fashion." As among the ancients, the process is begun soon after the birth of the child, and continued for from eight to twelve months, until the head has permanently assumed the desired shape. Mr. Kane, who had considerable opportunities for observation, has remarked, "It might be supposed that the operation would be attended with great suffering, but I, never heard the infants crying or moaning, although I have seen their eyes seemingly starting out of the sockets from the great pressure; but, on the contrary, when the thongs were loosened and the pads removed, I have noticed them cry until they were replaced."
I have referred at length to this practice of deforming the head by pressure, because it throws great light on that other and equally barbaric practice of deforming the waist by tight bandages or stays., (See Plates 2 and 4.)
In reply to a remark that either of these practices is injurious, a similar answer would be made either by the Chinook Indian or the European modiste, and that answer would be, "It is nonsense to say that it can be injurious, when it is not even painful."
The reason of this immunity from pain is to be found in the marvellous adaptability of living things to their surroundings. In our sensations Nature has provided us with a code of danger signals, of which pain is the index. Thus, a sound loud enough to be painful is a warning that, if we continue to hear it, injury will result to the delicate auditory apparatus; a light strong enough to be dazzling
