What a barbarism to bore a hole in the flesh, and stick in a
trinket. I have seen several ears in which the ring had cut its way
out, making a slit, and a new hole had been punched in one of the
pieces.
Men have fallen into this vulgar barbarism. American savages offer
many instances of men with gold or silver trinkets in the ears. But
among lower savages in different parts of the world the custom is
quite general, and many of them add an ornament in the nose.
My own wife, in her girlhood, had her ears pierced, but I have never
seen them embellished with trinkets.