The Descent of Man

various tints. In different countries the teeth are
stained black, red, blue, etc., and in the Malay
Archipelago it is thought shameful to have
white teeth "like those of a dog." Not one great
country can be named, from the polar regions
in the north to New Zealand in the south, in
which the aborigines do not tattoo themselves.
This practice was followed by the Jews of old,
and by the ancient Britons. In Africa some of
the natives tattoo themselves, but it is a much
more common practice to raise protuberances
by rubbing salt into incisions made in various
parts of the body; and these are considered by
the inhabitants of Kordofan and Darfur "to be
great personal attractions." In the Arab countries
no beauty can be perfect until the cheeks
"or temples have been gashed." (44. 'The Nile
Tributaries,' 1867; 'The Albert N'yanza,' 1866,
vol. i. p. 218.) In South America, as Humboldt
remarks, "a mother would be accused of culpable
indifference towards her children, if she did
not employ artificial means to shape the calf of