[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

we
1
Y;
s_--
MAGIC 693
time, when the flow had diminished and the wound looked clean,
a leaf was put over it and it was bound up.
Undoubtedly the most remarkable surgical operation under-
taken by these islanders is the treatment of a fractured skull.
If the skull is so damaged that a small fragment of bone is com~
pletely detached from the rest, this is ï¬Årst extracted. A shell is
then sought out which must be of the same degree of curvature
as is the skull in the region of the fracture. This shell is split
and rubbed down to the shape of the hole in the skull, into which
it is carefully ï¬Åtted and the skin drawn neatly over. The next
step is to scrape the bark of the nettle tree with another shell,
slake it with water, knead it into a kind of pudding, and roast
it on a leaf. When it is hot, it is quickly applied to the wound,
which is then bound up. As this plaster or fomentation grows
cold, it is replaced by a fresh hot one, and this is continued until
the wound begins to draw together. Now the last application
is removed, the patient’s head is bound up tightly, and nature
is left to do the rest.
T1-u: PERFORMERS IN Macro
During the foregoing account of the magical practices of
Seniang, three different types of performer have been mentioned 1
the clan magician, the private magician, and the clairvoyant.
It will be well for the sake of clarity to recapitulate what has
been said of these people ; to analyse somewhat more thoroughly
the nature and scope of their activities, and to consider the means
whereby magical knowledge is transmitted from one man to
another and the rules regulating its transmission. Almost all
our data on this subject are derived from Seniang, but it is
probably safe to assume that, in broad outline, what is true of
this district is also true for the rest of South and West Malekula.
The Clan M agician
Undoubtedly the most important group of magical
practitioners is that of the nimbatin nowor or " clan magicians ".
It has already been explained that there is one of these to every
clan, and that it is his privilege and duty to perform, on stated
occasions, the new/aw ceremony or clan fertility rites. Such a
man does not necessarily know any private magic, though there
is
ll
it
.
l‘,
,
it
.