ANIMALS. 311 



of the marks of virility ; the black are generally brought from 

 the interior parts of Africa, and are made entirely bare. These 

 are chiefly chosen for their deformity ; the thicker the lips, the 

 flatter the nose, and the more black the teeth, the more valuable 

 the eunuch ; so that the vile jealousy of mankind here inverts 

 the order of nature, and the poor wretch finds himself valued in 

 proportion to his deficiencies. In Italy, where this baibarous 

 custom is still retained, and eunuchs are made in order to im- 

 prove the voice, the laws are severely aimed against such prac- 

 tice J so that being entirely prohibited, none but the poorest and 

 most abandoned of the people, still secretly practise it upon their 

 cliildren. Of those served in this manner, not one in ten is 

 found to become a singer ; but such is the luxurious folly of the 

 times, that the success of one amply compensates for the failure 

 of the rest. It is very diflicult to account for the alterations 

 which castration makes in the voice, and the other parts of the 

 body. The eunuch is shaped difl^erently from others. His legs 

 are of an equal thickness above and below ; his knees weak ; his 

 shoulders naiTow, and his beard thin and downy. In this man- 

 ner his person is rendered more deformed ; but his desires, as 

 I am told, still continue the same ; and actually, in Asia, some 

 of them are found to have their seraglios, as well as their mas- 

 ters. Even in our country, we have an instance of a very 

 fine woman being married to one of them whose appearance was 

 the most unpromising ; and what is more extraordinary still, 

 I am told, that this couple contiiuie perfectly happy in each other's 

 society. 



The mere necessities of life seem the only aim of the savages 

 the sensual pleasures are the only study of the semi-barbarian ; 

 but the refinement of sensuality by reason, is the boast of real 

 politeness. Among the merely barbarous nations, such as the 

 natives of Madagascar, or the inhabitants of Congo, nothing is 

 desired so ardently as to prostitute their wives or daughters to 

 strangers, for the most trifling advantages ; they will account it a 

 dishonour not to be among the foremost who are thus received 

 into favour : on the other hand, the Mahometan keeps his wife 

 faithful, by confining her person ; and would instantly put her to 

 death, if he but suspected her chastity. With the politer inhabitants 

 of Europe both these barbarous extremes are avoided ; the wo- 

 man's person is left free, and no constraint is imposed but upon 



