218 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



picked up the toy and passed it once across his forehead. He 

 handed it to the Bagobo next him, who also made a pass upon his 

 brow; and he was followed by all the rest, though two or three 

 men merely pressed the monkey on the eyebrow or above it. They 

 said that they did this because it was lutung and that passing it 

 over the forehead kept them from sickness and death. It is true 

 that, as a matter of precaution, a Bagobo will often perform some 

 little ceremony when he wishes to forestall any possible evil effect 

 that an occurrence out of the ordinary may involve; but to the 

 monkey, in particular, which appears prominently in myth, now as 

 the prototype of man and again as metamorphosed into a buso, the 

 Bagobo reacts emotionally. 



Particular articles of food taken at special times produce definite 

 magical results. A notable instance of this form of magic is found 

 in the charm to produce sacral spots on the body of an expected 

 child. 



A small area of dark pigmentation was present in the region of 

 the sacrum in several Bagobo babies that I examined. The women 

 told me that all their babies had those dark-colored spots, that the 

 name for them was obud, and that if any child should be born 

 lacking the obud it would quickly die. Hence great care is taken 

 by the mother to produce the sacral spots on her child by means of 

 eating certain prescribed vegetable products — also called u -obti(V — 

 while saying a magic formula. Early in pregnancy the woman 

 must, on seven consecutive days, swallow some of the sweet sap of 

 the palma brava and chew with betel-nut a fine rattan known as 

 )i(ni<j<(. At the same time she repeats a metrical rendering of the 

 list of saps and fruits that should lie eaten before the birth of the 

 child, closing each verse with the words, "Very good to eat," "Very 

 sweet to eat." Among these articles of diet are (he tuba, a toddj 

 extracted from the inflorescence of the cocoanut palm, the stem of 

 luris, the bulla, the fruits of the halisinan. lapisut, tual, kaniusi, 

 dorian and lukka 349 . This medicine will infallibly cause the sacral 

 spots to appear on the child, but if any expectant mother fails 

 to eat obud and to say the right words she will surely die. and 

 her baby also. Other articles of diet are thought to prevent the 

 formation of the sacral spots, and after the mention of such articles 

 the woman says, "Very had to eat." 



"•• Edible fruits. Sec index. 



