CHABMS AND AMULETS 



49 



poisoning by cyanide of potassium. In Kelantan the 

 dugong philtre is made from the lachrymal secretion 

 {minyak ayer mata duyong) of thm shallow-water sea 

 mammal. It is prepared in the following way : Pick 

 a young coco-nut so growing that it is facing the sun ; 

 express the oil carefully in the usual way ; add only a 

 very few tears from the dugong'a eyes. Hide it and 

 keep it constantly about the person in a very small 

 bottle; when a favom*able opportunity occurs, smear 

 it on the skin or on the apparel of the fair one as a love 

 stimulus » 



In 1913 I saw a Kelantan charm {tangkaV} in actual 

 use as an antidote to native poisoning. The charm was 

 lying at the bottom of a brass bowl half full of watej* ; 

 a bit of the heart of the nipah palm (Nipa fruticans, 

 Linn., Palmae) was floating on the top of the water, 

 while an imperfect specimen of a " fossihsed " crab and 

 another " fossil '* were lying at the bottom of the bowl. 

 The talisman was a collection of nine curiously shaped 

 pebbles cleverly strung together by means of silver wire 

 in the form of a barbaric necklace. A man and a boy 

 had been poisoned the night before by thieves with a 

 wild yam called gadong. An old crone^ the grand- 

 mother, was giving her son and grandchild sips of magic 

 water out of the brass bowl. The old woman said that 

 the charm had been in her family for many years, 

 having been bought a long time ago from an Arab for 

 fifty dollars. The fossilised crab had been borrowed 

 from a friend for the occasion. The name of the other 

 ** fossil " was uuknoviTi ; it was purchased by her 

 husband many years ago from an uncle of the late 

 Sultan for seventy dollars. In colour and appearance 

 it somewhat resembled a piece of candied angelica. 

 She said the charm was a sovereign remedy for sterihty 

 if used in the same way, i,e», by steeping the stones in 



