MUTILATIONS. 57 



the last joint of the little finger, and affect the more impor 

 tant parts of the hand only if they recur. And where, by 

 amputating the hand, there is repeated in full the original 

 mutilation of slain enemies, it is where the usefulness of the 

 subject persons not a consideration, but where the treat 

 ment of the external enemy is extended to the internal 

 enemy the criminal. The Hebrews made the loss of a 

 hand a punishment for one kind of offence, as shown in 

 Deuteronomy, xxv. 11, 12. In ancient Egypt, forgers and 

 other falsifiers lost both hands. Of a Japanese political 

 transgressor it is said &quot; His hands were ordered to be 

 struck off, which in Japan is the very extremity of dishon 

 our.&quot; In mediseval Europe hands were cut off for various 

 offences. 



359. Recent accounts from the East prove that some 

 of the vanquished deprived of their noses by their conquer 

 ors, survive ; and those who do so, remain identifiable there 

 after as conquered men. Consequently, lack of a nose may 

 become the mark of a slave ; and in some cases it does this. 

 Certain of the ancient Central Americans challenged neigh 

 bouring peoples when &quot; they wanted slaves; if the other 

 party did not accept of the challenge, they ravaged their 

 country and cut off the noses of the slaves.&quot; And, describ 

 ing a war carried on during his captivity in Ashantee, Ram 

 sey er says the Ashantees spared one prisoner, &quot; whose head 

 was shaved, nose and ears cut off, and himself made to 

 carry the king s drum.&quot; 



Along with loss of nose occurs, in the last case, loss of 

 ears. This is similarly interpretable as having originated 

 from trophy-taking, and having in some cases survived, if 

 not as a mark of ordinary slavery, still, as a mark of that 

 other slavery which is a punishment for crime. In ancient 

 Mexico &quot; he who told a lie to the particular prejudice of 

 another had a part of his lip cut off, and sometimes his 

 ears.&quot; Among the Honduras people a thief had his goods 



