Goldie. — Maori Medical Lore. Ill 



■consumed by the mother ; and also it indicates, when unusually 

 abundant, that the mother has not been so virtuous as she 

 might have been." (Tuhoe.) 



Among some tribes some singular beliefs obtain regarding 

 birth — e.g., that female children are never born while certain 

 winds prevail, and that some winds prevent any birth, be it a 

 male or a female child. 



" The placenta has been described by natives as he tima- 

 tanga noho no te tamaiti (a first abiding-place of the child). It 

 is taken away from the village and buried, being tapu, as is also 

 the place where it is buried, which is carefully avoided by the 

 people. The village priest performed a rite over the placenta 

 in order to cause the next child born to the woman to be healthy 

 and vigorous, and to survive." (Tuhoe.) 



' In late times, since the arrival of Europeans, the Maoris 

 have used a certain decoction, which is drunk by women in order 

 to cause the placenta to be expelled. It is made by boiling 

 together the leaves of the kopakopa (Plant ago major), clover, 

 and pororua (Sonchus oleraeeus) with some salt." (Tuhoe.) 



" The natives believe that if a woman just pregnant sees 

 some object which impresses her, or makes her laugh, then the 

 •child will be affected by this ' maternal impression.' For in- 

 stance, should a woman in such condition be struck with the 

 appearance of a tekoteko (a grotesque carved wooden figure) and 

 laugh at it, her child when born will be very ugly. One woman 

 who has a strand of reddish hair among her plentiful growth 

 of black hair states that it was caused by her mother seeing, 

 and being struck by, or interested in, some maurea (a reddish 

 tussock grass) which had been brought from Tarawera during 

 her pregnancy." (Tuhoe.) 



Birth by the Cesarean Operation. — This method of deliver- 

 ing the child is not infrequently resorted to in civilised countries 

 in cases where the child cannot be born alive in the natural 

 manner. The operation was known to the Romans, but was 

 not commonly performed in Europe until comparatively recent 

 years. Felkin saw a case of the Cesarean operation in Central 

 Africa performed by a native. Maori tradition records the dis- 

 covery of the Naku-mai-tore, or Aitanga-a-nuku-mai-tore, a fairy 

 or elvish people, by the gods Whiro and Tura. They were 

 peculiar in shape, their legs and arms being so short that they 

 seemed to have no limbs at all. Their chests and waists were 

 large and their heads were small. They were not human beings. 

 According to Moriori tradition thess creatures were Rupe's 

 people. They were wood-pigeons (pare, or parea), and are said 

 to have got their red bills owing to the stain of Hine's blood, 

 an assisting to deliver her child. They haunted the leaves and 



