96 Art. VII. — A. Matsumura: 



The women in Palau smear their bodies with the same 

 material dissolved in coconnt-oil, consequently their skin appears 

 remarkably glossy though not striking in colour. This custom 

 seems to have existed for a long time ; for we find Captain Henry 

 Wilson^ writing some one hundred and thirty years ago that he 

 sav/ the custom in Palau. Besides being used as a toilet article, 

 the reng is also employed in dyeing petticoats, or in painting the 

 corpse as in Truk. 



2. Teeth-blackening. — The custom of teeth-blackening seems to 

 prevail among the natives of Yap and Palau, though the writer 

 had no opportunity to observe natives blackening their teeth. 

 The islanders of Yap apply for this purpose a sort of paste 

 between the teeth and lips, which they obtain by mixing earth 

 containing sal ammoniac with the juice extracted from the leaves 

 of a certain plant. This custom is especially observed among 

 the Yap women, as they have a difficulty in keeping their teeth 

 white. This is to say, the natives of Yap chew betol-nut, which 

 makes their teeth dark red. As this looks anything but well, the 

 women are said to prefer blackening their teeth, discoloured by 

 betel- nut chewing.'^ It would appear, how^ever, that if this was 

 the correct explanation of teeth- blackening in Yap, the practice 

 must be common to both sexes, which is not the case. Why is 

 the custom almost limited to women only in the island ? It may 

 perhaps be more reasonable to suppose that as among other tribes 

 teeth-blackening in Yap is simply for the adornment of the body, 



1 G. Keate, "An Account of the Pelew Islands, situated in the Western part of the Pacific 



Ocean. Composed from the Journals and Communications of Captain Henry Wilson, and ," 



2nd ed., London, 1788, p. 300. This is perhaps the oldest book on Palau, and the only authori- 

 ty on the old ciistoms in the islands. "When it first appeared, the book -was translated into 

 varioixs languages. 



2 P. Salesiiis, " Die Karolinen=Insel Jap," Berlin, p. 52. 



