Tattooing among civilized people : read before the Anthropological society of Washington, December 19, 1882

Fletcher, Robert

Tattooing among civilized
people

1 00

■C7>
■•^

'CD

"CO

TATTOOING

AMONG CIVILIZED PEOPLE.

READ BEFORE THE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON,

December 19, 1882.

BY

ROBERT FLETCHER,

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOlIETV.

WASHINGTON, D. C. :
JUDD & DETWEILER
1883.

TATTOOING

AMONG CIVILIZED PEOPLE.

READ BEFORE THE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON,

December 19, 1882,

BY

ROBERT FLETCHER.

riEST VICE-PKESIDEXT OF THE SOCIETV.

WASHINGTON, D. C. :
JUDD & DETWEILER

53

t88-,.

r^IiTuCOPlHD BY

T/

-1

boots, the face and other parts having faded out completely. Of
all colors employed, Indian ink is the most permanent, and if with
that jjigment, or with charcoal, the punctures have reached the
corium, or true skin, the design is almost certain to be indelible.
Next to the blacks, indigo is the most staying color. Tattoo marks
ma\- be removed by artificial means though they have wonderful
power of resistance. Horteloup mentions a case where a red-hot
bar of iron fell on a tattooed arm and obliterated a portion of a
ship, but even then, with a lens, the white lines completing the
rigging could be made out. The application of caustics or of
repeated vesication is partially successful, but the resource of the
criminal whose tattooed marks have been registered while he was
in prison is to alter the pattern by additional tattooing. This can
be readily done : an eagle can be changed to a female figure, or an
anchor to a serpent. Bertillon records it as the result of his exi)eri-
ence that " the cicatrices of tattooing may always be augmented
but cannot be diminished."

Some changes of the kind have been closely observed. A horse-
shoer who had become a blacksmith adroitly altered a horse-shoe
into a forge, adding two figures beating iron u])on it. A butcher,
changing his occupation, converted a bull's head into an expanded
rose. A baker had inscribed the name " Adele " upon his arm,
and when in due course of time she proved faithless, he converted
the letters into the well-known cocked hat of Napoleon.

The artifice has the sanction of antitpiity. Athenoeus relates in
book XII of his Deipnosophists that the wives of the Scythians,
exulting over the capture of a number of Thracian women, so
marked them with points that they had the appearance of being
painted. Some years later, the victims of this outrage stained the
remaining surface of their bodies in the same manner so as to pre-
sent the appearance of intentional adornment, and thus did away
with the recollection of the stigma.

In the famous Tichborne case the absence of tattooed marks
which should have been present formed one of the strongest points
against the prisoner. At the age of 1 7 Roger Tichborne had three
symbols tattooed upon his arm ; namely, a cross, an anchor, and a
heart, indicating Faith, Hope, and Charity. His friend. Lord
Bellew, frequently saw these marks, and, himself, tattooed with
Indian ink the initials R. C. T., in letters half an inch long, on
Tichborne's arm, above the svmbols. On the same occasion, with

8

the same needles and ink, Tichborne tattooed an anchor on Lord
Bellew's arm. This remained perfectly distinct 25 years later when
it was exhibited to the jury. No evidence of tattooing was dis-
coverable on the arm of "the claimant," and he had admitted
that he never was tattooed.

Where large bodies of men are thrown together, with much idle
time, it is among them that we should expect to find a custom like
tattooing most prevalent. Accordingly, it is soldiers, sailors, and,
above all, criminals, including prostitutes, who most extensively
resort to it.

As regards soldiers and sailors, the love of imitation and a desire
to emulate the adornments of their veteran comrades are doubtless
the chief motives for the practice. The designs most in vogue
with them are such as relate to the glories of their i)rofession, and
flags, cannon, ships, patriotic symbols, and amorous devices form
the stock in trade of the artist in the barracks or on shipboard.

The criminal classes furnish the most elaborate and the most
curious examples of tattooing. Of late years the study of the
criminal from a psychological point of view has been pursued with
remarkable results by certain observers. Their investigations have
been especially directed to the peculiarities of the brain, and
although the study is yet in its infancy it may be predicted that the
relations of crime to abnormal conditions of the brain, whether
congenital or acquired, will form an important part of tlie ever
expanding science of craniology.

Among the most distinguished of these observers is the professor
of medical jurisprudence at Turin, Cesar Lombroso. He is the
editor, in conjunction with Garofalo, of a journal entitled, " Ar-
chivio di psichiatria,"* the full title of which, translated, is "Archives
of disorders of the mind, penal science, and criminal anthropology,
to aid in the study of insane and criminal man." But his most
important work is "L'Uomo deliquente "*— " The criminal man
in relation to anthropology, jurisprudence, and prison discipline,"
a work of 740 pages, published in 1878. A chapter in this ex-
tremely interesting book is devoted to the subject of tattooing, and
from it. and from subse<iuent papers of Lombroso and others in the

■' Archivio di psichiatria, scienze penali ed antropologia criminale, etc. Torino.

■* L'Uomo deliquente in rappoito all' antropologia, giurispriulenza c- alle disci-
pline carcerarie. Torino. 1878. 8vo.

0

journal referred to, arc condensed some of tlie facts and statistics
about to be presented to you.

Another writer, whose researches it will be convenient to com-
pare with those of Lombroso, is Dr. A. Laca.ssagne, a French army
surgeon and the professor of medical jurisprudence at the Faculty
of Medicine at Lyons. He published, la.st year, a volume of ii6
pages, entitled " Les tatouages, etude anthropologi(|ue et medico-
legale." ^

Lombroso's observations were made on 6,784 subjects, of whom
rather more than half were soldiers and the remainder criminals,
prostitutes, and military prisoners. Of tattooed .soldiers, the larger
portion were from Lombardy and Piedmont, men of Keltic origin.

