536 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



men nor women who do not have them made, but the warriors especially have 

 taken no pains to abstain from them. Those who have signalized themselves In 

 some important feat have a war club tattooed on the right shoulder, and beneath 

 one sees the hieroglyphic sign of the conquered nation. The others are tattooed 

 each according to his taste. To perform this operation they attach six needles to a 

 flat piece of wood, well fastened three by three, so that the points do not protrude 

 more than a line [beyond the wood]. They trace the outline of the figure with 

 charcoal or cinders. Then they prick the skin and when they have done this over 

 a section about two fingers in length they rub the place with fine charcoal ; this 

 powder is pressed so strongly into the punctures that they never become effaced. 

 However simple this operation is, it inflames the body considerably, sometimes 

 gives a fever, and makes the tattooed person extremely sick if he is not very 

 careful while the inflammation lasts to eat nothing but corn, drink nothing but 

 water, and keep away from women. (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, pp. 195-196, 

 198-200; Swanton, 1911, p. 57.) 



Penicaut speaks as if Caddo women of the Natchitoches tribe were 

 less addicted to tattooing than the Muskhogean Acolapissa, but Joutel 

 tells us that Caddo of both sexes tattooed their faces and bodies and he 

 is abundantly supported by other writers. Joutel notes specifically 

 that some men had figures of birds and animals tattooed on their bodies, 

 and others zigzag lines, while the women had their breasts tattooed, 

 and great flowers (fleurons) over their shoulders. Some women had 

 lines made in this manner from the forehead to the chin, others tri- 

 angles at the corners of the eyes, and they tattooed the lips all over. 

 (Margry, 1875-86, vol. 3, pp. 349, 353, 363, 413 ; Penicaut in Margry, 

 vol. 5, p. 467; Swanton, 1942, pp. 142-144.) 



STAINING OF THE TEETH 



French writers mention the staining of the teeth by women in tribes 

 living along the Mississippi River. The missionary Gravier says of 

 the Natchez women : 



Most have black teeth, which are considered beautiful among them. They 

 blacken them by chewing the ashes of tobacco mixed with wood ashes and rubbing 

 them with this every morning. (Thwaites, 1897-1901, vol. 65, p. 145; Swanton, 

 1911, p. 54.) 



In the course of his description of the Bayogoula Indians, a Choctaw- 

 speaking tribe below the present Baton Rouge, Iberville remarks : 



It gives the women pleasure to blacken their teeth, which they do by means of 

 an herb crushed in wax [putty] ; they remain black for a time and then become 

 white again. (Margry, 1875-86, vol. 4, pp. 171-172; Swanton, 1911, p. 276.) 



This custom is also found among a number of South America tribes, 

 and my attention was called to the coincidence some years ago by the 

 late Baron Erland Nordenskiold. 



TREATMENT OF EINGERNAILS AND TOENAILS 



The Timucua Indians allowed their fingernails and toenails to grow 

 long. On this point Le Moyne says : 



