FASCICULI MALATENSES 
3* 
character of the hair between infancy and puberty. We are not yet in a 
position to speak of the microscopic structure of the hair, but one of us hopes 
to do so in a succeeding paper. 
The mean height of thirty-four men was found to be 1524 mm. In 
figure the Mai Dar&t resemble the Semangs, except that the upper part of 
the body often appears disproportionate to the lower limbs. Otherwise they 
may be described as lithe and well-made, though in a fair number of instances 
observed the abdomen was somewhat protuberant. The breasts of the men, 
especially those who are well nourished, are often developed to an extent 
quite unusual among the Malays and Malayo-Siamese of the Peninsula ; 
those of the younger women are well formed and conical, rarely flaccid or 
pendulous. The fingers are long and tapering, but the carpals and meta- 
carpals comparatively short. Though the feet are used for prehension to a 
considerable extent, and the hallux is to a certain degree opposible, there is 
not always a very marked separation between it and the second digit, as there 
was in those Hami whom we saw. The toes of two infants examined were 
all of approximately the same length, so that the front line of the foot was 
almost square. The legs are straight and slight, but have not the emaciated 
appearance of the legs of a Tamil: the calf is always well developed. 
All that has been said with regard to the movements and attitudes of 
the Semangs applies equally well to the Sakais, In conversation they make 
use of gestures to a considerable but not excessive degree : the movements 
of their hands are dignified and expressive. Their gait is that of the other 
jungle tribes. We noticed that their toes were pointed in front of them when 
they were walking, and that in their tracks each footprint was almost straight 
in front of the preceding one. Their feet were not spur-heeled. 
The greater number of the men we met were suffering from kurap , a kind 
of skin disease which causes the skin to desquamate all over the body and limbs. 
The women appeared less liable to it than the men. Like the Semangs, they 
greatly fear ‘ hot rain/ believing it to be the cause of ague, to which they seem 
to be very liable. They also avoid the direct rays of the sun, and dislike being 
wetted by rain ; but they must be exposed to considerable changes of tempera¬ 
ture at high altitudes. They, too, have a reputation as herbalists, but probably 
are only a little less ignorant of the true properties of vegetable drugs than the 
Malays, though undoubtedly they collect simples of many kinds. Their chief 
panacea is magic, but, unlike the Malays, they make medicinal use of the hot 
springs not uncommon in South Perak. 
For clothing the men wear a T-bandage which exactly resembles that of 
the Sem&n, except that the straight cloth or bark cloth of which it consists is 