Dr. Lacassagne's observations were made in Algeria. I'here are
three battalions in the French army known as les battaillons (V Af-
riqiie. They are composed of men who have been condemned for
desertion, theft, insubordination, and other offenses. At the exjji-
ration of his sentence the offender is .sent to one of these battalions
to serve out the time he owes to the state. Dr. Lacassagne went to
work very systematically to obtain copies of the tattooing which
many of these men exhibited. He laid a piece of tracing-cloth
upon the skin and with a pencil copied the design. The cloth,
when laid upon white paper, made the drawing appear very clearly,
and with red, blue, or black ink, according to the original, he went
over the pencil lines. The tracing was finally pasted on a sheet of
card-board, on the back of which he wrote the particulars of the
case to the number of 20. These details included the name, age,
place of birth, and occupation of the subject; the date of the tat-
tooing, its locality, any change which had taken place in it, the
method employed, the coloring matter made use of, and so forth.
In this way, he obtained 1,333 transcripts of tattooing, taken from
378 persons. The variety and number of designs is especially
characteristic of prisoners. It may be laid down as a rule that
the more inveterate the crniiinal the more extensively will he be
tattooed.

As regards the region of the body chosen for the operation,
Lombroso found the palmar surface of the fore-arm to be most
frequently selected. A few were tattooed on the shoulders ; some,
generally sailors, on the breast. Miners are often tattooed on the

s Paris. 1 88 1. 8vo.

10

fingers, the design being in the sha]:)e of a ring. He found no
instance of tattooing on the back or on the geilitals, except in men
who had been in the South Seas, or who were old convicts.

Lacassagne gives the following table showing the parts of the
body operated upon in his 378 subjects :

Upon both arms and upon the abdomen I

the abdomen alone . 4

the arms and thighs 6

the l)reast alone 8

the penis 11

the whole body 29

both arms and upon the breast 45

the left arm only 59

the right arm only 88

i)oth arms 127

378

Of the designs covering the whole bodv. one consisted of the
complete uniform of a general, another of the complete uniform of
an admiral. Two instances were met with of tattooing on the face.
In one, martyr de la liberie, and a serpent, had been drawn on the
forehead ; in the other, the prophetic words le bagne ni' attend — the
galleys await me.

The part of the body selected has often a special relation to the
character of the design. Upon the abdomen, below the umbilicus,
the emblems or inscriptions were mostly erotic or obscene. In all
the eleven cases of tattooing on the penis, a boot, sometimes with
a spur on it. was the emblem adopted, and the men acknowledged
that the object was to admit of a frightful play upon words, untrans-
latable, and too vile to be repeated.

The breast is reserved for larg^ compositions, portraits, and even
verses. '

On the back are sometimes seen some very extensive pieces of
tattooing. Lacassagne describes a portrait of the Admiral Jean
Bart, which was 37 c. long by 2,Z ^- ^vide. A Joan of .\rc, 41 c.
by 39 c. .\n Abd-el-Kader, 30 ( . b\- 30 c.

Upon the buttocks, obscene designs were mostly found, a com-
mon one being a serpent in nmiierous folds with the head directed
to the anus. In anotlier instance, a large eye was drawn on each
buttock. In another, two zouaves crossing bayonets and supjjort-
ing a scroll inscril>ed on n' entre pas. A portrait of Bismarck or of

n

a Prussian soldier was not unusual, the locality indi( ating a patriotic
contempt for the enemies of France.

Sailors who have visited many countries furnish, in some instances,
by the marks on their bodies, a chronologv of their career ; a certain
tree indicates a troi)ical country; a certain color, some particular
island ; tattooing by incisions, instead of pricking, indicates a visit
to New Zealand or to some parts of Africa. Berchon had seen
more than 50 men completely covered with designs. Several sailors
had a squadron of vessels on the back with the waves (jf the sea
spread over the buttocks. In addition, their chests, arms, and legs
were also covered with designs. One sailor carried upon his body
the certificates of his constant rebellion against authority. Deser-
tions in all parts of the world had furnished him opportunities to
procure almost every fashion of tattooing, and he was covered with
a bewildering mass of inscriptions and designs. Among the for-
mer was a complete warrant as master-at-arms written in full sized
letters across his abdomen.

It is not always at long intervals that the body is covered with
the tattooer's work. In 1859 a soldier, who was being treated for
rheumatism in the hospital at Rochefort, nearly fell a victim to his
taste for this species of adornment. In July he began with a ring
on his middle finger. In August, at one sitting, which lasted three
hours and a half, he had a rose and a female bust tattooed on his
right fore -arm and a pansy and a bust of his general on the left
fore-arm. Shortly after, he had the bust of a Spanish brigand
tattooed upon the upper part of his right arm. In the beginning
of October he had a final sitting. The artist tattooed upon the
upper part of his left arm a figure of Liberty in the Phrygian cap,
with a banner in one hand and a drawn sword in the other. Upon
his chest were drawn two naked female figures, united by a long
garland of flowers, while above them was a winged Cupid, armed
with bow and arrows, and also surrounded by a wreath. This alle-
gorical group — which was very skilfully drawn in black and red —
was intended to symbolize "conjugal love." Four days later the
man entered the surgical ward of the hospital with a grievously
inflamed arm: gangrene followed, and amputation at the shoulder-
joint became requisite to save the life of the too aesthetic soldier.

