Tattooing

Tattooing, the artificial application of various images (drawings, initials, dates, etc.) to the skin. Tattooing is performed either with special tattooing machines or by pricking the design first with one or several linked needles. Tattoo artists have special sets of tools (picks, drills, hammers) and albums with sample designs. Tattooing kits have been found in Egyptian sarcophagi. At present, in addition to the use of primitive tools such as the pick and hammer, more refined needles, lancets, and electric needles are also employed. Various coloring substances (ink, gunpowder, ink, cinnabar, Prussian blue, etc.) are rubbed into the freshly pricked skin holes. Among primitive peoples and, at present, among uncultured peoples, tattooing has a ritual character. Tattoos have been discovered on the skin of Egyptian mummies. The art of tattooing is especially developed among the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands and in Japan. Lombroso considered tattooing a sign of moral defectiveness and atavism, inherent in congenital criminals and prostitutes. Riecke rejects this position in his work, believing that at present tattooing is the result of boredom, imitation, bravado, and simply a convenient opportunity, having the character of a game. But he believes that tattooing usually testifies to the relatively low spiritual level of its bearer. Indecent, erotic drawings may sometimes indicate the moral perversion of the tattooed person. Tattooing is most often found among sailors, former convicts, and prostitutes. They can be located on various parts of the body. Among 450 tattooed prisoners of the Moscow and Vyatka Correctional Labor Colonies (1926), 128 had tattoos on the chest, 229 on the forearm, one each on the palm, buttock, knee, glans penis, and shin, and several on other parts of the body—abdomen, back, thigh. Among the designs are professional, religious, political, erotic, fantastic, etc. Professional tattoos, in Riecke's opinion, are applied out of a sense of guild solidarity and pride in their craft. Among professional tattoos for sailors are anchors, lifebuoys, steamships; for soldiers—sabers; for butchers and carpenters—axes, etc.; among new themes—an airplane or propeller on the chest of pilots. After tattooing, various complications of a local or general nature are possible. Among the natives of the island of Samoa, the process of tattooing is so painful that the patient is bound and held by the hands. An inflammatory process arises at the site of the tattoo, sometimes with severe general symptoms; then a scab forms on the skin, and after its detachment the design appears. The severity of the reaction depends on the degree of infection during tattooing. Among the severe consequences of tattooing mentioned in the literature (Bergeron) are gangrene, tetanus, tuberculosis, leprosy, etc. Fatal cases are also known. Among the constant complications, lymphadenitis with general symptoms (chills, fever) is described. Syphilis infection is also known. In some localities, syphilis infection during tattooing is so widespread that tattooing marks are considered a positive RW. Lacassagne describes a case where a syphilitic tattooist infected nine people in one day, in whom a primary sclerosis developed at the site of the tattoo; the tattooist moistened his needle with his saliva. At present, professional tattoo artists have also learned to prepare the operative field and sterilize instruments in a corresponding manner. After the publication of Bergeron's works in France, the Ministry of War issued a law prohibiting tattooing for soldiers and sailors. In Japan, the presence of tattooing often serves as an obstacle to entering state service. In America, where tattooing is very widespread, there are laws in three cities prosecuting this custom. Usually, tattoos are very durable. For example, in one case, after 64 years the tattoo had not lost its original freshness. But sometimes, after a few years, a tattoo can disappear without a trace. This depends on the method of tattooing and the nature of the paint. Ink and charcoal are more durable, while cinnabar and ultramarine are less so. Part of the introduced paint is absorbed by the lymphatic vessels and can be found in the regional lymphatic glands. The deeper the paint is introduced, the more durable the tattoo. On corpses, tattoos can be distinguished for a very long time and are visible on the corpses of drowned persons even after 1–2 months of being underwater. On Egyptian mummies, whose antiquity is counted in thousands of years, the tattoos are nevertheless clearly distinguishable. Microscopic examination of tattoos reveals the presence of paint in the upper layers of the corium and the endothelium of the lymphatic vessels. The destruction of an existing tattoo is a rather difficult matter and is possible by three methods—surgical, chemical, and electrolytic. Surgical methods include: the earliest—burning with a hot iron, after which the dead tissues were rejected and a white scar remained at the site of the tattoo. At present, excision of the design is performed with subsequent suturing or skin grafting. Wederhake proposed turning over the skin flap containing the tattoo, spreading it on a board, and then removing the paint from the lower surface with a sharp scalpel, after which the flap is placed back and sutures are applied. Miller proposed the use of electricity. A needle connected to the negative pole of a battery is repeatedly immersed in the skin, causing the appearance of a scab, which then falls off with the design (current strength 5–8 milliamperes). Chemical methods consist of the application of various substances causing tissue necrosis with subsequent inflammation and the formation of a superficial scar. 15–20% silver nitrate, H₂O_g, carbolic acid are used. The good effect of blue light (1–2 sessions of one and a half hours) and a quartz lamp is indicated. Shie proposed the following method: a 5% tannin solution is introduced into the site of the tattoo under the epidermis; the author considers the electric tattooing needle the best instrument. When the tannin has impregnated the entire design, which becomes hard and gray, the excess tannin is washed off with water, and then a stick of silver nitrate is rubbed into the same spot and a dry sterile bandage is applied. After 15–16 days, a black dry scab falls off, leaving behind a smooth pink surface covered with young epithelium. Besides artificial tattooing, there can also be professional tattooing, associated with a profession. Such are the gray spots in persons working with steel (Cattani), soot impregnation in chimney sweeps, and coal particles in miners. 'Accidental' tattooing can be, for example, particles of gunpowder from shots at close range, during powder explosions, etc. The forensic-medical significance of tattooing is found in Special Marks.