The second group of bodily deformations is that of bandagings—various and widely spread. With these we may consider some freaks of unrestrained growth. In China and Siam the fingernails are allowed to go uncut and attain great length. In China they are carefully oiled and kept in tubes; in Siam they are incased in silver tips. In China they also occur among religious ascetics. In all these the meaning is clear. The person with such nails does not and can not do ordinary manual labor. Hence they are a sign of nobility or of sanctity. The Marquesas Islander also wears his finger-nails long and pointed as a sign of
The most remarkable bandaging, however, is that of the head. Deformation of this kind has a wide range in time and space. Hippocrates speaks of it 400 b. c., and it still exists. And where has it not prevailed? It is known to have existed in the Caucasus, the Crimea, Hungary, Silesia, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Polynesia, China, and other parts of Asia. Nowhere, how-