The Washington times., 1901-07-14

that they were buried with the dead in
order that he might appear lin his habit
as he lived among the heroes gone be
fore upon the happy hunting grounds.
Canon Taylor says. "Ruddle has been
found in 50 many deposits of the Stone
Age that we must assume the use of it
was common. if not universal" Caesar
tells us that the Britons stained their
flesh blue with wOad-perhaps he meant
tattnoing. The name of the Picts he ira
ditionaIly explained by the same practice
and if that meaning of the word be re-
jected no one has found a better But
Tacitus mentions only one tribe of Ger
mans who painted-if Germans they were
The Logiones, who dwelt apparently upon
the Vistula, blackened themselves all ov-
er before going on the waTpath. and they
cunningly attacked at night, looking like
fends from the pit. as they really are.
says Tacitus But it does not follow that
other Germans with whom he was ac-
quainted did not paint.
Too often ancient writers omitted detail
Intentionally, thinking that a large and
vague style of treatment was agreeable
to the fetch which they called the Dig
nifty of History" 1t is not at all unlike
ly that when Tacitus speaks of the terri
flying appearance of certain peoples he re-
fers to their war paint
So far as we can recall, there is no
allusion to scalping in any ancient writer
that is. among the Teutonic tribes.
Herodotus describes the practice of the
Scythians minutely-it was just that of
the red Indians of our own time. They
make a circular cut above the ears, and
with n firm grasp tear away the skin of
the head. Then they scrape off the flesh
with a bone. and when the scalp is sup
pie use it as a napkin. A warrior who
has collected enough for the purpose
hangs them on his bride. or even sews
them together for a cloak" Herodotus
mentions also that the same people
flayed the right hand of an enemy to
adorn their quivers with it. Authorities
incline more and more to fancy that the
Scythians of that era We're not Mongols
or Turcomans as we used to learn at
school, but Goths: they were driven back
upon their kinsmen in Europe by the
advance of the Tartars But perhaps, as
has been said. there is no reference to
scalping among Germans until we sud
denly find the practice forbidden by the
Yisigothic code, nearly 1000 years after
Herodotus.
1t is somewhat of a relief to observe
that nobody accuses the Teuton, or, in
deed, the Celt, with cannibalism. The
earlier inhabitants of Europe are proved
guilty. but when those two races come
into view they have lost the habit. That
they put old people 'out of their misery"
however. can scarcely be denied, and that
fathers exposed or smothered their new
born infants is proved not only by stories
but by codes of law. Both practices sur
vived among our kinsfolk of Scandinavia
far into historic time. When the Iceland
ers were coerced at length into accepting
Christianity, ana passed a law that every
man should be baptized, a clause in the
act" as one may put 1t. stipulated that
the exposure of children and the eating
of hcrsehesh should be optional, 'as of
old
AS to the slaughter Of aged relatives. in
the museum at Stockholm are preserved
certain ancient clubs. kept in churches
formerly, and it is stated with all serious
ness that they were taken from the sa-
cred building when wanted for the pur-
pose of Knocking a grandfather or grand
mother on the head. One asks in amaze
ment how long ago these things were
stored in the churches-and- is no
categorical reply. it seems. But when
the leading archaeologists of the North
agree their statements must be accepted,
however extraordinary. Adam of Bremen
gives the traditional explanation Of the
descent OF thu Jutes and Angles upon
Britain There was famine in the land
First they slaughtered all the old peo-
Pile, then most of the children. and at
length, as food was still insufficient, they
Grove out the two chiefs, Hengist and
Horsa, with their followers That was
the legend, not In itself improbable. After
all this We may be prepared to admit.
that Prof ViIchow has some grounds for
supposing that the red clay upon a skull
CO