LIP BRANDING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 15

LIP BRANDING.

'Circumstances sometimes arise when it isdesi'able to have valuable horses tattoo marked with a secret brand. The method adqp&ed in the States is described in the Australasian es follows: —"The army officials of the War Department in the United! States have instituted a method of tattooing' the ins'de of the upper lip. The ink uaVl is ordinary India ink, made quite thick. This adheres to th, e nesdles of the instrument in sufficient quantity to be d€iposit.Dd in the punctures made by the needles, causing a nermanent black mark for each needle. The ink employed need not necessarily be black; it can equally well be either red or purple. The insfcrur menta for thus branding can b» fashioned to any shape or •lettering' desired; the needles are about an eighth of an inch in length, and the handle is similar to that of a large rubber stamp. By simply turning back the unper lip, dipping the instrument in ink, quickly stamping the upper lip therewith, and afterwards rubbing a little ink into the punctures, a permanent brand is insured. As a. ready method of identification the principle may not have much to recommend it on back country stations, but it should answer admirably where studs aire small and purebred horse stock are a specialty. The tattoo system of branding 13 widely known among stuid

shoep-breeders all over Australia, the inside of the oar being the customary receptacle. Of all disfiguring fire-brands, what can be more reprehensible than the bars, halfoircles, and V-shaped marks placed across the bridge of the nose of sheep and dogs? Besides permanently disfiguring: the_ face, which, in the four-Legged as well as in the biped, is an index of character, disposition, etc., the process must be very painful to each victim.