and
functions of the organs. If these latter are capable of being improved,
of having their functions developed and of acquiring more strength (as,
for example, the muscles of boxers, the breast of foot racers, the voice
of singers, etc.), these same organs, on the contrary, can be atrophied
or modified, and their functions be changed in nature. It is in such
degradation and such degeneration of human nature that fakirs excel, and
it is from such a point of view that they are worth studying.

We may, so to speak, class these individuals according to the grades of
punishments that they inflict upon themselves, or according to the
deformities that they have caused themselves to undergo. But, as we have
already said, the number of both of these is extremely varied, each
fakir striving in this respect to eclipse his fellows. It is only
necessary to open a book of Indian travel to find descriptions of fakirs
in abundance; and such descriptions might seem exaggerated or unlikely
were they not so concordant. The following are a few examples:

_Immovable fakirs_.--The number of these is large. They remain immovable
in the spot they have selected, and that too for an exceedingly long
period of time. An example of one of these is cited who remained
standing for twelve years, his arms crossed upon his breast, without
moving and without lying or sitting down. In such cases charitable
persons always take it upon themselves to prevent the fakir from dying
of starvation. Some remain sitting, immovable, and apparently lifeless,
while others, who lie stretched out upon the ground, look like corpses.
It may be easily imagined what a state one of these beings is in after a
few months or years of immobility. He is extremely lean, his limbs are
atrophied, his body is black with filth and dust, his hair is long and
dishevelled, his beard is shaggy, his finger and toe nails have become
genuine claws, and his aspect is frightful. This, however, is a
character common to all fakirs.

We may likewise class among the immovables those fakirs who cause
themselves to be interred up to the neck, and who remain thus with their
head sticking out of the ground either during the entire time the fair
or fete lasts or for months and years.

_Anchylotic Fakirs_.--The number of fakirs who continue to hold one or
both arms outstretched is very large in India. The following description
of one of them is given by a traveler: "He was a goussain--a religious
m