DOMESTIC LIFE: MEDICINE, SICKNESS, AND DEATH 119 



medicine, through the medium of a Mangguangan, sent me a few days later a present of a chicken 

 and about two glassfuls of sugarcane brew, and would not accept a reciprocatory gift of beads 

 and jingle bells that I sent him. The chicken and the beverage were partaken of in due time, 

 each of my servants drinking about half a glass of the liquor. The following morning at about 4 

 o'clock I awoke with a sense of impending death. The servants were called and they, too, 

 complained of an uneasy feeling and one of them suggested that we might have been poisoned. 

 A dose of ipecacuanha saved our lives, and at about 9 o'clock I proceeded to look for the bearer 

 of the gift, but was unable to locate him, as he had gone to his forest home. A diplomatic inves- 

 tigation revealed the fact that he was an expert in poisons and that the poison administered to 

 me in the liquor was probably the root of the tubli vine that is also used for poisoning fish. 



Fragrant flowers and redolent seeds and herbs are thought to be very efficacious for the relief 

 of headaches, fainting spells, and for the peculiar diaphragm trouble referred to before. The 

 resin of the magubdi tree, which also is used as incense in ceremonial rites, is considered very 

 potent. I have frequently seen patients held over the smoke till I thought that death by suffoca- 

 tion would result. 



In fine, it may be said that the Manobos' knowledge of medicinal plants is very limited, and his 

 application of them equally so, for as soon as he thinks that the condition of the patient has 

 changed for the worse the malady is at once attributed to preternatural causes, and corresponding 

 remedies are resorted to. 



On casual observation it might appear that the sick are neglected, but this is not the case. 

 The relatives, especially the womenfolk, display the tenderest solicitude toward them and keep 

 them provided with an abundance of food. The lack of blankets leaves the patient exposed to 

 the inequalities of temperature and explains, no doubt, the frequent occurrence of colds, of 

 rheumatism, and sometimes of tuberculosis. This also may account for the high death rate 

 among children. 



MAGIC AILMENTS AND MEANS OF PRODUCING THEM 



It is a common thing to hear that a Tcometdn was the cause of a person's death. This may 

 be defined as a secret method by which death is superinduced in a certain person by means 

 either supposedly magic in character or so secret in administration that they may be looked 

 upon as magic. Thus (to give an example of a purely magical sickness), it is thought that by 

 making a wooden mannikin to represent the victim and by mistreating it the person whom it 

 represents will immediately fall sick and die unless countervailing methods are employed to 

 neutralize the effects of the charm. I heard of a case in the lower Agusan near Esperanza where 

 a wooden figure was made to represent the person of a thief. The figure was cruelly tortured by 

 sticking a bolo into its head, and when sufficient punishment had been administered to cause its 

 death, had it been a thing of life, it was buried amid much wailing. I was assured that the party 

 whom it represented was taken with a lingering disease shortly afterwards and finally died. 



The belief in the Icometdn or secret means of superinducing sickness is widespread, but it is 

 difficult to obtain reliable data on the subject because, for obvious reasons, no one will admit 

 that he is acquainted with the secret nor will he affirm that anyone else is unless it be a person 

 so far away that there is no danger of future complications by reason of the imputation. 



THE COMPOSITION OF A FEW " KOMETAN " 



1. The fine flossy spicule of a species of bamboo 15 placed in the food or in the drink is supposed to cause a 

 slow, lingering sickness that ends in death. 



2. A piece of a dead man's bone pulverized and put into the food, even into the betel-nut quid, is said to 

 have the same effect but in a more expeditious way, as it superinduces death within a few months. 



3. Another reported kometdn consists of the blood of a woman dried in the sun and exposed to the light of the 

 moon. This is mixed with human hair cut very fine. Administered in the food, it produces a slow lingering 

 disease that leads to the grave. It is said that after death the hair reappears resting upon the lips and nostrils. 



4. Human hair mixed with bits of fingernails and powdered glass is said to be especially virulent. The 

 Becret of compounding it is known only to a few. I was informed that the knowledge of this secret composition 

 was acquired from Bisayas. 16 



» Carta bojo, or bamboo of the genus Schizostactij/um. '• It is called pa-dgai. 



