578 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



oring their bodies with red paint in order to exaggerate their 

 natural tint; and until recently European women added to their 

 naturally bright colors by rouge and white cosmetics; but it may 

 be doubted whether barbarous nations have generally had any 

 such intention in painting themselves. 



In the fashions of our own dress we see exactly the same prin- 

 ciple and the same desire to carry every point to an extreme; 

 we exhibit, also, the same spirit of emulation. But the fashions 

 of savages are far more permanent than ours; and whenever 

 their bodies are artificially modified, this is necessarily the case. 

 The Arab women of the Upper Nile occupy about three days in 

 dressing their hair; they never imitate other tribes, "but simply 

 "vie with each other in the superlativeness of their own style." 

 Dr. Wilson, in speaking of the compressed skulls of various 

 American races, adds, "such usages are among the least eradi- 

 "cable, and long survive the shock of revolutions that change 

 "dynasties and efface more important national peculiarities."" 

 The same principle comes into play in the art of breeding; and 

 we can thus understand, as I have elsewhere explained,'* the 

 wonderful development ot the many races of animals and plants, 

 which have been kept merely for ornament. Fanciers always 

 wish each character to be somewhat increased; they do not ad- 

 mire a medium standard; they certainly do not desire any great 

 and abrupt change in the character of their breeds; they admire 

 solely what they are accustomed to, but they ardently desire to 

 see each characteristic feature a little more developed. 



The senses of man and of the lower animals seem to be so 

 constituted that brilliant colors and certain forms, as well as 

 harmonious and rhythmical sounds, give pleasure and are called 

 beautiful; but why this should be so, we know not. It is cer- 

 tainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal 

 standard of beauty with respect to the human body. It is, how- 

 ever, possible that certain tastes may in the course of time become 

 inherited, though there is no evidence in favor of this belief; and 

 if so, each race would possess its own innate ideal standard of 

 beauty. It has been argued''' that ugliness consists in an approach 

 to the structure of the lower animals, and no doubt this is partly 

 true with the more civilized nations, in which intellect is highly 

 appreciated; but this explanation will hardly apply to all forms 

 of ugliness. The men of each race prefer what they are ac- 

 customed to; they cannot endure any great change; but they 



'" 'Smithsonian Institution,' 1863, p. 289. On the fashions of Arab 

 women, Sir S. Baker, 'The Nile Tributaries,' 1867, p. 121. 



■" 'The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. t 

 p. 214; vol. il. p. 240. 



'" Schaaffhausen, 'Archiv. fur Anthropologie,' 1866, Si 164. 



