54 BTTREAU OF AMEBITAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 84 



with a girl. No sign is much rehed on as an indication of tlio sex of 

 the unborn infant. Transgression in some of the ta})us may resuh 

 in the child being born an albino. 



The pregnant Zuiii woman '' must be guarded from the sight of 

 moving water, fish, and water reptiles no less than from fierce and 

 fearful things." " The period of gestation is supposed to be ten 

 lunar months in the case of a boy and nine lunar months in that of a 

 girl. The mother has no means of determining whether she will 

 have a boy or a girl. Artificial abortion, the people believe, is apt 

 to be followed by sterility. 



The Pima have no definite ideas as to the period of viability of 

 the fetus. They feel it, and hence know it must be alive. They have 

 no means of determining the sex. The tabus of a pregnant woman 

 among the Pima do not allow her to see a sick person, because it 

 may cause the latter's stomach to swell and perhaps cause his death. 

 Even the husband of the pregnant v/oman must not visit the sick. 

 There seems to be no idea that the sick person may have an injuri- 

 ous effect on the mother or her infant. Further, the pregnant woman 

 is not allowed to eat impure things, particularly food that may have 

 been touched by vultures or coyotes, nor must she look on anything 

 that is regarded as bad. This does not include fresh blood. The 

 pregnant woman takes no special precautions on account of her condi- 

 tion. She works as long as she is able to do so. She has no special 

 diet until near confinement, when she eats sparingly. Most of the 

 pregnant women have a little morning sickness, but there are also a 

 good many who have none. Some have only slight nausea, without 

 vomiting. The principal midwife in the tribe never knew of a case 

 of really severe vomiting due to pregnancy. 



Among the Papago also gestation is believed to last one lunar 

 month longer in the case of a boy than in that of a girl. "There is 

 no telling" about the sex of a child before its birth, except in the case 

 of boys "by the long time they stay in. " 



With the Mohave, gestation is supposed to last regularly ten lunar 

 months. It is believed, however, that if a new conception takes 

 place soon after the birth of a child the subsequent fetus will grow 

 very slowly, and the gestation may be prolonged to a whole year. 



In some of the Mexican tribes the women have largely adopted 

 the Mexican views on these points, while in others the notions of the 

 people are much like those of our Indians. The Tepecano, for 

 instance, believe that the period of gestation for a boy lasts nine 

 (calendar) months, but only seven or eight for a girl. Nowhere is 

 much reliance placed on any special sign as to the sex of the imborn 



oCiishing, in W. Matthews's Ichthyophobia, Journal of American Folk-Lore, ix, 1898, UO. See also 

 Mrs. M. (\ Stevenson, The Zuni Indian.s, Twenty-third Annual Report oj the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, 296. 



