Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4: Sexual Selection In ManEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4: Sexual Selection In Man
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
So far we have been concerned mainly with the tactile kiss, which is
sometimes supposed to have arisen in remote times to the east of the
Mediterranean--where the vassal kissed his suzerain and where the kiss of
love was known, as we learn from the Songs of Songs, to the Hebrews--and
has now conquered nearly the whole of Europe. But over a much larger part
of the world and even in one corner of Europe (Lapland, as well as among
the Russian Yakuts) a different kind of salutation rules, the olfactory
kiss. This varies in form in different regions and sometimes simulates a
tactile kiss, but, as it exists in a typical form in China, where it has
been carefully studied by d'Enjoy, it may be said to be made up of three
phases: (1) the nose is applied to the cheek of the beloved person; (2)
there is a long nasal inspiration accompanied by lowering of the eyelids;
(3) there is a slight smacking of the lips without the application of the
mouth to the embraced cheek. The whole process, d'Enjoy considers, is
founded on sexual desire and the desire for food, smell being the sense
employed in both fields. In the form described by d'Enjoy, we have the
Mongolian variety of the olfactory kiss. The Chinese regard the European
kiss as odious, suggesting voracious cannibals, and yellow mothers in the
French colonies still frighten children by threatening to give them the
white man's kiss. Their own kiss the Chinese regard as exclusively
voluptuous; it is only befitting as between lovers, and not only do
fathers refrain from kissing their children except when very young, but
even the mothers only give their children a rare and furtive kiss. Among
some of the hill-tribes of south-east India the olfactory kiss is found,
the nose being applied to the cheek during salutation with a strong
inhalation; instead of saying "Kiss me," they here say "Smell me." The
Tamils, I am told by a medical correspondent in Ceylon, do not kiss during
coitus, but rub noses and also lick each other's mouth and tongue. The
olfactory kiss is known in Africa; thus, on the Gambia in inland Africa
when a man salutes a woman he takes her hand and places it to his nose,
twice smelling the back of it. Among the Jekris of the Niger coast mothers
rub their babies with their cheeks or mouths, but they do not kiss them,
nor do lovers kiss, though they squeeze, cuddle, and embrace.[213] Among
the Swahilis a smell kiss exists, and very young boys are taught to raise
their clothes before women visitors, who thereupon playfully smell the
penis; the child who does this is said to "give tobacco."[214] Kissing of
any kind appears to be unknown to the Indians throughout a large part of
America: Im Thurn states that it is unknown to the Indians of Guiana, and
at the other end of South America Hyades and Deniker state that it is
unknown to the Fuegians. In Forth America the olfactory kiss is known to
the Eskimo, and has been noted among some Indian tribes, as the Blackfeet.
It is also known in Polynesia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account