2o8 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



reduced to powder, and this powder, mixed with pig's 

 fat, is rubbed over the back and loins in cases of 

 impotence/ 



Kayan mothers treat colic in their children by- 

 chewing the dried root of a creeper (known as pado 

 tana) with betel nut, and spitting out the juice on 

 the belly of the patient. 



Some of the coastwise Klemantans make use of a 

 bitter decoction of a certain creeper as a remedy for 

 jungle fever. It is asserted by Kayans and others 

 that the Punans make use of the poison of the ipoh 

 tree (the poison used on their darts) as an internal 

 remedy for fever. It is said also (probably with 

 truth, we think) that the Punans also apply the ipoh 

 poison to snake-bites and to festering wounds.^ 



Surgery 



Broken limbs are bound round with neat splints 

 made of thin slips of bamboo tied in parallel series. 

 Little effort is made to bring the^broken ends of the 

 bones into their proper positions or to reduce 

 dislocations. Abscesses are not usually opened 

 with the knife, but are rather encouraged to point, 

 and are then opened by pressure. A cold poultice 

 of chopped leaves is applied to a bad boil or 

 superficial abscess, and it is protected from blows 

 and friction by a small cage of slips of rattan. 

 Festering wounds are dressed with the chewed 

 leaves or the juice of the tobacco plant, or are 



^ In view of the valuable properties now attributed to spermin in some 

 scientific quarters, it would be rash to assert that this treatment can have 

 no therapeutic value. It is of interest to note that prolonged working of 

 camphor in the jungle is said to produce impotence and that, in order to avoid 

 this, the workers make frequent breaks and will not prolong a camphor-gather- 

 ing expedition beyond a limited period. For impotence is regarded by a young 

 Kayan as a very great calamity. 



^ It seems possible that the Punans acquire some degree of immunity to the 

 effects of the ipoh poison through constantly handling it and applying it in the 

 ways mentioned above. The only evidence in support of this that we can offer 

 is the fact that the Punans handle their poisoned darts much more recklessly 

 than the other peoples. 



