1S6 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



&quot;The covering of the head and the upper part of the body, to 

 protect them from the weather and the enemy s weapons, originally 

 consisted of the hide of wild animals. Thus the hunter s trophy 

 became the warrior s armour. . . . The same custom prevailed 

 amongst Germanic nations, and seems to have been adopted by the 

 liomaii standard-bearers and trumpeters, as is proved by the monu 

 ments of the Imperial period.&quot; 



&quot;Whence it is inferable that the honourableness of the badge 

 and of the dress, simultaneously arise from the honourable- 

 ness of the trophy. That possession of a skin-dress passes 

 into a class-distinction, I find no direct proof; though, as 

 the skins of formidable beasts often become distinctive 

 of chiefs, it seems probable that skins in general become 

 distinctive of a dominant class where a servile class 

 exists. Indeed, in a primitive society there unavoidably 

 arises this contrast between those who, engaged in the 

 chase when not engaged in war, can obtain skin-garments, 

 and those who, as slaves, are debarred from doing so 

 by their occupation. Hence, possibly, the interdicts in 

 mediaeval Europe against the wearing of furs by the inferior 

 classes. 



Even apart from this it is inferable that since, by taking 

 his clothes, nakedness is commonly made a trait of the pris 

 oner, and consequently of the slave, relative amount of 

 clothing becomes a class-distinction. In some cases there 

 result exaggerations of the difference thus incidentally aris 

 ing. Where the inferior are clothed, the superior distin 

 guish themselves by being more clothed. Cook says of the 

 Sandwich Islanders that quantity of clothing is a mark of 

 position, and of the Tongans he says the same; while he tells 

 us that in Tahiti, the higher classes signify their rank by 

 wearing a large amount of clothing at great inconvenience 

 to themselves. A kindred case occurs in Africa. Accord 

 ing to Laird, &quot; on all great occasions it is customary for the 

 king &quot; of Eimdah &quot; and his attendants to puff themselves 

 out to a ridiculous size with cotton wadding. 7 And the 

 Arabs furnish an allied fact. In Ivaseem &quot; it is the fashion 



