39° 



II. J. T. EIJLMER. 



It could not be found out, if the circumcision existed among the grown-up Timorini, 

 but small boys who went still totally naked, always showed a whole prépuce. 



As might be expected , innate misshapenness was found now and then among this 

 people. Hermaphroditism could not be stated with certainty. However, we met twice with a 

 man, wearing instcad of the usual penis-case a woman's petticoat. On closer, but alas super- 

 ficial examination, they did not appear to be hermaphrodists. But in both cases the shortness 

 of the pénis was so striking that I could not put otf the thought of artificial mutilation. 

 Once I had the opportunity of procuring nearer information from the bystanders. They 

 wholly confirmed my supposition that the pénis had partially been eut off; the movement 

 of cutting, performed for them in an interrogative way, was answered in the affirmative, while 

 with great hilarity they gave nearer explications that we could alas not understand. The 



victim himself laughed also, but a little on the 

 vvrong side of his mouth! The possibility of 

 mutilation thus cannot be denied (see also 

 NEUHAUSS [i3S] )• And the wearing of woman's 

 clothes by tvvo persons that evidently were men, 

 suggested the idea that we were dealing with 

 a kind of punishment. 



I can state frankly that this isolated living 

 people did not suffer of many diseases. Though 

 I often entered several huts quite unexpectedly, 

 I never found a grave patient. I never met with 

 fever or bowel-complaints. As I stated above, 

 skin-diseases occurred very seldom. However, 

 I must make an exception for framboesia. This 

 disease appeared to be endémie ; in little children 

 it was not rare to find the typical mouth beset 

 with framboesia-ulcers. 



This explained in ail probability the fact 

 that the grown-up persons had often chronic 

 ulcers, and that there were many cases of dis- 

 eases in the bone-system as there are: inflam- 

 mation of the periostium, sabre-legs, and saddle- 

 noses. It is not justified to ascribe thèse defects 

 to syphilis as has often been done. Indeed they 

 may be found as conséquences of that disease 

 too, but they are only convincing for it in a country wholly free from framboesia. 

 Moreover I never found a single case of venereal disease and it is not at ail probable 

 that this should exist among a j-eople, living totally isolated. By the way it may be 

 said that the missing of venereal diseases does not prove for nor against the morals 

 of thèse people; thèse diseases must be introduced first and only then the succeeding 

 spreading will enable us to tell something about the sexual relations. That the syphilis caused 

 such terrible dévastations among the Papuans of the South-coast is explained by the fact 



FotO JONGEJANS. 



Fig. 13. Man with woman's petlicoat. 