Before leaving the subject of the parts of the body chosen for
tattooing the statistics may be given of some American cases. In
1877 a tramp named Kelly traveled about the country. ( hiefly

12

through Pennsylvania, making a l)usinc'ss of tattooing. He was
saturated with syphilis, and had what are termed mucous patches
in his mouth. In performing his operation he moistened the
needles and the colors with his saliva, and the consequence was that
he inoculated a great many men with syphilis. Dr. F. J. Maury"
gives the details of 22 of the cases which came under his care.
The location of the tattooing in 19 of them was as follows :

On the chest I

shoulder I

hand i

forearm 16

The ne.xt division of our subject relates to the character of the
designs imprinted by tattooing.

Lombroso divides them into four classes : emblems of love, of
religion, of war, of profession. Lacassagne gives the following
details of the 1,333 tracings obtained by him from the battaillon
d'Afrique :

Patriotic and religious emblems 91

Professional emblems 98

Inscriptions in

Military emblems - 149

Metaphorical emblems 260

Amorous and erotic emblems 280

Fantastic, historical, and miscellaneous 344

1.333

Religious designs are more frequent among Italians and Span-
iards than among Frenchmen. They consist, for the most part, of
a cross surmounting a globe ; a heart surrounded with wax tapers ;
a crucifix ; the portrait of a patron saint, or a skull. These designs
have generally been produced before the commencement of mili-
tary life.

Many Italians have been tattooed at Loretta. Around this
famous shrine are seen professional tattooers, marcatori, who charge
from half to three-quarters of a lire for producing a design com-
memorative of the pilgrim's visit to the shrine of our lady of
Loretto. A like profitable industry is pursued at Jerusalem.

Amorous and erotic emblems form, as might be anticipated, a
large part of the tattooer's work. Among them are found the

« .\mer. Jour. Med. Sciences. Philad.. 1878. N. S. ixxv, pp. 44-62.

name or initials of a nnslrcss, tlic date of a first love affair, a heart
pierced by an arrow and dropping blood, female faces and figures
of all varieties, and obscenities which beggar descri])tion.

Professional emblems which relate to trades and professions are
very numerous, and are fre(|uently of importance in identifying
criminals.

Inscriptions are faxorite subjects of tattooing. They consist of
sentences, proverbs, dates, sentiments ; and among criminals fre-
quently of expressions of anger, vengeance, hatred of the law, and
defiance of society. The following specimens, translated from
various languages, will give a fair idea of their general character :
"Death to false women," "Vengeance," "The child of pleasure,"
" Honor to arms," " Lives alone, for friends are dead," "Hurrah
for France and fried potatoes!" "Death to tyrants," " Life is a
deception," "Death to French officers." In several instances was
found the famous reply of Brennus, but in French, '■'■ Malheur aux
vain cits. ' '

The propensity of criminals to tattoo sentences of a lugubrious
or self-condemnatory character upon their bodies is very remarkable,
and furnishes a curious jisychological study. The sentence Ni' sous
mauvaise etoilc — l)orn under an evil star — was tattooed u])on the
arm of Philippe the strangler of prostitutes, and aided in his con-
viction. One of his intended victims related at his trial how she
had one evening taken a man to her room, but becoming alarmed
at his savage looks and at the tattooing on his arm, she contrived
to make her escape. It was not the ill-augury of the sentiment of
the inscription which frightened her so much as the belief that it
indicated an escaped convict. She identified him by face and by
tattooing. During the period from 1864 to 1866 over a dozen
murders of prostitutes living in their own apartments were com-
mitted by this man. The guillotine duly fulfilled the ominous
inscription upon his arm. A Venetian convict l)ore upon his breast
these words : misero me, coino dovro fit lire ! — wretch that I am, how
shall I end ! Fieschi, before his attempted regicide, had been con-
demned for forgery and deprived of his cross of the legion of
honor. While in prison, he tattooed the cross upon his breast, with
an inscription implying that this one could not be taken from hmi.
Lacassagne three times found the following sentence: "The past
has deceived me, the i)resent torments me, the future horrifies me."
Other inscriptions of this character are: "The child of misfor-

11

tune," "No luck," "No chance," "The cliild of misery born
under an evil star," " The galleys await me."

Among Italian or Corsican convicts the vendetta sometimes
figures in the designs tattooed upon them, and an oath of ven-
geance has more than once been found inscribed on the breast of a
man condemned for the fulfillment of his vow. Lombroso gives
the representation of a Piedmontese who had been a sailor, a robber,
and finally a murderer for vendetta. On his right breast was the
inscription '■' Giuro di venificanni '' — I swear to be avenged — with
two daggers crossed above and two banners also crossed beneath.
A serpent was on the shoulder with its head regarding the inscrip-
tion. Other designs, not connected with his oath of vengeance,
were observed upon him, namely, a serpent, a lion, a female figure,
a ship, the name " Maria," and the initials R. P. on his left arm.
On the dorsum of the penis were the arms of Savoy and on the
gland was tattooed a female face, the meatus forming the mouth !

Another instance is recorded in a recent journal.' A criminal
who had several tattoo marks upon his arm, fearful of their leading
to his identification, so disfigured them with needles as to make
them unrecognizable. Shortly after, in a struggle with gendarmes
who were arresting him, he received a blow on the head which
destroyed one of his eyes. Discarding all thoughts of prudence,
he tattooed upon his right arm a vase with the fatal date 1868, and
a vow that he would live for 100,000 years to be revenged on the
gendarme. He kept the vow and killed the man, the tattooing
helping to condemn him.

