OCR Text |
Show 352 SEXUAL SELECTION: l\1AN. J'ART JiJ. "a broad, well-rounded oceiput is consiflered a great " ueau1y" by the natives of the Fiji islands.04 As with the skull, so with the nose; the nncient Huns tluring the age of Attila were accustomed to flatten tho noses of their infants with baudag s, " for tho sake "of exaggerating a natnral conformation." With the Tahitians, to be called long-nose is considered as an in ult, and they compress tbo noses and foreheads of their children for tho sake of beauty. So it is wW1 the Malays of Sumatra, the Hottentots, certain N egroeR, aml the natives of Brazil.65 Tho Chinese have b:r nature unusually small feet; 00 and it is well known that tho womou of the npper classes distort their feet to make them still smaller. Lastly, Humboldt thinks that the American Indians prefer colouring their bodies with red paint in order to exaggerate their natural tint; and until recently Buropean women added to their naturally bright colours by rouge and white cosmetics ; but I doubt whether many barbarous nations have had a11y such intention in painting themselves. In the fashions of our own dress we see exactly the same principle and the same desire to carry every point to an extreme ; we exhibit, also, tho same spirit of emulation. But the fashions of savages are far more pel'mancnt than ours; and whenever their bodies are tH On tlJO sintlls of tho American tribes, sec Nott nnd Gliclrlm1, ''l'~· pcs of Mankin<l,' 1 54, p. 440; Prichanl, 'Pliys. IJist. of Manhincl,' vol. i. flrtl edit. p. :vn ; on the natives of Arnldum, iui<l. vol. iv. p. !i37. Wilson, 'Phys:enl Ethnology,' Rmitl1soninn Institution, 1863, p. ~88; on tho Fijians, p. 200. Sir J. Lubbock(' Prehistoric 'l'imos,' 2nd edit. 18GD, p. 50G) gives nn excollout resume on this subject. «l On the Huns, Godron, 'Do l'Espcce,' tom. ii. 1859, p. 300. On iho Tttldtians, Wnilz, 'Anthropolog.' Eng. lrnnslnt. vol. i. p. 305. 1\br den, quoted 1y l)richunl, · Phys. Ilist. of Mnnkind,' 3nl edit. vol. v. p. 67. J,nwr nee, 'Lrctures on Physiology,' p. 337. uo 'J'his fact was nscertninod in the 'Roiso der • ot•ara: Ant! roro~og. 'l'heil,' Dr. Weisbncl1, 1867, s. 2G5. CHAP. XIX. BEAUTY. 353 artificially mocliliccl this is necessarily tho case. The .Arab women of tho Upper Nile oecupy about three days in dressing their hair; they never imitate other triLcs, ''but simply vic with each other in tho superlativeness "of their own style." Dr. Wilson, in speaking of tho compressed skulls of various American races, adds, ''such "u-;agos arc among the least eradicable, and long sur" vivo tho shook of revolutions that chango dynasties " aud efface more important national peculiarities." 67 Tho same principle comes largely into play in the art of selection; and we can thns understand, as I have elsewhore cxplained,08 the wonderful development of all tho n1ces of animals and plants which are kept merely for ornament. Fanciers always wish each character to be somewhat increased; they do not admire a medium standard ; they coi·tainly do not desire any groat ancl abrupt change in the character of their breeds; they n,clmire solely what they are arcustomocl to behold, Lnt they ardently desire to see each characteristic feature a 1 ittle more developed. No doubt tho pc1·coptive powers of man and tho lower animals are so constituted that brilliant colours and certain forms, as well as harmonious and rhythmical ~o~mds, give pleasure and are called beautifnl; Lut why tins should be so, we know no more than why certain bodily sensations are agreeable and others disn~Teeablc. It is certainly not true that there is in tho mind of mu.n any universal RtanCiard of beauty with respect to tho human body. It is, however, possible that certain tnstes may in tho course of time become inherited, though I know of no evidence in fa,·our of this belief; 01 'Smithsonian Institution, 18G3, p. 289. On tho fashions of Arnh women, ir ~. Baker, ''fho Nilo Tributaries ' J 867 p. 121. "~ 'Tho Variation of Animnls nnd Plants ~mder Domestication' \·ol i p. 214; vol. ii. p. 240. ' · ' YOL. II. 2 A |