26 ANTHROPOLOGICAL. CONSIDERATIONS OF QUEENSLAN D. 



is given to the child in the same way a.< (a) but it is not u.sed 

 toy the payent for rubbing purposes. 



'- (c). Full-blooded aboriginal parents sit with their 

 child in the morning before the fire and thoroughly warm 

 if. all over. All the joints and muscles receive special 

 treatment, such as pinching and kneading, and in many 

 <}a8es the knee joints are actually pinched between the 

 t^th of the parent, eausing sufficient pain for the child 

 fo scream otit. 



(d). The leaf of a particulai- species of lawyer cane 

 "(1 h^ve not been able to ascertain the name) which is very- 

 prickly, is heated at the fire and then used to beat the child 

 all over its body. It does not appear to have any 

 medicinal properties. 



Mr. Samuel Lyon, of Yarrabah, to whom T .am indebted 

 for many courtesies, says : — ' {a) and (6) seem to take the 

 place of the ' comforter ' in white children, which would 

 :seem to indicate that there is a certain amount of irritation, 

 but the jiarents assure me that the children do not really 

 suffer, full bloods I mean, and this is also the experience 

 of my wife in dealing with them as hospital matron." 



(c) and {(1) I am informed are "' to make the child 

 .strong," and they con.sider that this " strength " (really 

 immunit}^ from pain) is the result of the hardening treat- 

 ment they have received." 



Another curious ncjtion is reported to me by Mr. J. 

 L. Bramford, of Oaklands, who, after remarking that the 

 .Jtboriginal children suffer only very little in this respect, 

 say.s : "If the child should be sick from teething, the mother 

 will cut her head on the top and make it bleed." Evidently 

 with the belief that the operation makes the mother's milk 

 good. In this connection it is significant that H. Basedow 

 {12), in his Anthi-opological Notes on the Western Coastal 

 Tribes of the Northern Territory, says : " The child, on no 

 .account, must ]iartake of the particular food until it has 

 j^uecessfully teethed." 



Those who knew the nati\es of 50 or GO years ago are 

 ■emphatic in their expression of opinion that they are all 

 trained to express no symptoms of pain, but like stoics 

 to grin and bear it, consequently any signs of toothache 

 in the advilt, would probably not transpire. 