Beside the inscription of savage vows of vengeance, the Italians
make use of tattooing for the purpose of recognition of member-
ship in their secret societies. Lombroso found hieroglyphics and
letters on convicts, the meaning of which they obstinately refused
to divulge. He is of opinion that the Carbonari were tattooed
with an especial mark upon initiation into their dangerous associa-
tion. You remember how skillfully a modern novelist has made
use of this custom in the discomfiture, by its discovery, of that
delightful villain ("ount Fosco, and how the avenger effaced the
mark from his arm, after his assassination, and inscribed with his
dagger the word " fradifoir'' — or traitor — in its place.

A redoul)table convict, Malassene, a man of herculean strength

' Aicliivio di psichiatria. Torino. 1882. III. 156.

ir.

and size, was covered with inscriptions and designs. On his ( hest
was a guillotine in black and red, with this legend beneath it in
red letters, " I began ill, I shall end ill. It is the fate which awaits
me."

Among metaphorical emblems are found stars, the star of happi-
ness, the star of misfortune, anchors rejjresenting hope, hearts
pierced, hands with fingers interlaced indicating friendship, etc.
The pansy is the most popular of flowers, being the symbol of
remembrance. Of 97 flowers in Lacassagne's collection 89 were
pansies. Among fanciful emblems may l)e named lions, serpents,
tigers, dogs, cocks, goats, gazelles, vases, a revolver, the wheel of
fortune, and a chamber pot. Mythological personages are seldom
met with, being confined to Bacchus, Venus, Cupid, or Apollo. In
five instances the portrait was found of D'Artagnan of " Les trois
mousquetaires," showing the impression produced on the jjopular
mind by that inimitable romance.

The designs produced by the tram]) Kelly were (juite well drawn,
some of them being really elegant. He had a book of patterns
from which his customers could select. As very few observations
have been made of American tattooing, it will be interesting to
quote the descrijitions given by Dr. Maury of the 22 men who
came under his care in consequence of this syphilitic tattooing.
One man had a large crucifixion on his chest ; another had a star
of 8 rays on his shoulder; another, a star of 10 rays on the hand.
On the fore-arms was the greatest variety, of designs : a bracelet
around each wrist, a crucifixion, a shield with 3 dark and 2 light bars,
a dancing-girl on an eagle holding a flag in her hand, an eagle with
a scroll surmounted by a crown and 2 letters, a goddess of liberty
seated on an eagle bearing the American flag, a figure 2 on whicli
rests a ladder, a naked woman kneeling on a pedestal under a dense
weeping willow, and, in several instances, a dancing-girl described
as "with crossed ankles," a copy, probably, of the well-known
"dancing girl reposing" of Canova.

Probably the most elaborate and extensive tattooing ever seen in
Europe or America is that displayed on the person of the Oreek,
Georgius Constantine. In 1871, this man was exhibited to the
class by Hebra, the famous professor of diseases of the skin, at
Vienna, and an account of him was given. in the Wiener medicinishe
Wochenschnft for 1872." In the atlas to Hebra's great work on

« Vol. XXII, pp. 39-43-

16

dermatology there is an engraving of the head and bust of this
man. The story told by Constantine was that he was an Albanian
by birth, and that, taking part in the French expedition to Cochin
China, he was taken prisoner in Burmah, and with three others
was sentenced to be tattooed. One man died under the opera-
tion and another became blind. The work upon his body, he
says, took three months in the performance. The man's story is,
in many respects, incredible ; and he seemed desirous of repre-
senting himself as a very desperate character. Beside his native
language, Greek, he spoke five or six other languages with varying
degrees of fluency.

However it was acquired, there is no doubt that the man has
been tattooed in the highest style of Burmese art. When exhibited
by Hebra, he was about 40 years of age, handsome, and strongly
•built. From the crown of his head to the points of his toes his
skin is entirely covered with figures in dark blue, with occasional
intervening designs in red. The interstices between his fingers are
covered with small characters in blue and red. Prof. Max Miiller
says the writing on his hands is Burmese and that the man speaks
Arabic and Persian fluently. The blue designs are even seen among
his hairs. The only portions of his body not tattooed are the under
side of the penis, the scrotum, and the soles of his feet. The total
number of figures upon him is 388, which are distributed as follows :

On forehead 2

neck and throat 8

breast 5°

back 37

abdomen and buttocks 5^

dorsum of penis i

left arm 5^

right arm 5°

lower extremities I37

The figures are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the
body. On the breast are two crowned sphynxes, two serpents, two
elephants, two swans, and in the middle a horned owl. Among
other figures are apes, leopards, tigers, cats, eagles, storks, peacocks,
men and women, lions, panthers, crocodiles, salamanders, dragons,
fishes, gazelles, fruit, leaves, flowers, and various otlier objects.

17

Tlie man exhibited liiiiisclf in various countries of Eurojjc, and
more recently was traveling in this country with I'.arnum. It is
not always that the great showman's curiosities are so well authenti-
cated.

Burmese tattooing has been long known to travelers as wonder-
fully artistic in design and admirable in execution. Such work a.s
that just described is very costly. An English officer named
Chambers paid ^Ao for a similar piece of work on himself, in
which the head was left untouched. One thmg that tends to throw
discredit on the story of this Greek is the fact that in Burmah
criminals are coarsely tattooed across the breast with a sentence
declaring their offense. The executioners and jailers have in addi-
tion a ring tattooed upon each cheek, and they are known as Pa/i-
qitct, ring-checked, a term of singular reproach, and detested even
by themselves.^

It seems most probable that Constantine paid for having this
elaborate work performed, and invented the story to give himself
a fictitious importance. The newspapers have recently given an
account of a young woman in New York city who is undergoing
the process of tattooing over nearly the whole body, avowedly to
obtain a living by the exhibition.

