INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



much before their time this custom had come into use 

 by our remote ancestors there is no means of deter- 

 mining, but it certainly dates back into very remote 

 antiquity. And yet shoes or foot-coverings were 

 probably worn many centuries before coverings for 

 the hands. 



If gloves were first used as protection against cold, 

 they would certainly not have been conceived for some 

 time after similar coverings for the feet had become 

 necessary. Primitive man would have found much 

 less difficulty in protecting his hands against the in- 

 clemency of the weather than his feet, as it was a 

 comparatively simple matter to wrap his skin cloak 

 about them when not in use, leaving them free for 

 action when necessary. It is probable, therefore, that 

 even the dwellers in cold climates were wearing shoes 

 and leggings long before hand protections of any kind 

 were worn. 



Here again, the customs of the American Indians, 

 as in many other instances, throw light upon the sub- 

 ject. All the northern Indians were familiar with 

 well-made moccasins and leggings, although mittens or 

 gloves of any kind were seldom, if ever, worn by them. 



On the other hand it may be possible that the wear- 

 ing of hand protection originated in the warmer cli- 

 mates, not as protection against cold, but as means 

 of defense in fighting. If this were the case it is pos- 

 sible that the wearing of mittens originated before the 

 time of the wearing of shoes. Even at the present 

 time there are certain tribesmen in Africa who use, 

 in place of shields, a form of hand protection made of 



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