IN JAVA. 69 



lilt of the necess 



absolutely free from tlie tropical pest of ants. Perfectly con- 

 structed and furnished for a tropical climate, and pruvided 

 Avith a large and Taluablc library, it was admirably situated 

 for a botanical station — the hills risinjr round it to three 



w 



thousand feet, 



instruments alone prevented me from fully utilising. In no 

 part of tlie world can the climate reach greater perfection, 

 I think, than in the mountain regions of these islands, among 

 which I first felt the real charm of the life I had espoused. 

 The first thinjr of interest to attract me, within a few hours 



of my arrival at Kosala, was a case in one of the servants of the 

 house of that curious cerebral affection called by the natives 

 lata. It is of a hysterical nature, and is confined chiefly to 

 women, although I have also seen a man affected by it. On 

 being startled or excited suddenly, the person becomes lata, 

 losing the control of her will, and cannot refrain from imitating 

 whatever she may hear or see done, and will keep calling out as 

 long as the fit lasts the name— and generally that word alone— of 

 whatever has flashed through her mind as the cause of it : " He- 

 ih-hoh, matjan ! " (tiger) ; '' He-ih-heh, boorung besar ! " (a great 

 bird). Her purpose will be arrested, as, if walkmg, she will 

 stop short, and on going on again will often follow some other 

 course. The prefatory exclamation is an invariable symptom, 

 seemingly caused by involuntary hysterical inspn-ations. 

 According to the degree of alarm the symptoms may remain 

 only a few moments or last for the greater part of a day, 

 especially if the patient be prevented from calming down. 

 The afflicted, if not very seriously aff-ected, arc not altogether 

 incapacitated from performing the duties to which they are 

 accustomed. The most curious characteristic of the disease is 

 their imitation of every action they see. On one occasion, 

 while eating a banana, I suddenly nut this servant .vi ha 

 piece of soap in her hand : and, perceiving she was sbghtly 

 lata, but without appearing to take any notice of her 1 maUe 

 a vigorous bite at the fruit in passing her, an action she 

 instrmtly repeated on the piece of soap. On -^^^ ^'^;^ 

 while she was looking on 

 paper, not knowing that caterpill 

 abhorrence to the natives, I flicked off m 

 on to her dress one that happened to be o 



as I placed some plants m drvmg 

 aternillars \\ere objects of supreme 



humoroui 



