§3 Art. VII. — A. Matsumura : 



their right testicle removed. As long as the left testicle remains, 

 the generative power may not be destroyed and there are still 

 chances of reproduction. 



Why does this savage practice exist ? I put this question to 

 a native, but failed to get any satisfactory information. Judging, 

 however, fi'om similar customs prevailing among various savage 

 tribes, I am rather inclined to believe that the removal of one 

 testicle as practised in Ponapé is not so much for the purpose of 

 preventing pregnancy as for displaying courage on the part of the 

 male who undergoes the operation. It is likely that the practice 

 comes from the same motive as head-hunting among the Malay 

 tribes, namely the display of courage so characteristic of unciviliz- 

 ed tribes. Such practice may even be a condition for the acquisi- 

 tion of a certain social standing, so boys may naturally consider 

 it an honour to go through the operation. 



The idea seems preposterous, but it is a fact that in some 

 uncivilized races, boys, when they come of age, must go through 

 the initiation ceremony or must display courage before they are 

 granted the rights enjoyed by men, and that such ceremonies 

 usually consist of operations, among others, of mutilating portions 

 of the body. 



Among the natives of Australia, for instance, the initiation 

 ceremony is widely practised, and there are even many varieties 

 of it. According to A. W. Howitt,i the important feature of the 

 ceremony among some tribes is the breaking of one or two of the 

 incisors. In other tribes, however, B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen^ 

 say that circumcision and sub-incision form the chief feature of the 



1 A. W. Howitt, " The Native Tribes of South-east Australia," London, 1901, Chapter IX. 



2 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, " The Native Tribes of Central Australia," London, 1899, 

 Chapter VI f. The same authors, "The Northern Tribes of Central Australia," London, 1904, 

 OhaiJter XI. 



