ORGANS OF GENERATION. 365 



noticed by Pliny. When the Abyssinians were converted 

 to Christianity, in the sixteenth century, the Catholic mis- 

 sionaries thought tit to forbid circumcision, deeming it a 

 relic of Judaism. As the taste of the men had been formed 

 on the old practice, they did not approve this innovation, and 

 the Catholic girls found that they should get no husbands. 

 In this dilemma, the College of the Propaganda sent a sur- 

 geon from Rome to examine and report ; and, in conse- 

 quence of his statement, the Pope authorized a renewal of 

 the ancient custom. 



Although it is not immediately connected with the gene- 

 rative organs, I may mention here another striking peculi- 

 arity in the same women : I mean the vast masses of fat 

 accumulated on their buttocks, and giving to them the 

 appearance of extraordinary and unnatural appendages. 



" The great curvature of the spine inwards, and extended 

 posteriors, are characteristic of the whole Hottentot race ; 

 but in some of the small Bosjesmans they are carried to a 

 most extravagant degree." — " The projection of the poste- 

 rior part of the body, in one subject, measured five inches 

 and a half from a line touching the spine. This protube- 

 rance consisted of fat, and when the woman walked, had 

 the most ridiculous appearance imaginable, every step being 

 accompanied with a quivering and tremulous motion, as if 

 two masses of jelly were attached behind*." 



The vibration of these substances at every movement was 

 very striking in tlie Hottentot Venus : they were quite soft 

 to the feel. She measured more than eighteen inches 

 (French^ across the haunches ; and the projection of the 

 hips exceeded six inches. 



Dr. SoMERViLLE found, on dissection, that the size of 

 the buttocks arose from a vast mass of fat interposed be- 



exccss of the parts on r;hich it is performed. Dr. Winterbottom, however, 

 asserts, that on the windward coast of Africa there is no physical reason for 

 it ; the redundancy mentioned by Bruce, being more rarely met with in these 

 countries than in Europe ; and where the custom of circumcision is unknown, 

 which is probably over the greater part of the continent, no complaint is made 

 on this head." p. 241. 



* Barrow, lib. clt. p. 281. 



