Toda woman.
Toda females are tattooed after they have reached puberty. I have seen several multiparæ, in whom the absence of tattoo marks was explained either on the ground that they were too poor to afford the expense of the operation, or that they were always suckling or pregnant—conditions, they said, in which the operation would not be free from danger. The dots and circles, of which the simple devices are made up,[36] are marked out with lamp-black made into a paste with water, and the pattern is pricked in by a Toda woman with the spines of Berberis aristata. The system of tattooing and decoration of females with ornaments is summed up in the following cases:—
1. Aged 22. Has one child. Tattooed with three dots on back of left hand. Wears silver necklet ornamented with Arcot two-anna pieces; thread and silver armlets ornamented with cowry (Cypræa moneta) shells on right upper arm; thread armlet ornamented with cowries on left forearm; brass ring on left ring finger; silver rings on right middle and ring fingers. Lobes of ears pierced. Ear-rings removed owing to grandmother’s death.
2. Aged 28. Tattooed with a single dot on chin; rings and dots on chest, outer side of upper arms, back of left hand, below calves, above ankles, and across dorsum of feet. Wears thread armlet ornamented with young cowries on right forearm; thread armlet and two heavy ornamental brass armlets on left upper arm; ornamental brass bangle and glass bead bracelet on left wrist; brass ring on left little finger; two steel rings on left ring finger; bead necklet ornamented with cowries.
3. Aged 35. Tattooed like the preceding, with the addition of an elaborate device of rings and dots on the back.
4. Aged 35. Linen bound round elbow joint, to prevent chafing of heavy brass armlets. Cicatrices of sores in front of elbow joint, produced by armlets.
5. Aged 23. Has one child. Tattooed only below calves, and above ankles.
The following are the more important physical measurements of the Toda men, whom I have examined:—
| Av. | Max. | Min. | |
| CM. | CM. | CM. | |
| Stature | 169.8 | 186.8 | 157.6 |
| Cephalic length | 19.4 | 20.4 | 18.2 |
| Do. breadth | 14.2 | 15.2 | 13.3 |
| Do. index | 73.3 | 81.3 | 68.7 |
| Nasal height | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
| Do. breadth | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.4 |
| Do. index | 74.9 | 79.9 | 70. |