SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MAN 741 



the Botocudos and Lenguas of South America the hole is 

 gradually so much enlarged that the lower edge touches 

 the shoulder. In North and South America and in Africa 

 either the upper or lower lip is pierced ; and with the Boto- 

 cudos the hole in the lower lip is so large that a disk of 

 wood, four inches in diameter, is placed in it. Mantegazza 

 gives a curious account of the shame felt by a South Amer- 

 ican native, and of the ridicule which he excited, when he 

 sold his iembeia — the large colored piece of wood which is 

 passed through the hole. In Central Africa the women 

 perforate the lower lip and wear a crystal, which, from 

 the movement of the tongue, has "a wriggling motion, in- 

 describably ludicrous during conversation." The wife of 

 the chief of Latooka told Sir S. Baker" that Lady Baker 

 "would be much improved if she would extract her four 

 front teeth from the lower jaw, and wear the long-pointed, 

 polished crystal in her under lip. ' ' Further south with the 

 Makalolo, the upper lip is perforated, and a large metal and 

 bamboo ring, called a peleU, is worn in the hole. "Thia 

 caused the lip in one case to project two inches beyond 

 the tip of the nose; and when the lady smiled the contrac- 

 tion of the. muscles elevated it over the eyes. 'Why do the 

 women wear these things?' the venerable chief, Ohinsurdi, 

 was asked. Evidently surprised at such a stupid question, 

 he replied, 'For beauty! They are the only beautiful things 

 women have; men have beards, women have none. What 

 kind of a person would she be without the peloid? She 

 would not be a woman at all with a mouth like a man, but 

 no beard.' "" 



Hardly any part of the body which can be unnaturally 

 modified has escaped. The amount of suffering thus caused 

 must have been extreme, for many of the operations require 

 several years for their completion, so that the idea of their 

 necessity must be imperative. The motives are various; the 



« "Tho Albert N'yanza," 1866, vol. i. p. 217. 



" Livingstoae, "British Association," 1860; report given in tiie "Athe- 

 nteum," July 1, 1860, p. 29. 



Descent — Vol. n. — 14 



