On one occasion,
one of us being a little indisposed in a Klemantan house, we made an
opportunity to examine the methods of the DAYONG a little more closely
than is usually possible, by inviting one to undertake the extraction
of his pains. We were then able to realise more vividly the suggestive
force of the procedure, and to see that the black pellets were bits of
dark beeswax which were carried upon the finger-nails of the DAYONG,
and surreptitiously introduced by him into his mouth as they were
required for exhibition after being blown through the tube; we could
see also that the mysterious movements of the pellets upon his palm
were produced by the help of short fine hairs protruding from it. It
seems impossible to deny the presence of a certain element of fraud in
this procedure, but we think that it would be hasty and uncharitable
to assert that the DAYONG'S attitude is wholly one of fraud; we
must remember that our most orthodox medical practitioners accord a
legitimate place in their armamentarium to MISTURA RUBRA (solution of
burnt sugar) and to similar aids whose operation is purely suggestive.
Most of the coastwise tribes seek to drive away epidemic disease by
the following procedure: -- One or more rough human images are carved
from the pith of the sago palm and placed on a small raft or boat,
or full-rigged Malay ship, together with rice and other food carefully
prepared.
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