576 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



alone of the Bllice group "the men are heavily bearded, and not 

 "a little proud thereof."" 



We thus see how widely the different races of man differ in 

 their taste for the beautiful. In every nation sufficiently advanced 

 to have made efBgies of their gods or of their deified rulers, the 

 sculptors no doubt have endeavored to express their highest ideal 

 of beauty and grandeur." Under this point of view it is well to 

 compare in our mind the Jupiter or Apollo of the Greeks with the 

 Egyptian or Assyrian statues; and these with the hideous bas- 

 reliefs on the ruined buildings of Central America. 



I have met with very few statements opposed to this conclusion. 

 Mr. Winwood Reade, however, who has had ample opportunities 

 for observation, not only with tlfe negroes of the West Coast of 

 Africa, but with those of the interior who have never associated 

 with Europeans, is convinced that their ideas of beauty are on 

 the whole the same as ours; and Dr. Rohlfs writes to me to the 

 same effect with respect to Bornu and the countries inhabited by 

 the Pullo tribes. Mr. Reade found that he agreed with the negroes 

 in their estimation of the beauty of the native girls; and that 

 their appreciation of the beauty of European women corresponded 

 with ours. They admire long hair, and use artificial means to 

 make it appear abundant; they admire also a beard, though 

 themselves very scantily provided. Mr. Reade feels doubtful what 

 kind of nose is most appreciated: a girl has been heard to say, 

 "I do not want to marry him, he has got no nose;" and this shows 

 that a very fiat nose is not admired. We should, however, bear 

 in mind that the depressed, broad noses and projecting jaws of 

 the negroes of the West Coast are exceptional types with the 

 inhabitants of Africa. Notwithstanding the foregoing statements, 

 Mr. Reade admits that negroes "do not like the color of our skin; 

 "they look on blue eyes with aversion, and they think our noses 

 "too long and our lips too thin." He does not think it probable 

 that negroes would ever prefer the most beautiful European 

 woman, on the mere grounds of physical admiration, to a good- 

 looking negress."* 



™ Dr. Barnard Davis quotes Mr. Prichard and others for these facts 

 in regard to the Polynesians, in 'Anthropological •Eevlew," April, 1870, 

 p. 185. 191. 



"' Ch. Comte has remarks to this effect In his 'Tralte de Legislation,' 

 3rd edit. 1837, p. 136. 



«8The 'African Slietch Book,' vol. ii. 1873, pp. 253, 394, 521. The 

 Fuegians, as I have been informed by a missionary who long resided 

 with them, consider European women as extremely beautiful; but 

 from what we have seen of the Judgment of the other aborigines of 

 America, I cannot but think that this must be a mistake, unless in- 

 deed the statement refers to the few Puegians who have lived for some 

 time with Europeans, and who must consider us as superior beings. I 



