Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-09-05
MADAGASCAR sUPERsTITIoNs
Destiny and Fate and Sorcerers
Are Greatly Feared.

n &EC@AAS RGGx<&s
The visit of Ranayalona, the ex-
queen of Madagascar, to Paris has
excited among the French a lively in
terest in their dark-skinned ~colonists,
and especially in the little group of
Hoyas established in Paris. This in
cludes several medical students, one
of whom, DR.. Gerthon Ramisiray, has
just been given a degree by the fac
ulty of medicine of Paris. before
which he read a paper or the BE
lief and Practice of Medicine in Mad
agascar," says Ethelyn Friend, in the
Chicago Record-Herald.
THE Hovas," says DR.. Ramisiray,
scended from the Arabs, believe in
destiny and fate. According to the
month in which a child comes into
the world, his life will be governed.
For instance, a man born in June will
be successful in amassing a fortune;
if born in July, he will die a natural
death. while if September be his
birth month, fate is so terrible against
him that it is the custom to expose
such a child in an Enclosure where
cattle are kept. If not trampled on
by any of these, the fates may have
been propitiated and the parents may
expect to raise the child. The Hovas
also believe hat the spirits of the
dead stay among the living, some
times to work them i'll and sometimes
good. Among the spirits especially
malignant are those of the race that
formerly occupied the land, and
which was conquered by the NADIA
gascans.
"The people are great believers in
the virtues of various charms decoct-
ed by the native doctors. One hat
they believe to be a preventive against
bullets is a tea made of several herbs.
The soldiers take a bottle of this
with them and drink a few drops of
it during the battle. During the
fighting with the French soldiers in
1895 the Hovas believed that the
French soldiers possessed amulets SUI
perior to those of the island.
"Sorcerers are greatly feared. and
when a man is suspected of this
crime he is promptly subjected to
the poison test. He is forced to take
"tangena," a violent poison, mixed
with a certain quantity of rice and
three pieces of chicken skin. While
the poison is taking effect the exc
eutioner puts his hand on the pa
tents head and solemnly demands
hat the crime shall be made mani
fest. Vomiting follows. and if the
three pieces of chicken skin are found
intact, the patient is judged innocent,
and if he escapes death by the poi
son is allowed to go free.
Perhaps the most curious super
stition of the island is the belief that
the body and the soul are quite sep
arate, and that n can exist for
awhile without the other. The COM
mon idea is that the soul leaves the
body some months before physical
death ecu and that if the spirit can
be enticed back death may be avert
ed. 70 get the sou back a native doc
tor is consulted and set to work. BY
means of certain experiments he
first ascertains the direction the
spirit takes and then starts in pur-
suit. surrounded by the anxious r@a-
tives of the sick person. Sometimes
the doctor is days in locating and
finding the spirit, demanding mean
while the best of food and drink with
which to entice it into the basket
he carries. When he finally succeeds
in entrapping it he goes back in tri-
umph TO the patients house. where
a big feast is held. from which time
the patient is supposed to be on the
road to recovery"
DIR. Ramisiray comes Of a noble
Hova family, and studied and prac-
ticed medicine in the capital of his
country. where there is a medical fac
ulty. honestly endeavoring to over
come the ignorance and superstition
of the people. Four years ago he
was invited to France by the French
government, apd since then has not
only mastered the language and
taken his degree as doctor of med
icine, but has been professor of the
Hova tongue in the government
schools of oriental languages. DR..
Ramisray will. it is expected, be n
OF the first to receive the new or
der recently created by the French
government to be bestowed only on
natives of Madagascar who nave rem
dered service to the French cause.
This decoration corresponds to the |
Legion of Honor and has three grades
the chevaliers display a cross of
bronze. the officers one of silver, |
while a gold cross Is reserved for the |
commander.