BRANDING, a form of punishment once in use for various crimes by the Greeks and Romans and adopted by the canonists and by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, but abolished in England in 1823. It was performed by means of a red-hot iron and the part which was branded was the cheek, the hand or some other part of the body. When the practice of arrest ing judgment in criminal cases by Benefit of Clergy was in force, it was customary to brand on the left thumb any layman who received this benefit, since it was not permitted to a layman to enjoy it more than once. During the reign of James I this punishment was meted out to women convicted of petty larcenies. In later legislation, under William III, it was provided that these offenders be branded on the cheek, but this barbarous custom was repealed under Anne's reign. It was also practised to some extent by the early colonists in America, but is now obsolete. Even after branding had been
abolished in all other cases it was for a long time retained in the army as a punishment for deseition, the letter D being marked on the left side of a deserter two inches below the armpit. It was not, however, properly speaking, branded on his side, but marked with ink, gunpowder or some other substance which would leave a stain that could not be obliterated without de stroying the skin at the part, This also has been abolished. In mercantile law the term refers to the stamping of some distinguishing mark upon manufactured articles. (See TRADE MARK). In cattle-raising districts in the United States, Australia, etc., cattle are branded with the mark of the owner. Until quite re cent years incorrigible rogues were branded on the forehead in Russia with the letter B, sig nifying Thradyevap — vagabond.