ACADEMY OF SCIENCES] T JJ E MANOBO HOME 43 



In the preparation and cooking of food a considerable amount of water falls necessairly 

 under the house which, together with the excreta of the inmates and the other refuse, animal 

 and vegetable, produces a somewhat unfavorable appearance and sometimes an unpleasant odor. 



There is no drainage, artificial or natural and no means are provided for the removal of 

 the ordure, unless it be the services of the scavenger pigs, who busy themselves as soon as they 

 become aware of the presence of refuse. The effluvium, however, usually does not reach the 

 inmates unless the house is very low. 



As the smoke outlets are comparatively remote from the fireplace, it is obvious that the 

 smoke does not make a rapid exit, but wreathes up among the beams and rafters thereby blacken- 

 ing them out of all semblance to wood. The underside of the thatch, especially those portions 

 above the fire, receives a goodly coating of soot which, mixed with the greasy emanations from 

 the pots, assumes a lustrous black. 



Another matter that tends to give the house an air and feeling of uncleanliness is the host 

 of small insects, presumably a species of cockroach, that infest the thatch, and, notwithstanding 

 the volume of smoke that at times almost suffocates the inmates, swarm down into the baskets 

 used for provisions and for other things. These multitudinous insects seem to flourish on the 

 rattan vine especially, and no means are known whereby to exterminate them. Ants, especially 

 the white ant, pay frequent visits to the house, but the worst scourge of all is the ravenous 

 bedbug. This unpleasant insect is found under the joists just beneath the floor laths, but in 

 greatest numbers under those parts of the floor that are continually used as sleeping places, 

 and in the hammocks. Occasionally an effort is made to scrape them out, but they are so cun- 

 ning in concealing themselves and breed with such rapidity that efforts to get rid of them are 

 unavailing. 



The presence of vermin on the bodies of the Manobos is due to the lack of soap and of 

 washing facilities. But, if questioned, these primitive people will inform you, that the vermin 

 are natural growths or excretions "proceeding from the inside. 13 It is for this reason that no 

 shame is exhibited in removing publicly the pests from the clothes or from the hair. Owing 

 to the custom of the people of huddling together during the night these insects are propagated 

 from one individual to another, so that it is seldom that the Manobo is free from them 



'• I found this belief to be almost universal in eastern Mindanao. 



