27 



foot. The bandages are then re-apphed. I regret to say the same 

 fooHsh prejudice in favour of a small useless foot prevails in 

 England. A lady complacently told me one day that when she 

 was staying at a country house her shoes were always taken to 

 the nursery. They take them for one of the children's shoes, 

 you know." '* Yes," I replied, " the same thing has happened to 

 me. They once took a shoe of mine to the nursery. They took it 

 for the cradle, you know." To get the full power of the foot in 

 walking, the big toe should be parallel to a line drawn through the 

 centre of the foot, and the toe part should expand at least an inch 

 when we bear our weight on it. But which of us after infancy has 

 feet like this ? The toes of babies are almost as prehensile as 

 their fingers, and they ought to retain this power, more or less, 

 during adult life It is only in deference to a foolish fashion that 

 we consider small and pointed shoes becoming. In the reign of 

 Henry VIII., broad toed roomy shoes were worn, and no doubt 

 admired. 



Although the fashion of altering and distorting the shape of 

 the head does not now obtain among civilized nations, yet it 

 is one of the most ancient and widely spread customs that ever 

 existed, and skulls have been discovered dating at least as far back 

 as the stone age, showing this artificial deformity. Hippocrates, 

 B.C. 400 speaks of a nation whom he calls the Macrocephali, from 

 the size of their heads, who lived on the borders of the sea of 

 Azofi. They considered him the most noble who had the largest 

 head. I wonder if this is the real origin of our term " long 

 headed," for shrewd and clever? The fashion of modifying the 

 shape of the head is very widely spread, and exists in Asia, Africa, 

 and America ; now, of course only among more or less savage 

 tribes The prevailing fashion is the conical head, though some 

 tribes prefer the head flattened from the front and back, or laterally. 

 Even in France or England the fashion of compressing the head in 

 infancy with circular bandages has existed within the memory of 

 living men. The prevalence of bald heads is attributed to the 

 wearing of tight hard hats, and in former days to wearing night 

 caps. The usual method of compression is to place the baby's 

 bead between two flat boards which are hinged at one end, and 

 gradually to increase the pressure by tightening the side strings. 

 When the fond mother has produced the coveted deformity, she 

 feels she has really done her duty towards her offspring. 



From the head to the hair is an easy transition, and as the hair 

 lends itself so readily to all changes, so there is positively 

 no limit to the fantastic tricks which are played with it. 

 With most nations the hair is considered an ornament, and a 

 luxuriant head of hair becoming to a woman. The Fijian ladies. 



