

 cavalier in the thirteenth or fourteenth century 



