CHAPTER XIV 



IDEAS OF THE SOUL ILLUSTRATED BY BURIAL 

 CUSTOMS, SOUL-CATCHING, AND EXORCISM 



As among ourselves, several very different systems 

 for the cure of sickness are practised among the 

 Kayans, and these seem to imply very different 

 theories of the cause of disease. But the Kayans, 

 less consistent or more open-minded than ourselves, 

 are not divided into sects, each following one system 

 of therapeutics, but rather the various systems are 

 held in honour by all the people, and one or the 

 other is applied according to the indications of each 

 case. Thus, bodily injuries received accidentally or 

 in battle are treated surgically by cupping, splints, 

 bandaging, and so forth. Familiar disorders, such 

 as malarial fever, are treated medically, i.e. by rest 

 and drugs. Cases of severe pain of unknown origin 

 are generally attributed to the malign influence of 

 some Toh} and the method of treatment is usually 

 that of extraction.^ Madness also is generally 

 attributed to possession by some Toh. But in cases 

 of severe illness of mysterious origin that seems to 

 threaten to end mortally, the theory generally 

 adopted is that the patient's soul has left his body, 

 and the treatment indicated is therefore an attempt 

 to persuade the soul to return. The first two 

 modes of treatment are not considered to demand 

 the skill of a specialist for their application, but the 



1 See Chap. XIIL 2 Vol. ii., p. 120. 



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