MALLERY. ] COLOR STAMPS. 621 
F. J. Mouat, M. D., in Jour. Roy. Geogr. Soc., (a4) says that Anda- 
man Islanders rub red earth on the top of the head, probably for the 
purpose of ornamentation. This fashion is similar to that of some 
North American Indian tribes which rub red pigment on the parting 
of the hair. 
Mareano (eé) says: 
The present Piaroas of Venezuela are in the habit of painting their bodies, but by 
a different proces, They make stamps out of wood, which they apply to theirskins 
after covering them with coloring matter. 
Fig. 982 shows examples of these stamps. The most noteworthy 
thing about them is that they reproduce the types of certain petro- 
glyphs, particularly of those of the upper Cuchivero (see Figs. 152 and 
153, supra). 
The Piaroas either copied the models they found carved on the rocks by peoples 
who preceded them, or they are aware of their meaning and preserved the tradition of 
F1G. 982.—Piaroa color stamps. 
it. The former hypothesis is the only tenable one. Not being endowed with invent- 
ive faculties, it seems more natural that they should simply have copied the only 
models they found. The Indians of French Guiana paint themselves in order to 
drive away the devil when they start on a journey or for war, whence Crevaux con- 
cludes that the petroglyphs must have been carved for a religions purpose. But 
painting is to the Piaroas a question of ornamentation and of necessity. It is a sort 
of garment that protects them against insects, and which, applied with extra care, 
becomes a fancy costume to grace their feasts and meetings. 
It is to be noted that at least one instance is found of the converse 
of the Piaroa practice, by which the face-marks are used as the designs 
of pictographs on inanimate objects. The Serranos, near Los Angeles, 
California, formerly cut lines upon the trees and posts marking bound- 
aries of land, these lines corresponding to those adopted by the owner 
as facial decorations. 
A suggestion appropriate to this branch of the topic is presented in 
the answer communicated in a personal conversation of a Japanese 
lady who was asked why she blackened her teeth: “Any dog has white 
