34 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



It is indeed more than probable that the various types 

 of ornamentation obtaining among savage races had their 

 origin in outbursts of sexual exaltation. One of the 

 earliest methods of personal decoration was probably to 

 daub the body with paint, as is the custom during the 

 performance of various religious and semi-religious rites 

 among the Australian aborigines. A desire to find 

 a permanent substitute for paint led to the practice 

 of cicatrization, and the later and more refined custom 

 of tattooing. But personal mutilation has taken many 

 and strange forms, such as knocking out the front teeth, 

 filing them to saw-like points, inserting gold or jewels, 

 or staining them. No less extraordinary are the various 

 types of lip and ear ornaments, and the suspension of 

 ornaments from the nose. The various fashions of 

 dressing the hair are also traceable to this origin. 



That these modes of personal decoration designed for 

 special occasions should in course of time become per- 

 manent, and should, in many cases, have lost their original 

 associations is but natural. To-day among savage and 

 barbaric races many of these modes of transfiguration 

 have become associated with religious and semi-religious 

 ceremonies, but many have been retained solely to enhance 

 the personal appearance, even though in our eyes an 

 exactly opposite effect has been attained. Among the 

 natives of the Congo, for instance, the face is covered with 

 raised patterns formed by cicatrization ; that is to say, by 

 cuts made with a knife, which are made to form scars on 

 healing by means of pungent juices or heated iron. Further, 

 the teeth are filed to form saw-like cutting edges, pro- 

 ducing a revolting effect according to European ideals, 

 but charming according to the standards of those thus 

 " decorated." The marvellous and intricate coloured 



