in their lower lips, often weighing two, three, or four ounces, 

 which drag down and overt the lip, and expose the teeth and 

 gums. These plugs are made of polished wood, bone, or agate ; the 

 effect to our ideas can hardly be pleasing. Some insert round solid 

 discs of wood or metal, which are gradually enlarged as the child 

 grows. Some of the African tribes (notably the Bongos) treat the 

 upper lip in the same way and gradually enlarge the slit which it is 

 made in it in early life, till it will hold a discs of polished wood or 

 metal as large as half-a-crown ; then when the upper lip is quite 

 horizontal, and the lower lip perforated with a large conical plug of 

 hard stone or agate (something like aBelemnite), and the head is 

 nicely shaved or scraped ; then and only then the lady considers 

 herself " properly dressed." It is true she has to hold up her 

 upper lip with one hand before she can drink, but that is a small 

 price to pay for adornment. Some tribes consider a large copper 

 ring, such as are used for bulls, a great ornament, and of course 

 we are all familiar with the noserings worn by Ayahs when they come 

 over from India. I do not know that they are any more useless 

 and absurd than earrings. Some of the Musgoo women wear a 

 clamp or clasp of metal at each corner of the mouth, presumably 

 to lessen its dimensions, an object, to judge from my recollection 

 of African mouths, not altogether unworthy. It is a very curious 

 and interesting fact that so many arbitrary and quite useless 

 customs should be common to races living in different quarters of 

 the globe, and without any means of communication. If it points 

 to community of origin it carries back fashion to a very remote 

 antiquity, when the human race first began to spread itself over 

 the earth's surface, and speaks volumes for the vitality of any 

 custom however senseess when once produced. 



It is difficult for a man and a doctor to speak with moderation on 

 the subject of the unsightly and pernicious practice of pressing the 

 ribs and waist, which is in vogue in all civilised countries. I will, 

 however, endeavour to be moderate, as I believe no cause, not even 

 the highest and holiest, is really served by intemperate language. I 

 will endeavour to explain, thoagh I know it will be useless, some 

 of the more direct consequences of compressing and displacing 

 such vital organs as the liver, stomach, heart, etc. ; many of the 

 more indirect consequences would require too long a medical ex- 

 planation, and would be of too technical a nature. Briefly then, the 

 ribs are compressed, and the chest or thorax is so altered in shape 

 that from being like a ^ with base below, it is converted into a V 

 with the base above, thus diminishing its capacity and interfering 

 with the action of the lungs ; the liver is displaced downwards. 

 The diaphragm is prevented descending as it should in inspiration, 

 and the heart is thus pressed on and impeded in its action, the soft 