I am indebted to an American writer, J. W. Palmer, who traveled
in the Burman Empire in 1856, for the following account of the
adornment of a young noble :'"

"The tattooing of young Ingaboo was laid on by a master's hand.
It was high art even in Burmah where artists in lampblack and fish-
galls are held in tlie highest esteem and extensively fostered by the
state. * * '^^ An inch or two above his navel young Ingaboo
was encircled with fabulous birds, impossible birds — these were
done in vermilion, thirteen birds, and every bird standing on a
monkey's head. Thus thirteen blue monkeys girded him round
about, just where \\\i, pti sho was tucked under at the waistband. A
small crimson serpent was coiled about his navel, half within and
half without — a cunning device, so expertly done that the little

9 Personal narrative of two years' imprisonment in Burmah, by Henry Gouger,
London, i860. 12°. p. 144-

10 The Golden Dagon, or up and down the Irrawachii, being passages of ad-
venture in the Burman Empire, by an .\merican, J. \V. Pahner. New N'ork,
1856, 12°, p. 187.

18

creature seemed just emerging from the hollow. The thirteen blue
monkeys grinned on the backs of thirteen blue hogs of Bassien
with blushing tails; and after that all were l)lue and blending one
into the other."

In Japan tattooing is mostly confined to the lower classes. They
are generally adorned on the shoulders, arms, and thighs, with such
figures as are seen on their porcelain. Cinnabar and Indian ink
are the pigments employed. The thief who has stolen property
not exceeding 60 hus in value has a circle tattooed upon his arm.
Upon a second offense a man so marked is decapitated.

Some tables have been made of the age at which tattooing is
performed. The following from Lacassagne shows the numbers
and ages under 2 1 :

At 14 years 8

15 " 9

At 6 years

I

7 "

T.

8 "

. I

0 " - _ - .

4.

10 " .

A

11 '•

12 " . _. _

5

7

13 "

3

16 '« II

17 " 8

iS " 10

19
20

As a general rule from 20 to 30 years may be said to be the age
when tattooing is most practised. It is sometimes made use of at
the very beginning of life. Berchon frequently observed a tattoo
mark on infants at the foundling hospitals in Paris, and he learned
from the mid wives that it was done by them at the request of the
mothers for the purpose of enabling them to identify their off-
spring at some future time. The mark is generally a slight one,
placed alongside of a vein to avoid a conspicuous appearance. You
will recollect in Beaumarchais' play of " The Marriage of Figaro,"
that an incident of this kind is introduced, and the foundling who
had been tattooed at birth by the attending physician with the pro-
fessional emblem of a s|mtula is identified by him at the critical
moment.

Tattooing among women in civilized life is almost confined lo
prostitutes. Occasionally a .sailor's mistress or wife may be in-
duced to submit to the inscription of a love token, but it is not
common. Parent-Duchatelet, in his classic work on prostitution,
states that the women who came under his observation were never
tattooed upon parts of the body habitually exposed, or which were
easily uncovered in ordinary life, as the arms, but the upper j)art

in

of the arm or shoulder, the space beneath the breasts, and espe-
cially the chest, were the spots chosen. If the girl were young the
inscription would be the name of a man, with perhaps "■ pour la vie''
added, or the initials merely, "/^. /. 7-." Sometimes the name
would be inscribed between two flowers or under two hearts pierced
with an arrow. These i)aragons of fidelity tattoo a new name upun
changing their lover. One girl at La Force had thirty names upon
her bust. In women more advanced in life the inscription is often
found on the abdomen between the umbilicus andthepubes; but
it is never a man's that is found there, always a woman's. Parent-
Duchatelet observes that the reason for this is obvious when the
passion which these women frequently entertain for their own sex
is remembered. It is a remarkable fact that in no instance did he
find any obscenity tattooed, the women in tliat jKirticular present-
ing a striking contrast to the men with whom they associate.

In Algeria, according to Gillebert D'Hercourt," prostitutes
are tattooed upon the face, on the al^e of the nose, on the forehead,
chin, lower lip, arms and wrists. Sometimes the back of the hand
is covered with a lace-work pattern in the shape of a mitten. When
a woman of this class quarrels with her lover, she ajiplies a burning
cigarette to his name on her arm or chest. Lacassagne saw many
cicatrices of burns produced in this manner. Tattooing as a love-
token is not a recent custom with them. Purchas, in his Pilgrimage,
published in 1613, says: '-The Egyptian Moores, both men and
women, brand their amies for love of each other." Moorish
women are the professional tattooers among the Arabs, and stand
in the market place to offer their services.

Before concluding this sketch of tattooing it is necessary to say
something of the occasional accidents arising from the practice,
and also of its use in surgery.

The operation of tattooing, simple as it may a])pear, is not un-
frecpiently attended by severe inflammation, erysipelas, gangrene,
and even death. In i860 the French minister of marine issued an
order forbidding the practice of tattooing in the navy on account
of the danger attending it, some men having lost their arms, and
some their lives.

In 1862 Dr. Here hon made a report to the Academy of Sciences,
in which he gave the details of forty-three cases of accidents from
tattooing; eight in which death resulted either directly or in-

" Anthropologie dWlgerie. Mem. Soc. d'Anthropol. de Paris, III, 17.

20

directly; eight in which a.nputation was performed, viz: one of a
finger, one at the wrist, four of the arm, one at the shoulder, and
one of a thigh; seven cases in which gangrene occurred, in two of
them extending over an entire limb ; twenty-five characterized by
inflammation, requiring at least a month's treatment, and one
unique case of arterio-venous aneurism at the bend of the elbow.
I have met with another case, however, of this latter injury, pro-
duced by the same causes, in a recent German medical journal.

