332 THE TROGLODYTES. 



We fonud in the caves all the instruments needful for sewing. They 

 had needles of bone and horn ; some with only a point like our shoe- 

 maker's awl ; others with an eye for carrying* thread. (See Figs. 15 and 

 16.) Some are very fine; we have seen a needle-case made of the 

 bone of a bird, which contained several needles. Lartet and Christy 

 have discovered the mode of manufacture. They found a metacarpus of 

 a horse, in which, made with a fine saw, were incisions, longitudinal and 

 parallel, isolatiug narrow and regular pieces of bone. The work was 

 unfinished, but it is evident that these isolated splinters of bone were to 

 be formed into needles. 



The nature of the thread employed varied greatly. Did they use vege- 

 table fiber and narrow slips of leather ? It is possible, and even probable. 

 It is certain that our troglodytes made thread, or at least cord, out of 

 tendons. Several savage tribes at this day use fine tendinous fibers for 

 sewing. The large posterior ligament of the herbivora might have fur- 

 nished thread and cord of great strength. I have known this part of 

 the ox to be used in more recent times by parents, in the moral improve- 

 ment of their children. Whether the sinews of the reindeer were used for 

 sewing I do not know, but the long tendons of the limbs were detached 

 with great care, by means of a peculiar stroke which produced a slight 

 but regular abrasion of the bone. This abrasion, always the same, is 

 found on difierent bones, but always at the point of insertion of a ten- 

 don, and was evidently the result of an operation methodically per- 

 formed, probably before the animals were handed over to the cooking 

 department, and which had for its object "the preparation of thread for 

 sewing. 



The art of sewing implies the existence of clothing, not merely that 

 primitive vesture which consists of a single skin thrown over the 

 shoulders, but a much more complete raiment, formed, perhaps, of sev- 

 eral skins. The abundance of needles, and of scrapers used in the prep- 

 aration of skins, shows that the use of clothing was general. 



They also wore ornaments, which, perhaps, served as marks of dis- 

 tinction, such as bracelets and necklaces formed of shells, perforated 

 and strung together. These are found in almost all the localities, and 

 in great numbers in the ancient burial-place of Cromagnon. Some 

 plates of ivory, prepared with great care and pierced with two holes, 

 seem to have served as fastenings for these necklaces. 



These were not the only manifestations of that spirit of vanity which 

 leads man to adorn himself. Almost all savages make use of paint, and 

 the barbarous practice of tattooing, in order to embellish their persons, 

 and we have no right to look down upon them, for in the most civilized 

 countries the tattoo is still in favor, especially among sailors, and the 

 fine lady of society has not, it is said, entirely forgotten the use of pig- 

 ments. It is therefore not surprising that we find among the troglo- 

 dytes similar customs. Their caves contain numerous fragments of a 

 species of redstone, called sanguine. The stripes observed upon these 



