It is said that this important
ceremony is not essential in virgins. One of the ceremonies of
assuming the toga virilis among the indigenous Australians
consists in submitting to having each particular hair plucked
singly from the body, the candidate being required not to display
evidences of pain during the operation. Formerly the Japanese
women at marriage blackened their teeth and shaved or pulled out
their eyebrows.
The custom of boring the ear is very old, mention of it being
made in Exodus xxi., 5 and 6, in which we find that if a Hebrew
servant served for six years, his freedom was optional, but if he
plainly said that he loved his master, and his wife and children,
and did not desire to leave their house, the master should bring
him before the judges; and according to the passage in Exodus,
"he shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost, and
his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall
serve him forever." All the Burmese, says Sangermano, without
exception, have the custom of boring their ears. The days when
the operations were performed were kept as festivals. The
ludicrous custom of piercing the ears for the wearing of
ornaments, typical of savagery and found in all indigenous
African tribes, is universally prevalent among our own people.
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