REMARKS 



N 



THE 



434 ■ 



MANNERS dellitute of the marks of puberty. As foon as they appear, the 



young women are obliged to undergo a very painful operation, viz. 

 to have large arched ftripes pundtured on their buttocks : thefe 

 curious marks are reputed honourable, and it is thought a mark of 



•en. If therefore a man 



ihe 



pre-eminence to be capable of bearing children, 

 fhould reproach the perfon with the deficiency of thefe mark 

 cannot in honour avoid refuting it by ocular demonflration. * 

 The origin of thefe ftrange cuftoms, it was not in my power to 



invefligate. 



I contented myfelf therefore with colleding and 



recording the fac!!. 



^ Among the Thracians it was cuflomary not to watcli the chaftiry of their virgins, v/ho- 

 vvere at liberty to admit any man they chofe to their embraces ; but they kept a ftrift watch 

 over the condivfl of their wives, whom they bought at a great price from their parents. To 

 be pLinftured they thought a mark of nobility, to have no punftures, that of being bafely 



bora. 



JTeroJjtus^ l-h, v 



. 6, 



