The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1872-08-28
An Article upon Noses.

The following reads very much like Knox Of
Kentucky, who gave such glowing account of
Duluth, Pegans and Bufaloes in Congress some
two years ago. We trust, too, if it Is Mr.. Knox,
that his constituents will have the good sense to
elect him, irres pective OF party" as so brilliant
genius should not be allowed to vegetate in any
country town in Kentucky or any where else:
candidate for Congressional honors SAID ::
" These, gentlemen, are my settled convictions ;
but if they don't please, they can be altered"
We always thought that peoples noses were as
settled as anything belonging TO them, but it seems
they also can be altered if they do not happen to
please. A Paris paper mentioned the other day
that Frenchman had invented machine for the
purpose; but in a London paper We observe that
such machine is already offered to the public,
the address OF the vendor given and the price
fixed at ten shings and six pence This con-
trivance," it is set forth, applied to the nose
for an hour daily, so directs the soft cartilage Of
which the member consists, that an Informed
nose is quickly shaped to perfection" Nay,
more. We find in a number Of clever though
defunct Quarterly, called the Rectangular Review,
a statement made on professional authority, that
instruments Of the kind have been known for
some time past and are in not uncommon use.
1.-The principal object" said the commitment,
must be to be able to adjust the instrument in
such way as to give pressure in certain parts,
but in those parts only. For instance, if the
nose be Thin at the point and large at the base,
the pressure must not be at the tip, but at the
base Of the nose. And the difficulty has been
in so contriving an instrument that it might be
set to any gauge, and kept at that until the OBJ
ject for which it has been used has been attained.
This difficulty is now overcome, and we are max
ing neat instruments that can be used without
disagreeable pressure and that will effect the OBJ
ject 10 q remarkably short time" Since this
communication was made to the writer in the
Rectangular, the machines seem to have become
better known, and to Judge by the advertisements,
they are likely to become better known still.
With such means of defeating nature, what will
become of the nose as an index Of character?
Fancy the great Duke of Wellington with re-
trousse-who would have given him credit for
military genius He would probably have been
neglected, and left the army in disgust. How,
too, could Napoleon have selected his generals
had they tempered with him in a similar way
Even in private life, Inconvenience suggest them
selves. How are We to be on our guard against
every saucy young lady who CHOICES to mount
severe aquiline or against a young lady who
chooses to tempt You with a turn-up? But we
suspect that these improvers, if they be prac-
ticable at all, can apply only to very early life
The cartilage Of the nose in full grown people
must have toleraby strong will of its own, and
one would fancy, is not to be forced out Of its
shape without some awkward consequences. As
for children, when very young their noses may
be made much what their parents and nurses
choose. Not, Of course, as regards size, but as
regards shape. In India you continually see ma
tive mothers and Ayahs manipulating the noses
of the babies IN their charge those features being
never allowed to grow wild, but subject to train
ing like young tree. Hence, We may suppose
the absence among most natives of India of the
misshapen frOntispieces which are so common in
this country.