Goldie —Maori Medical Lore. 101 



during such period. For instance, she was not allowed to have 

 her hair cut, lest the child be rehe (rehe = korehe — pukiki — 

 stunted). She might take a dislike to certain foods, or, as the 

 Maori puts it, the child might be afraid of certain foods, and 

 hence the pregnant woman would also take a dislike to such 

 foods, and decline to partake of them. On the other hand, she 

 might desire, or yearn (kumama) for certain foods, which would 

 probably be procured for her." (Tuhoe.) 



" If she should desire birds, and these are procured for her, 

 and she eats of the wings, neck, &c, only, it is known that the 

 child she bears is a male. But if she eats the body of the bird, 

 then, it is said, the child is a female. A red or flushed face in a 

 pregnant woman also denotes that the child she bears is a female. 

 If a pregnant woman nurses the child of another woman and the 

 child within her moves, she knows that her own child is of the 

 opposite sex to the child she is nursing. If a whe (the mantis 

 insect) is seen upon a woman it is a sign that she has conceived, 

 and. according to which kind of whe it is, people know whether 

 the child is male or female." 



" If a woman desires to bear a male child, having possibly 

 already borne several female children, she will make it her 

 business to be near when a birth takes place in the neighbourhood. 

 If the child, when. born, is a male, she will obtain the whenua, or 

 placenta, and proceed to piki it — that is, she will stand over it 

 for a while, with a foot on either side of it. This singular act, 

 termed piki whenua, is also had recourse to by barren women." 

 (Tuhoe.) 



" Sometimes, though rarely, a ceremony was performed, and 

 karakia repeated over a woman, in order to render her sterile, 

 that she might cease to bear children. Paora Horomata, a Tu- 

 hoe tohunga, was a famous adept at this rite, known as whakapa, 

 but the karakia used by him was not ancient, being a part of the 

 ritual of Hauhauism of modern times. His method is said to 

 have been effective. Women who were tired of bearing children 

 and wished to have no more would go to him when near lying-in. 

 so that they might give birth to the child at or near his home. 

 He would be summoned at the birth of the child, and would take 

 some of the blood lost during the separation of the placenta ; 

 this blood he would throw into a small fire he himself kindled, 

 repeating at the same time his karakia. By this means his 

 patient was prevented from any further conception. He used no 

 medicines in his method." (Tuhoe.) 



Childbirth. 



It has frequently been recorded that parturition among 

 primitive and uncivilised races is easier and more rapid than in 