Lieut. Colonel Woodthorpe, in a paper describing the tribes of
the Naga Hills, recently read before the Anthropological Institute ■
of Great Britain, says:

" The operation of tattooing is sometimes attended with fatal
results. I was once asked to visit a poor little girl about lo years
old, whose legs had been tattooed a few days before. The opera-
tion had resulted in inflammation and mortification of the limbs.
I went into the house where the poor little thing — sad votary of
fashion — lay screaming with pain. The sores were dreadful, both
legs apparently rotting away below the knee. * * * Fashion,
whether in tight lacing or tattooing, claims its victims all over the
world. '"2

Of the danger of accidental inoculation of syphilis from tattoo-
ing, a striking instance has already been given in the account of
the twenty-two men who were operated upon by the tramp Kelly.
Of these men four had never had syphilis, but escaped untainted;
three of them had had syphilis before, and their cases may be con-
sidered doubtful : fifteen had never had the disease, and were all
infected by the tattooing. Simonet, in the Progres' MedicaP^ for
1877, describes eight cases of s)philis produced by the saliva of a
tattooer.

In a quite recent number of the British Medical Journal (1882,
II, 632) is an account of the case of a young soldier of the Scots
guard, the finest man physically in the regiment, being 6 feet 4
inches high, and most symmetrically formed; upon a tattooed figure
upon his forearm chancres were developed, followed by the usual
train of constitutional symptoms.

An unintentional case of tattooing occurred not long since. A

''^ Notes on the wild tribes inhabiting the so-called Naga Hills on our north-
east frontier of India. Lieut. Col. K. G. Woodthorpe, R. E. Jour. Anthrop.
Inst. Lond., 1882, xi., 196-214.

'■' 1877, v., 205.

21

gardener fell from his ladder and severely excoriated one side of his
nose on the gravel. He was working with charcoal that day, and
from time to time rubbed the aggrieved member with his blackened
fingers, until the result was a beautiful i)iece of ineradicable tattoo-
ing on the side of his nose.

Finally, tattooing is to be ranked among the resources of the
surgeon. In certain diseases of the eye a white spot is formed on
the cornea, and is unpleasantly conspicuous. The ot.ulist, by
adroitly tattooing it with an ap])ropriate color, materially lessens
the disfigurement.

A similar treatment has been successfully applied to ncevus, a
congenital erectile tumor known as "mother-mark," and in a
simpler form as "port-wine stain," the color of which being much
darker than the surrounding skin, is susceptible of considerable im-
provement by tattooing. An ingenious piece of work of this de-
scription was performed by a non-professional operator. A sailor
had a large congenital red stain on his breast, which a tattooer con-
verted into a figure of liberty waving the tri-color. The artist left
enough of the original red to form the Phrygian cap, the robe of
the goddess and the red part of the flag, and so adroitly added the
other necessary colors as to entirely disguise the primitive mark
and to present a very handsome specimen of tattooing.

In certain cases where disease or injury has destroyed i)ortions
of the face and left the teeth uncovered, the ghastly disfigurement
can be remedied by making artifical lips with flaps cut from the
cheeks or other parts of the face, but the edges of the mouth so formed
are of course of a livid, unnatural color. By tattooing with a red
pigment Dr. Schuh, of Vienna, has succeeded in producing cjuite
respectable though scarcely rosy lips.

A French army surgeon has proposed to employ tattooing as an
adjunct in the treatment of hemorrhage from wounds in battle. In
most of the continental armies systematic attempts have been made
to instruct the common soldier how to act in certain emergencies
of his profession. Manuals have been written for him, and in the
German army a handkerchief is issued on which are printed illus-
trations of bandaging, of applying improvised tourniquets and of
the method of carr\ing the wounded. The surgeon in question,
M. Comte, taught the men how to comi)ress the brachial artery
with their fingers, so that pulsation would entirely cease at the
wrist. In like manner they were shown how to compress the femoral

22

artery and the carotid. The men became greatly interested, but it
was evidently of the first importance that they should know where
to apply this digital pressure, and they readily consented to allow
the surgeon to tattoo a broad line on the precise location in each
man's limb at which the artery could be most effectually com-
pressed. An experiment was made to test the cjuickness with which
the proceeding could be conducted. A soldier fully eciuipped and
accoutred was supposed to receive a gun-shot wound of the leg. In
one minute's time his comrades had relieved him of his arms, ex-
tended him on the ground, removed his clothing and compressed
the femoral artery on the tattooed spot, so that all pulsation ceased
beneath it. Of course an experiment on the parade ground is very
different from practice on the field of battle, but it is probable that
the proposed arteriography, as M. Comte calls it, might save a per-
centage of lives."

In connection with the medical use of tattooing a curious bit of
history may be told. During the late civil war the professional
bounty-jumper became as dangerous a foe to the Government as the
armed enemy. He was taught most adroitly to conceal his dis-
abilities, and if rejected at one recruiting depot, he would present
himself at another, succeed in being enrolled, pocket the enor-
mous bounty, and desert, to renew the proceeding. To aid in
detecting these men the examining surgeons were directed to make a
certain mark over the loins with nitrate of silver. This would
remain for some days, and served to warn the next medical officer.
The plan worked admirably until a woman discovered the mark
upon her husband, and the explosion came. The newspapers
teemed with indignant exclamations at the outrage inflicted upon
free-born Americans by branding them like cattle, and the harm-
less device was necessarily abandoned. The noble citizens whose
sensibilities were thus wounded, robbed the Government of many
millions ; one of them acknowledged that he had enlisted and
deserted thirty-two times.

