180 
HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
clas.s, bui it is only used in the ceremonies of circumcision and subincision. The 
marks on the irula arc evidently copied from the marks on the stone churina. 
Certain diurifia are the property of particular subdivisions of the tribe and are 
intimately associated with various sacred ceremonies such as the two above- 
described, which are only performed by members of such subdivisions, the latter 
being evidently connected with the idea of a totem and the Churina may be 
described as symbolic of the latter. 
Restrictions as to Food. 
Girls and young women are not permitted to eat of the llesh of the porcupine 
{Echidna acideata) {inaarlhiga), perenti ( Varanus giganleus) {echunpa), wild 
turkey {Eupodoles australis) {er/ila), or eagle-hawk {Aquila audax) {iritcha) until it 
becomes certain that their breasts are fully developed. It may happen however 
that a woman reaches the age of 40 before partaking of the forbidden meats. 
Should any young woman transgress this law it is believed that the development 
of her breasts will become permanently checked; many instances were quoted to me 
in which the natural development had been thus checked by breach of this law, 
and one woman, when asked by me why her breasts were so small, explained 
sorrowfully that she had eaten ertua when a little girl. In addition to checking 
the growth of the breasts it is believed that eating the llesh of the eagle-hawk 
produces great leanness. 
Boys up to the age of manhood are only allowed to eat of the leg of the eagle- 
hawk, which is supposed to impart strength and improve the growth of the limbs. 
They are stiaick or patted on the calf of the leg with the leg of the same bird, 
and it is believed that strength is thereby imparted. 
Making of Medicine-Men. 
The medicine-men of this tribe known as Railtchaiva or Nangera are doubtless 
men of considerable imaginative powers, and their influence over their patients is 
very often remarkable. Questioned as to how they acquire their art they furnished 
me with the following information : 
On a man becoming imbued with the idea that he has in him the makings of 
a Railtchaiva he visits alone a cave in the Emily Plain (about fourteen miles to the 
south of the Alice Springs telegraph station), Avhich is inhabited by a spirit called 
Iruntiirrina; he sleeps near its mouth for a night but does not venture inside. 
At daylight next morning the Iruntiirriha appears at the mouth of the cave and 
