Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 27.djvu/445

Rh delicate secretions of the dark skin in warm countries. . . . The germs of European vices are carried too often with European clothes. It is a fact significant of more than female conservatism, to which Mr. Herbert Spencer attributes it, that generally the women of a nude tribe are the last to adopt the fashion of putting on clothes. They are always reluctant, and sometimes show such shame in their first dress as a European would feel without clothing. In many parts of India there is a profound suspicion of the irreligiousness of clothing. The fakir is distressed even by the regulation rag upon which the Government modestly insists, and a fully dressed fakir would be scouted. The late Brahmo minister, Keshub Chunder Sen, expressed the belief that India would never accept a Christ in hat and boots. The missionary should remember that clothes-morality is climatic, and that, if a certain degree of covering of the body has gradually become, in the Northwest, associated with morality and piety, the traditions of tropical countries may have equally connected elaborate dress rather with the sensualities of Solomon in his glory than with the purity of the lily as clothed by Nature."

Persian Carpets.—According to a report by Consul-General Benjamin, of Teheran, the Persian carpets, the manufacture of which constitutes one of the most important features of the industries and commerce of the country, are woven chiefly by the women and children of the peasantry in the villages. A countryman will have a rug made in his own house, and will then take it to the nearest town and sell it for what it will bring. The rooms of the peasantry are small, and hence the rugs are commonly small. Of late years, a larger carpet has been manufactured for the foreign market. Four kinds of carpets are made, large ones and small ones or rugs, the ghileems, and the umad, or felt carpets. Most of the carpets intended for the covering of floors, of whatever size, are produced in the central province of Irak and in the districts of Sarravend, Garrouste, and Malahir, and are known by the generic name of pharaghan. They are more solid and massive than other Persian carpets, and arc adapted for rooms of large size. Large Persian carpets, which deviate from the usual shape, are made to order, and for an increased price. There are numerous varieties of Persian rugs. In some classes, such as Turkoman, there is general similarity of design, although no two rugs are altogether identical. In other classes, such as the rugs of Kerwan, Dyochegan, or Kurdistan, there is endless variety in design or texture. The colors formerly used in the rugs of Persia were imperishable, and rugs a hundred years old show no deterioration in tint. The introduction of aniline dyes at one time threatened the ruin of the manufacture of textile fabrics, but the use of those dyes has been forbidden by law. The ghileem, which is largely made in the province of Kurdistan, has a pattern identical on both sides, with firm and brilliant colors, and designs often of extraordinary beauty. Their lightness and flexibility qualify them for portières and table and sofa covers, and render them easy for transportation. The namâds, or felt carpets, are made by forming a frame of the thickness required, or by excavating a space in the ground-floor of a size and depth corresponding with those of the intended fabric. The hair is laid in this and beaten out with mallets, and a design of colored threads is then beaten into the upper surface. Silk rugs are peculiar to Persia, and are rare and expensive, although rugs of the finer types, with silken fringes and sometimes with a woof of silk in the body of the rug, are not uncommon.

Brazilian Oranges.—Oranges flourish and are profitable in all parts of Brazil, and the exportation of them amounts to several millions annually. The Umbigo, the favorite variety at Bahia, is without seeds, large, sweet, and delicious, begins to ripen about May, and lasts till September. The most common and popular kind at Rio Janeiro is the Siletta, which has a sweet and delicate flavor. The Tangerina is a smaller variety than the Siletta, many-seeded and ripening at about the same time, and has a deep orange-colored skin that breaks easily in peeling, with an aromatic odor. The orange orchards are generally situated on low and sandy land, convenient to transportation by water. The trees are planted along from February to May, about fifteen feet apart,