And, now, what can we say as to the causes of the prevalence of
this singular custom of tattooing ?

Lombroso regards it, as above, all due to atavism. There is
some confusion in the use of this term ; even Topinard seems to

'■* De rhemostase temporal re dans les blessures de guerre. De I'arteriographic
ou application dii tatouage a la cliirurgie d'arniee, par J. Conite. (Paris tliese,)
Paris, 1880, 4°.

23

confound it with heredity when speaking of the Austrian li]) and
Bourbon nose. Atavism is in one sense heredity, it is true, but it
is properly used to express a reci/nrtice to a type derived from some
more or less remote ancestor. The term itself is objectionable as
lacking in precision, and the expression '"atavic inheritance" as
distinct from "continuous inheritance" is to be preferred. It does
not seem that a decorative art like tattooing could be derived from
recurrence, but that it is rather the result of imitation and tradition.
Darwin suggests another reason. After speaking of tattooing and
similar customs, he says :

" It is extremely improbable that these practices, which are fol-
lowed by so many distinct nations, are due to tradition from any
common source. They rather indicate the close similarity of the
mind of man, to whatever race he may belong, in the same manner
as the almost universal habits of dancing, masquerading, and mak-
ing rude pictures." '^

In 1856, Father Garucci published a work entitled " Grafitti de
Pompei."'^ A proverb, common to many languages, says that
"walls are fools' writing paper." The walls of the houses in
Pompeii abound in stylus pictures and inscriptions, a great many of
which are copied in the work of Garucci. Lacassagne points out
the striking resemblance between the grafitti, or picture-writings,
and the general style of design of the tattooers. Take one example :
Garucci prints an emblem consisting of a heart with the name
'Vov.r] inscribed in it, which he interprets to mean " Psyche is my
heart, or in my heart." Lacassagne has more than thirty designs
in his collection exhibiting the same thought as this grafitto. In
other respects a similarity is to be observed ; both tattooing and
picture-writing are ideographic, expressing a thought by an image
or a symbol. Some of these designs are phonetic, and rebuses are
common to them both.

It has frequently been asserted that there is an analogy betw^een
the adornments of tattooing and heraldic bearings. This is true to
some extent in savage life. Captain Burton, speaking of Abbeokuta,
says, " Every tribe, sub-trrbe, and even family, has its blazon, whose
infinite diversification may be compared with the lines and ordi-
naries of European heraldry. " " F"ather Mathias G. says that in

'M:)escent of Man. New York. 1871. II. 327.

i« Grafitti de Pompei, transcriptions et gravures tracees au stylet ; recueillies et
nterpretees par Raphael Garucci. 2e edit. Atlas de 32 pi. Paris. 1856.
'' Abl)eokuta. I. 104.

24

Oceania every royal or princely family has a family of tattooers
especially devoted to their service, and that none other can be
permitted to produce the necessary adornment.

Gillebert D'Hercourt," on the other hand, says that among Arabs
and Kabyles tattooing cannot be regarded as a sign distinctive of
religious or political sects or as a tribal badge. Formerly the great
Arab families tattooed their slaves with an uniform mark for identi-
fication and as a badge of ownership, but the custom is dying out.

The cross imprinted on the forehead by the Kabyles, and which
was once supposed to indicate their Christian origin, is equally
worn by the Mahometan tribes of the south, and is purely orna-
mental. Mothers tattoo their children from taste or caprice, and
very frequently with the same patterns they use in their embroidery.
A Moorish woman in reply to the question said, "It is done for
beauty, it is an ornament, a flower."

If the inquiry as to the origin of the custom be addressed to
aboriginal tribes there is no satisfactory knowledge to be obtained.
The legends which pretend to account for it are generally childish
or absurd. Tylor refers to this view in his '• Primitive Culture."
He says, " Of the legends of tattooing, one of the oddest is that
told to account for the fact that while the Fijians tattoo only the
women, their neighbors, the Tongans, tattoo only the men. It is
related that a Tongan on his way from Fiji to report to his country-
men the proper custom to observe, went on his way repeating the
rule he had carefully learnt by heart, " Tattoo the women but not
the men," but unluckily he tripped over a stump, got his lesson
wrong, and reached Tonga repeating, " Tattoo the men but not the
women;" an ordinance which they observed ever after.'" Such
ex post facto legends are very unsatisfactory and lead us to agree
with Tylor's conclusion that " though it may be consistent with the
notions of savages to relate such explanatory legends, it is not con-
sistent with our nations to believe them." It may be added that
the most embarrassing cases of explanatory tradition are those which
are neither impossible enough to condemn, nor probable enough to
receive.

Another tattooing legend is told by Latham.^" He says, " Does

1* Etudes anthropologiques sur 76 indigenes de I'Algerie, par le dr. Gillebert
D'Hercourt. Mem. de la Soc. d'anthropologie de Paris. III. 1868-1872.

•* Primitive Culture, by E. B. Tylor. 2v. 8vo. London. 1871. i. 355.

■■"' Descriptive Ethnology, l)y R. f".. Lath.im. 2v. 8vo. London. 1S59. L
>52.

25

anyone believe this, namely, that one of the forms of tribute to one
of the conquerors of one the branches of the Khyens [a race in
Aracan] was the payment of a certain number of beautiful women?
To avoid this, the beautiful women tattooed themselves so as to
become ugly. This is why they are tattooed at the present time.
So runs the tale. In reality they are tattooed because they are
savages. The narrative about the conqueror is their way of exjilain-
ing it."

