Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/230

220 pigments, preferably of the brighter colors, feathers of brilliant hues, spotted or glossy skins and furs of animals, beads, shells, shining or colored stones and bits of metal, together with various oils, ointments, and perfumes, all designed to please the sense of sight or of smell. To the same end various mutilations of the body were endured, such as tattooing, or piercing the lips, nose, cheeks, or ears for the insertion of rings or pieces of fancy stone or metal. The neck, also, ankles, wrists, and fingers were used as convenient places for the attachment of ornaments, such as rings of gold or strings of shell or precious stones. The hair, too, was left uncut and tied up in various fantastic ways, and decorated with shells, beads, and gold and silver ornaments. Almost equally early, however, dress was made to serve another purpose than that of pleasing the senses of the beholder. It was used as a means of gaining favor and power by serving as a symbol of the wealth of the wearer. Hence those feathers, skins, and furs which were most rare and difficult to obtain were preferred, and those metals and stones which were not only brilliant but costly, such as gold, silver, diamonds, and rubies. In the manner of wearing this ornamental dress, neither protection nor concealment of the person was so much considered as display. The loose and flowing garments often impeded the movements of the wearer, so that in hours of work or warfare they must often be left behind. In inclement weather, also, they were often laid away, as it was considered more important to protect the dress itself than the person. Starting with these primitive ideas, the evolution of dress has shown a steady progress from display to utility. Clothing tends to be substituted for dress and to have for its end the protection and comfort of the body. Paint, feathers, and pieces of stone and metal tend to disappear as useless. The gaudy colors of the savage, the purple of chiefs and kings, the white of the Romans, give place to the plainer and more useful grays and blacks. Tattooing and other mutilations disappear, skins and furs are replaced by the more comfortable woven cloths, the flowing and dragging robes give way to the close-fitting garment which impedes the movements as little as possible, and the hair is cut shorter for convenience and economy of time. Together with these changes we notice that the symbolic character of dress disappears, so that less and less is it possible to judge of a person's wealth by his attire. It should be observed that none of these ends toward which the evolution of dress is tending have been fully realized even in the most civilized societies, but the civilization of any people is largely judged by the extent to which these ends have been realized.

In the light of these principles the theory of woman's arrested or retarded development receives, it is said, much confirmation.