. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . sfar as the ladies areconcerned. Withincertain limits it istrue to say that thelower we descend inthe scale of civilisa-tion, the more nearlythe human race isfound to approximateto the brute creation,in the fact that it isthe sterner sex which is the more brilliantly orna-mented. Under the conditions of latter day civili-sation, of course, the position is reversed, and thevarieties of feminine adornment quite eclipse thesombre garb of mere man—the uniforms of the Services, the coats of huntsmen
. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . sfar as the ladies areconcerned. Withincertain limits it istrue to say that thelower we descend inthe scale of civilisa-tion, the more nearlythe human race isfound to approximateto the brute creation,in the fact that it isthe sterner sex which is the more brilliantly orna-mented. Under the conditions of latter day civili-sation, of course, the position is reversed, and thevarieties of feminine adornment quite eclipse thesombre garb of mere man—the uniforms of the Services, the coats of huntsmen and golfers, andthe ties and waistcoats of undergraduates, formingrare exceptions. The most primitive form of orna-ment consists in the attempt to alter the form ofthe body in order that it may approximate tosome ideal of beauty ; and, as ideals vary from tribeto tribe, and from people to people, this attempt ismade in diverse ways. To take a few examples: in Persia, among someof the Turkish and Moorish peoples, and certain >V(./.?vi/^i by Dr. Th. Koch. UANANA WOMAN. WO:\IEN OF ALL NATIONS. African and SouthAmerican tribes,the ideal of femi-nine beauty isfound in excessiveembonpoint, andthe women inconsequence suittlieir diet to tliefashion. Amongcertain of tlie in-habitants of tlicNorth-West Coastof America, a re-treating forelicadis essential to truebeauty, and theheads of infantsare deformed bymeans of a specialappliance fixed tothe cradle, so thatthey may acquirethe requisite slopefrom nose-tip tocrown. In somelocalities inSouth America tiglit bandages are wornbelow the knee in order to produce aswollen calf, and many Ideals of tribes in Africa employ arti- Beauty ^ . , ^ , Compared. hcial means to elongate the breasts. Polynesian mothersmould tlie noses of their children toprevent them from growing prominent;the Tahitians frequently said to themissionary Williams, What a pity it isthat English mothers pull the childrensnoses so much and make them so fright-fully long
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