The obverse of the legend occurred in Burman. A handsome
woman of rank was discovered in an intrigue with a young man of
low birth. She was tattooed in the face in order to punish her by
the destruction of her beauty.^'

It has been asserted that tattooing was adopted to conceal the
nakedness of the body, and in tliat manner to take the place of
clothing. There seems to be no foundation for the belief. Cer-
tainly modesty was absolutely unknown to the tattooed natives of
Otaheite, as described by Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks.
The distinguished anthropologist, Miklucho-Maclay, in a recent
communication to the Society of Ethnology of Berlin, describing
the natives of the archipelago of Pelan, states that the women all
have the mons Veneris tattooed. The hair is removed by evulsion
before the operation is performed. Miklucho-Maclay frequently
asked young girls to lift up their " kerint," a sort of petticoat of
leaves which they wore, and to show him their tattooing. They
readily complied, seeming to have no feeling of shame or modesty
in relation to the matter. The appearance, he adds, was that of a
triangular piece of blue stuff ; ^'- and a plate of it duly appears in
the Verhandlungen of the Society.

Chief Engineer Melville informs me that the tribe of Tungoos
which he had the good fortune to meet soon after landing at the
mouth of the Lena were entirely unacquainted with the practice of
tattooing, and evinced the most unbounded astonishment at the
tattooed designs on the arms of some of his sailors who had stripped
for ablution. They were curious to know how it was done, and
perhaps some future generation of Tungoos may have a legend to
tell as to the origin of tattooing in their tribe, in which that gallant
officer may play a part.

21 Gouger, op. cit., p. 201.

*- Anthropologische Notizen, gesammelt auf siner Kcise in West-Mikronesieu
und Nord-Melanesien im Jalire, 1876. Verhannl d. Bed. Gesell.^ch. f. -Vnthrop.
Ethnol., und Urgeschichtc. Bed. 1878. x. 107., i pi.

26

Whatever may have been the causes which produced the custom
of tattooing among savage races, its adoption and the perpetuation
of its use among civilized man must be accounted for by other
motives. These may be summarily stated as follows :

1. Vanity. A childish delight in the display of an ornament;
the pleasure of being thought singular and original.

2. Imitation. This is, perhaps, the most prolific cause. A soldier
who was rallied for his tattooed designs, replied, "We are like
sheep; we can't see anything done by a comrade without imitating
it, even though it hurt us."

3. Idleness ; and to it must be attributed the prevalence of the
custom among soldiers, sailors, criminals, and prostitutes.

4. Religion has some influence from its tendency to preserve
ancient customs. At Loretto and Jerusalem tattooing is almost a
sacred observance. Of 102 tattood Italian criminals, 31 had religi-
ous emblems.

5. The passions, both noble and ignominious. Friendship, family
affection, love, lust, hatred, and revenge, all find expression by this
device. Dr. Albertotti describes what he calls an epidemic of tat-
tooing.^' Twelve young men of excellent families, upon leaving
the College of Castellamonte, tattooed each other's arms with a
symbol relating to their student days ; in most instances with the
name of a professor or a comrade. It must be observed that,
although most prevalent among the lower classes, tattooing is by no
means confined to the ignorant or debased. It is not long since the
English papers rather indignantly commented upon a statement in
the Revue des deux mondes that the Prince of Wales, when at Jeru-
salem, had permitted an anchor to be tattooed upon his arm.^* Of
the 378 men observed by Lacassagne 299 could read and write.

6. Heredity. While dissenting from Lombroso's theory of atav-
ism, it seems probable that symbols of trades and occupations,
devices from flags or seals, and perhaps heraldic bearings, have been
handed down by tattooing through many generations.

Lastly, a feeling of esprit de corps, which, among soldiers, sailors,
and members of secret societies, would lead to the adoption of a

^ L'Uomo delinquente, p. 83.

-* Revue des deux Mondes. 1881, 15 Juin. Voyage en Syrie, par Gabriel
Chaimy.

27

chanutcristic badge, must not he omitted from the category of
motives.

The custom cannot be said to be dying out. On the contrary, it
prevails as much as ever, and so widespread and deep-rooted is the
taste for this barbarous adornment, even in civiHzed life, that we
must perforce assign to tattooing a permanent though lowly place
in the division of technology which includes the decorative arts.

Nearly 250 years ago a curious book apjjeared, which is now very
scarce, entitled, Anthropometamor])]iosis : Man transform'd, or
the artificial Changeling, by John Buhver.-''" It is a description of
the various methods of adorning or disfiguring the different parts of
the body in different countries, and, in some homely rhymes, he
thus expresses his indignation at the custom of tattooing :

There Art with her l)old stigmatizing hand
Doth streaks and markes upon their visage brand.
The Painter-sfainers here assume a place,
From whence descended our face-taking race ;
Their faces red and white, blacke, yellow, bleu,
Distain'd, all sorts of an imposed hue.
*******
Painted with Hsts here, naked arms beliold,
Branded and sounced with colors manifold.

About their legs strange lists they tliere doe make.
Pricking the same with needles, then they take
Indeliable tincture ; which rubbed in
The gallants doe account the bravest gin.
•»****»*
Thus cap a peia is that gallant great,
Horrid transformed self-made man compleat.
Admitted for to see each ranged file,
Can indignation give you leave to smile ?

''■^ Anthropometamorphosis : Man transform'd, or the artificial Changeling, by
J. B. London. Sq. 8vo. 1653.

^Y

'%\ OCT

./

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

GN
A19
.3
F6

Fletcher, Robert

Tattooing among civilized
people