The origin and development of the moral ideas

We commonly find that savages who are clean in certain respects are dirty in others. The Wanyoro bathe frequently and always wash their hands before and after eating, but their dwellings are very filthy and swarm with vermin.19 The Nagas of India20 and the natives of the interior of Sumatra,21 though cleanly in their persons, are very dirty in their apparel. The Mayas of Central America make frequent use of cold water, but neither in their persons nor in their dwellings do they present an appearance of cleanliness.22 So also the Californian Indians, whilst exceedingly fond of bathing, are unclean about their lodges and clothing.23 The Aleuts, though they wash daily, allow dirt to be piled up close to their dwellings, prepare their food very carelessly, and never wash their household utensils.24 The New Zealander, again, whilst not over-clean in his person, is very particular respecting his food and also keeps his dwelling in as much order as possible.25 On the other hand there are very many uncivilised peoples who are described as generally filthy in their habits—for instance, the Fuegians,26 many Indian tribes in the Pacific States,27 several Eskimo tribes,28 various Siberian peoples,29 the Ainu of Japan,30 most hill tribes in India,31 many Australian tribes,32 the Bushmans,33 and, generally, the dwarf races of Africa.34 But although these peoples never or hardly ever wash their bodies, or do not change their dress until it is worn to pieces, or eat out of the same vessels as their dogs without cleaning them, or feed on disgusting substances, or regard vermin as a

The prevalence of cleanly or dirty habits among a certain people may depend on a variety of circumstances: the occupations of life, sufficiency or want of water, climatic conditions, industry or laziness, wealth or poverty, religious or superstitious beliefs. Castrén observes that filthiness is a characteristic of fishing peoples; among the Ostyaks only those who live by fishing are conspicuous for their uncleanliness, whereas the nomads and owners of reindeer are not.35 It has been observed that the inland negro is clean when he dwells in the neighbourhood of rivers.36 In West Australia those tribes only which live by large rivers or near the sea are said to have an idea of cleanliness.37 Concerning the filthy habits of the Kukis and other hill peoples in India, Major Butler remarks that they may probably be accounted for by the scarcity of water in the neighbourhood of the villages, as also by the coldness of the climate.38 Dr.

Kane believes that the indifference of many Eskimo to dirt or filth is largely due to the extreme cold, which by rapid freezing resists putrefaction and thus prevents the household, with its numerous dogs, from being intolerable.39 Their well-known habit of washing themselves with freshly passed urine arises partly from scarcity of water and the difficulty of heating it, but partly also from the fact that the ammonia of the urine is an excellent substitute for soap in removing the grease with which the skin necessarily becomes soiled.40 A cold climate, moreover, leads to uncleanliness because it makes garments necessary;41 and among some savages the practice of greasing their bodies to protect the skin from the effects of a parching air produces a similar result.42 Lord Kames maintains that the greatest promoter of cleanliness is industry, whereas its greatest antagonist is indolence.

In Holland, he observes, the people were cleaner than all their neighbours because they were more industrious, at a time when in England industry was as great a stranger as cleanliness.43 Kolben says that the general laziness of the Hottentots accounts for the fact that “they are in the matter of diet the filthiest people in the world.”44 Of the Siberian Burats Georgi writes that “from their laziness they are as dirty as swine”;45 and the Kamchadales are described as a “dirty, lazy race.”46 Poverty, also, is for obvious reasons a cause of uncleanliness;47 “a starving vulture neglects to polish his feathers, and a famished dog has a ragged coat.”48 Very commonly cleanliness is a class distinction.49 Thus among the Point Barrow Eskimo the poorer people are often careless about their clothes and persons, whereas most of the wealthier individuals appear to take pride in being well clad, and, except when actually engaged in some dirty work, always have their faces and hands scrupulously clean and their hair neatly combed.50 Dr. Schweinfurth maintains that domestic cleanliness and care in the preparation of food are everywhere signs of a higher grade of external culture and answer to a certain degree of intellectual superiority.51 But already Lord Kames pointed out the fact indicated above, that “cleanness is remarkable in several nations which have made little progress in the arts of life.”52