666 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



In the fashions of our own dress we see exactly the same 

 principle and the same desire to carry every point to an 

 extreme; we exhibit, also, the same spirit of emulation. 

 But the fashions of savages are far more permanent than 

 ours; and whenever their bodies are artificially modified, 

 this is necessarily the case. The Arab women of the Upper 

 Nile occupy about three days in dressing their hair; they 

 never imitate other tribes, *' but simply vie with each other 

 in the super lativeness of their own style." Dr. Wilson, in 

 speaking of the compressed skulls of various American 

 races, adds, " such usages are among the least eradicable, 

 and long survive the shock of revolutions that change 

 dynasties and efface more important national peculiarities."* 

 The same principle comes into play in the art of breeding; 

 and we can thus understand, as I have elsewhere explained,! 

 the wonderful development of the many races of animals 

 and plants, which have been kept merely for ornament. 

 Fanciers always wish each character to be somewhat 

 increased; they do not admire a medium standard; they cer- 

 tainly do not desire any great and abrupt change in the 

 character of their breeds; they admire solely what they are 

 accustomed to, but they ardently desire to see each char- 

 acteristic feature a little more developed. 



The senses of man and of the lower animairf seem to be 

 so constituted that brilliant colors and certain forms, as 

 well as harmonious and rhythmical sounds, give .pleasure 

 and are called beautiful; but why this should be so we 

 know not. It is certainly not true that there is in the 

 mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect 

 to the human body. It is, however, possible that certain 

 tastes may in the course of time become inherited, 

 though there is no evidence in favor of this belief; and, if 

 so, each race would possess its own innate ideal standard of 

 beauty. It has been argued J that ugliness consists in an 

 approach to the structure of the lower animals, and no 

 doubt this is partly true with the more civilized nations, 

 in which intellect is highly appreciated; but this explana- 



* " Smithsonian Institution," 1863, p. 289. On the fashions of 

 Arab women, Sir S. Baker, " The Nile Tributaries," 1867, p. 121. 



f "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,* 

 vol. i, p. 214; vol. ii, p. 240. 



J Schaaffhausen, " Archiv. fur Anthropologie," 1866, s. 164. 



