FASCICULI MALATENSES 
65 
Should a boy be born with a caul, he is considered very lucky, and the 
membrane is carefully preserved. Later on, when the fortunate individual is 
circumcised, he is given a piece of it to eat in a banana. The afterbirth is 
also, in some families, preserved with salt and pepper, wrapped in a cloth and 
buried in a waste place, while in others it is buried under a banana tree, the 
condition of which, flourishing or the reverse, is regarded as ominous of the 
child's fate. The umbilical cord is always bound with a black cotton thread 
before it is severed, this operation being performed with a peculiar bamboo 
knife, known as pisau sembilah and formed of a narrow slip cut from one side 
of an internode. 
Should a child be born with a long head or a * high ’ (by which is probably 
meant a protuberant) forehead, it is the duty of the btdan to mould it morning 
and evening, with her hands, into the short-headed type regarded as the ideal 
one by both Malays and Siamese. 1 This is done £ lest the child's companions 
should mock him.' It should be noted that the type of the head which is thus 
treated is that of the aboriginal races of the Malay Peninsula, whom the Malays 
and Siamese regard as barely human. The occurrence of this practice in the 
Patans States makes the seeming paradox become a literal truth, that in 
considering skulls from this district one must be prepared to believe that the 
shortest crania are, in some cases, those which would naturally have displayed 
the highest degree of dolichocephaly. It is difficult to see why an occasional 
moulding of the head, which is not confined permanently, should have this 
result, but an examination of skulls from Nawngchik, in the opinion of Sir 
William Turner as well as myself, shows that some of them have been 
artificially shortened during life. 
Artificial abortion is extremely common throughout the Patani States, 
chiefly among unmarried girls ; it is said to be produced invariably by means 
of vegetable drugs. If brought about before the third month of pregnancy 
it is not looked upon as morally wrong, because the foetus is still regarded as 
part of its mother’s blood, and because there is little danger to the mother’s 
life. After this date, it is considered a sin (dtsa) and is believed to entail a 
curious punishment, on the Day of Judgment, both to the mother and to the 
person who has given the drug; they will be forced to eat the foetus between 
them with ( salt' or £ bitter water,' each being given a knife, compelled to cut 
off pieces, dip them in the 1 bitter water,' and devour them in turn. The 
idea is very probably an Arabic one. Drugs are also taken, occasionally, to 
prevent conception, but the practice is said to be very rare and to be regarded 
with considerable disgust. It is generally the case that only one or two of the 
i. In Selangor, however, a cap is used for the purpoie (Skeat, Malay Magi< r pp. 336, 337), 
v 17 / 5 / 0 + 
