92 Transactions. — Miscellanea u s . 



than they had formerly. With this increasing tendency to dys- 

 menorrhea there is an increasing lack of fecundity. 



Pathological amenorrhoea, which is not very common among 

 the Maoris, though perhaps more frequent among the half-breeds, 

 is spoken of as he mate kino na te marama (an evil complaint 

 caused bv the moon). Such an illness may continue for a week, 

 during which time the woman will take but little food. At such 

 a time women have a great desire to drink cold water, but are 

 not allowed to take much lest it should aggravate the trouble. 



Amenorrhoea is termed papuni. To cure this a woman will, 

 at dawn of day, go and bathe in a stream, and then on her return 

 she takes a decoction made as follows : Four pieces of flax-root 

 (Phormium tenax), and four pieces of the branchlets of a forest- 

 climbing plant known as aha taramoa (Rubus australis), are 

 cut up into small pieces and boiled in a vessel until the liquid is 

 considerably reduced in quantity. When obtaining these roots 

 and twigs they must be taken from the east side of the flax- 

 clump and creeper, as the mana, or virtue, of them is on that side 

 only, as regards their use as medicine for menstruating women. 

 This singular superstition may be connected with the rising of the 

 moon in the east, for when the same materials are being procured 

 for the purpose of making a medicine for diarrhoea, or constipation, 

 it does not matter from which side they are taken. 



Vicarious menstruation has been observed among the Rua- 

 tahuna natives. A woman of the Hamua clan has a discharge 

 of blood from the nose at each appearance (kohiti-tanga) of the 

 new moon. This is termed her menses by the natives, inasmuch 

 as the ordinary discharge is invariably absent. 



Pregnancy (Haputanga). 



The Maoris have several theories to explain the process of 

 conception. By some tribes the pregnant state is attributed to 

 the moon-god, who is, as we have already pointed out, " the true 

 husband of all women." Others believe that during sexual 

 intercourse the male transmits to the female the life-principles 

 (bun and trairua) of the foetus, the woman being merely the re- 

 ceptacle in which this germ matures. In other cases women are 

 supposed to become enceinte owing to the supernatural influences 

 ot' ceil a 111 conception stones, phallic trees, incantations, and magii 

 dolls. Certain Australian tribes (Arunta, Luritcha, and llpirra) 

 firmly believe that the child is not the direct result of inter- 

 course, and that at pregnancy the woman becomes " possessed " 

 by an already formed spirit-child, the natural habitations of 

 which are certain gaps in the ranges, and the vicinity of phallic 

 monoliths, such as t he Krai hilpa Stone, near Alice Springs (C.A.). 

 Maori beliefs are very similar to these. They say the soul or 



