42 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Wear a bit of dried lemon on the necklace; 



Hang a crab-shell over the door; 



Hold a rice-winnower before the face; 



Weave into textiles a crocodile design; 



Paint the figure of a crocodile on bamboo rice-cases, on stringed instru- 

 ments, and on other manufactured objects of wood; 



Carve the figure of a crocodile on the coffin, or decorate the coffin with a 

 •conventional crocodile figure, made of strips of cloth; 



Rub a dying person with sweet-smelling plants of magical value; 



Hold a wake in the house of death ; 



Surround with all kinds of knives the bed of an expectant mother before 

 *he sleeps at night. 94 



In Visayan myth, (as I learned in a number of conversations 

 with Visayans) the asuang is functionally identical with the buso 

 of the Bagobo : both haunt desolate places, tear open freshly-made 

 graves, feed on corpses, prowl over the earth at night in shadowy 

 shapes, or fly through the air and, having entered a death-chamber by 

 the window, suck the blood of the dead as soon as the soul leaves 

 the body. Yet there is a fundamental distinction between the two 

 conceptions on the morphological side; for the Visayan says that 

 many of the asuang are able to metamorphose themselves into human 

 beings, and thus live in intimate relationship with the people — 

 •an extension of the sphere of demoniac influence quite foreign to 

 Bagobo ideas. The Visayan young people insist that a large number 

 of the asuang are men and women who live and work as near 

 neighbors of their own. In certain parts of their villages these 

 human demons cluster. In Davao, there is a short street, named 

 •Claveria, where whole families of asuang are popularly believed to 

 have their residence, and their houses are pointed out to visitors. 

 At nightfall, the asuang resume their proper forms, put on wings, 

 become shadowy, and go flying off in search of dead bodies for 



-circle around the house; and I observed that we made the circuit clock-wise, so that 

 the house was kept always on our right, just as in the circuinambulatious of ancient In- 

 ■dia; but I did not hear a statement that the dextral circuit must necessarily be followed 

 for this charm. Cf. Somadeva: Katha, Sarit Siigara, vol. 1, p. 98. 1880. 



It is possible that Buso's alleged fear of lemons may be associated with the myth 

 in which Huso is killed by thorns while he is trying to climb a lemon-tree. On the 

 -other hand, perhaps the episode grew out of the wide spread tradition that all demons 

 are afraid of lemons. Cf. the tale, "The Buso-Monkey." Jour. Am. Folk-lore, vol. 26, 

 |). 46—48. Jan.— March, 1913. 



•* The folklore material in regard to this spell will be found in a story entitled. "The 

 Buso-Child." Jour. Am. Folk-lore, vol. 26, pp. 45—46. lit 18. 



