"The most remarkable trait of beauty in the East," wrote Sonnini,
"is to have large black eyes, and nature has made this a
characteristic sign of the women of these countries. But, not
content with this, the women of Egypt wish their eyes to be still
larger and blacker. To attain this Mussulmans, Jewesses, and
Christians, rich and poor, all tint their eyelids with galena.
They also blacken the lashes (as Juvenal tells us the Roman
ladies did) and mark the angles of the eye so that the fissure
appears larger." (Sonnini, _Voyage dans la Haute et Basse
Egypte_, 1799, vol. i, p. 290.) Kohl is thus only used by the
women who have what the Arabs call "natural kohl." As Flinders
Petrie has found, the women of the so-called "New Race," between
the sixth and tenth dynasties of ancient Egypt, used galena and
malachite for painting their faces. Jewish women in the days of
the prophets painted their eyes with kohl, as do some Hindu women
to-day.
"The Ainu have a great affection for their beards. They regard
them as a sign of manhood and strength and consider them as
especially handsome. They look upon them, indeed, as a great and
highly prized treasure.
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