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Show 308 SEXUAJ, SEJ,ECTION: l\IAN. I'ART II. On the 1'njl'uence of beaAtiy in determining the marriages of mankind.-In civilise<llifo m~n is lm·ge]~·, but. by no means exclusively, influenced m the chow~ of his wife by external appearance ; but we are clncfly <'oncernec1 with primeval times, and our only means of fonninO' a J'udO'ment on this subject is to study tho habits b o . If . 0f existing semi-civilised nnd savage nat1ons. It can be shewn that the men of different races prefer women havin()' certain characteristics, or conversely that tho womc~ prefer certain men, we have then to enquire whether such choice, continued during many generations, would produce any sensible effect on tho race, either on one sex or both , exes ; this latter circumstance depending on the form of inh~ritance whi~h prevails. It will be well first to shew m some detml that savagrs pay the greatest attention to their personal app arance.36 'fhat they have a passion for ornament is notorious; :md an English philosopher goes so f~tr as to maintain that clothes were first made for ornament and not for warmth. As Professor "Vait~ remarks, "however poor " and miserable man is, he finds a pleasure in adoming "himself." The extravagance of the naked Indians of South America in decorating themselves i. shewn "by "a man of large stature gaining with difficulty enough "by the labour of a fortnight to procure in exchange 3a A full anu cxcollont o.ccolmt of tho manner in whielt s:wogcs in nll parts of tho world ornament themselves is given by t110 Itnli~tn tra,·ellcr, Prof. Mantcgazza, 'Rio de la Plub, Viag~i c St.udi,' 18G7, p. 525-51:5; o.ll the following stntemonts, when olh r references ~tre not given, nrc tnken from this work Sec, also, Wttitz, 'Intro<.luot. to Anthropolog.' Eng. trnnsl. vol. i. 1863, p. 275, et passim. Lawrence also gives very full dct11ils in his 'Lectures on Pltysiology,' 1822. Since this chapter wus written Sir J. Lubbock hns published his ' Origin of Civilisation,' 1870, in which there is ani ntcrcsting chapter on tho present subject, nnd from w1lich (p. 42, 48) I have taken some facts about savages dyeing their teeth nnd hnir, nnd piercing t.heir teeth. 1CIIAP. XJX. LOVE OF ORNAMENTS. 339 "the chica necessary to paint himself red." 37 The anr-ient barbarians of Europe during tho Reindeer period brought to their caves any briUiant or singular o~jects which they happened to find. Savages at the prrsent day everywhere deck themselves wit1a plumes, necklaces, armlets, earrings, &c. They paint themselves in ;the most diversified manner. "If painted nations," as ITumboldt observes, "ha<l been examined \vith tho same ·•' attention as clothed Hations, it would have been per"' ceived that the most fertile imagination and the most "'mutable caprice have created the fashions of painting, " as well as those of garments." In one part of Afl'ica the eyelids are coloured black.; [n anGther the nails are coloured yellow or purple. In many places the hair is dyed of various tints. In difd'crent countries the teeth are stained black, red, blue, .&c., and in the lVIalay Archipelago it is thought shameful to have white teeth like those of a clog. Not one great country can be named, from the Polar regions in -the north to New Zealand in the south, in which the .aborigines do not tattoo themselves. This practice was followed by the Jews of old and by the ancient Bdtons. InAfrica some of the natives tattoo themselves, but it is much more common to raise protuberances Ly rubbing :salt into incisions made in various parts of the body; .and these are considered by the inhabitant. of Kordefan ;and Durfur "to be great persona] attractions." In the Arnb countries uo beauty can be perfect until the cheeks "'or temples have been gashed." 38 In South America, ns Humboldt remarks, "a mother would be accused of 37 Humboldt, 'Personal Narrative;' Eng. translnt. vol. iv. p. 515; •Qn the imagination shewn i:n painting the 'bocJy, p. 522; on modifying rthe form of the cnlf ot' the leg, p. 466. 38 ''fhc Nile 'fributnries,' 1867; 'The Albert N'ynnza,' 1866, vol. L lP· 218. z 2 |