We have already stated that it is ground up with dry paints to be rubbed on the object which is to be adorned, and that the brilliant lustre is developed by gentle and rapid friction.
[Illustration: ZAPOTEC WOMAN; SAN BLAS] [Illustration: CASE OF WHITE PINTO; TUXITA GUTIERREZ] _Pinto_, a spotting or discoloring of the skin, is a common disease in many parts of Mexico.

Three varieties are recognized--white, red, and blue or purple.

The disease is particularly frequent in the states of Guerrero and Chiapas, and we had heard that it was very common in Chiapa.

Perhaps twenty per cent of the population really has the disease; at San Bartolome perhaps seventy-five per cent are affected; in some towns an even larger proportion is reported.

The white form appears the commonest.