aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

154 ABOUND THE WOELD.
power. When the Tartars poured down from the north,
conquering China, the shaving of the head, except the cue,
was imposed as a token of subserviency to the new dynasty.
It is now fashionable ; the more foppish adding bLack silken
braids to make their long, glossy cues more conspicuous.
The women dress their heads doubtless, as they imagine, very
artistically, combing the hair straight back, and then putting
into it a profusion of tinselings, ornaments, and artificial
flowers. The Chinese are naturally polite, the mandarins
haughty. The women paint and powder much as they do in
America.
The two sexes occupy different rooms at night, and also
eat separately: chop-sticks take the place of knives and
forks. During the first day after reaching Canton, we visited
Buddhist temples, a Confucian temple, th^e Examination Hall,
Chinese printing-offices, china-ware manufactories, embroidery
shops, native schools, the execution grounds, and the
" Temple of Horrors," where are exhibited the pictorial presentations
of the ten punishments in hell. This temple is
much frequented by tricksters and fortune-tellers. The
schools half deafened us, because the scholars all study aloud
at the same time ; some literally screaming from behind their
desks. It was Babel. Education in these primary schools
consists principally of committing to memory things worth
knowing in books ; when well committed, the teacher
explains the meaning, and the application to life.
In surgery Chinese physicians are far behind European
and for the reason they do not believe in amputations, or the
use of the knife. They diagi^ose disease by touching the
pulse. Some heal by "the laying-on of hands." They permit
their patients the use of little or no water. Much sleep
is among their recommendations. They use a vast number
of remedies, some ridiculously superstitious and useless.
They rely much upon diet, charms, faith, and the driving
away of evil spirits. Some consider these Chinese physicians
exceedingly skilful : others do not. They certainly are not