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also grind the cutting edges of their teeth with a stone till
they all become of an equal length.
The natives of Hindostan, the Bramins in particular, are
extremely delicate in every point relating to the teeth ; every
morning when they rise, they rub them for upwards of an hour
together with a twig of the raeemiferous fig-tree, at the same
time addressing their prayers to the sun, and calling down the
blessing of heaven on themselves and their families. As
this practice is prescribed in their most ancient books of law
and divinity, we imagine it coeval with the date of their reli-
gion and government. It exhibits a curious proof of the
regard which this polished and scientific people had for the
purity and beauty of the mouth when so simple a practice
is inculcated as a law and rendered indispensable as a reli-
gious duty. The reddish cast which the constant use of the
betel and areca nut gives to the teeth of both sexes in India,
though now considered as a beautv, does not seem to have
been always regarded as such, since in their poetical works,
the lover, enumerating the charms of his mistress, never fails
to notice, as a principal attraction the whiteness and regu-
larity of her teeth.
" The cunda blossom yields to the whiteness of the teeth."
" Speak but one mild word, and the rays of thy sparkling teeth will
dispel the gloom of my fears."*
Such images as these frequently occur in the Indian Poets.
A very whimsical custom with respect to the mouth is
practised by the inhabitants of Prince William's Sound.
These people appear at first sight to have two mouths. They
make an incision in the upper lip, parallel with the mouth,
sufficiently large to admit the tongue through. When the

•Gitagovinda.