2/0 VARIETIES IN THE HAIR, BEARD, 



disposition to exaggerate by artificial means whatever may 

 be deemed imperfect or defective in their bodily formation. 

 In some instances, neither the eyebrows nor the eye lashes * 

 arc spared ; nor even the hair of the head f. 



The beardlessness of the Mongolian variety, which at- 

 tracted the attention of the older writers J, has been fully 

 confirmed by the testimonies of modern travellers. " In 

 all the Mongolian tribes,'' says Pallas, " the adult males 

 have much less beard than in the Tatar and European 

 nations : it also grows later. The Calmucks have the most, 

 yet they are very poorly furnished : they commonly have 

 small mustachios, and some preserve beside a tuft on the 

 lower lip. They have very little hair on the body, and 

 the mothers seek to exterminate it in their children. But 

 in certain parts, which the Tatar women like to keep quite 

 smooth, those of the Calmucks leave their hair undisturbed §. 

 The Mongols have less beard and thinner hair of the head 

 than the Calmucks. The Burats are nearly as beardless as 

 the Tungooses and other hordes of Eastern Siberia. With- 

 out any means of destruction having been resorted to, their 

 chin often remains quite smooth, even to advanced age. It 

 is not common to see a Burat with a beard at the usual com- 

 mencement of adult age ; and they are constantly smooth 

 and bald in the rest of the body||." Gmelin observes, 

 " that it is not easy to find a beard among the Tungooses 

 or the neighbouring tribes : for they eradicate the hair as 

 soon as it appears ; and repeat this constantly, till at last no 

 more is produced 5[." 



* DoBRiZHOFFER de Abipouibus ; ii. 26. 



+ Hearne of the Eskimaux on the Copper-Mine River; " There is one 

 custom prevalent among them, viz. that of the men having all the hair of 

 their heads pulled out by the roots," &c. Journey to the Frozen Ocean, 

 p. 170. 



:j: Ammianus Marcellinus says of the Huns, " Senescunt imbcrbes, 

 absque ulla venustate." xxx. 2. Thinness of the beard is one of the traits 

 ascribed by JornAndes to Attila ; " rarus barba." 



^ Sammhingennb. die Mongol. Volkersch. Irth. p. 100. 



11 Ibid. 171. 



5 Reise diirch Sibirien: li. p. 125. 



