The Descent of Man

persuade some girls to give up the practice,
they answered, "We must just have a few lines
on our lips; else when we grow old we shall be
so very ugly." With the men of New Zealand, a
most capable judge (51. Rev. R. Taylor, 'New
Zealand and its Inhabitants,' 1855, p. 152.) says,
"to have fine tattooed faces was the great ambition
of the young, both to render themselves
attractive to the ladies, and conspicuous in
war." A star tattooed on the forehead and a
spot on the chin are thought by the women in
one part of Africa to be irresistible attractions.
(52. Mantegazza, 'Viaggi e Studi,' p. 542.) In
most, but not all parts of the world, the men are
more ornamented than the women, and often
in a different manner; sometimes, though rarely,
the women are hardly at all ornamented. As
the women are made by savages to perform the
greatest share of the work, and as they are not
allowed to eat the best kinds of food, so it accords
with the characteristic selfishness of man
that they should not be allowed to obtain, or