160 TWENTY-FIRST REPORT. 



the song is inchided in the large collection which I brought back, but have not 

 yet translated. 



At the end of the days of preparation, the branched part of the inflor- 

 escence is cut off. The cut stump is then called mata ni bagot (eye of the 

 sugar-palm) or simply mata. Twice a day the tapper {maragut in both the 

 Asahan and Angkola dialects) visits the tree, to change the receptacle into 

 which the juice flows, and each time he shaves a thin slice from the mata. 

 After a day or so the juice (Asahan nira if used for sugar, toealc if used for 

 toddy; Angkola ngiro) should flow freely. If it does not, something is wrong, 

 and medicine (ocbat) must be administei'ed. If the m,ata is merely dry, but 

 does not appear otherwise abnormal, the treatment called for is tapak ni pat, 

 which, being literally translated, is sole of the foot. The muta is vigorously 

 rubbed with the sole of the foot. The native's logic in rubbing the eye to 

 bring tears may be considered sufficiently obvious, but why with the foot? 

 It is a gymnastic performance which one might think would add considerably 

 to the risk of a rather hazardous occupation. In Angkola the same condi- 

 tion is treated by rubbing with the fruit of a vine called goppang hatoe. If the 

 mata is yellow, it must be treated with leaves of a plant called si torop (torop 

 means plentiful or numerous; si/i§ the definite article, used before names) 

 which yields a juice that blackens upon exposure, and causes the itch if it 

 gets on the skin. If the mata is black-spotted, the medicine is an herb called 

 attaladan, but if it is entirely black, soot from the bottom of the kettle 

 (hirong Mrong ni hoedan) must be used. In Angkola the treatment for the 

 black condition is the same, the medicine being called te ni pariock. Barrett 

 (') tells us that in Luzon the flow of the inflorescence, when first cut, and each 

 time subsequently, when a slice is shaved off, is stimulated by rubbing ^with 

 the fruit of the red pepper, Capsicum frutescens. "Immediately thereafter," 

 he says, "a greatly increased flow occurs, presumably influenced by the effect 

 of the exceedingly penetrating principle of the peppers." 



The juice is collected in bamboos, called tagoek in Asahan, and garoeng 

 or poting in Angkola, the latter name applying to the larger ones. These are 

 about four inches in diameter, and of various lengths from four feet to ten. 

 Since such a long section of bamboo contains several nodes, the partitions 

 must be knocked out, excepting, of course, the one that makes the bottom of 

 the tagoek. The tagoek is never used twice in succession without being thor- 

 oughly disinfected. In a hot climate the saccharine juice, which likewise 

 contains a considerable amount of protein, will begin to ferment very rapidly 

 if mixed with even the slightest quantity of old juice, on account of the 

 yeast and other organisms contained in the latter. Not onlj' does a dis- 

 agreeable taste develop, but if any considerable amount of the sugar is 

 inverted, the product will not ci'ystallize. 



Sterilization of the tagoek is effected by smoke. I am informed by Marah 

 Tigor Nainggolan, an intelligent native of Si Pirok, in Angkola, that in his 



