Evening star., 1919-08-29
HEADS ARE SHAVED
TOILET OUT HEAT
National Geographic Bulletin
Describes Customs of
Philippine Tribe.

Though the Philippines have made
marked strides in culture. industry
and civilization in recent years. as SET
forth in their recent pleas for inde-
y'endence, some natives of the Is
lands, as do a few Indian tribes In
the United States. still present strik-
ing subjects for study by ethnologists
according to a bulletin from the Ma
tional Geographic Society.
THE Negritos are generally con.
sidered to be the true aborigines OF
sharply distinct from most other nu-
merous tribes of the islands," says
the bulletin. which is based on a COM
munication to the society from Dean
C. Worcester.
They are Of low. sometimes even
dwarflsh, stature, with very dark
brown, or black. skins. Their heads
and many of them have abundant
woolIy boards. They often have so.
called 'pepper-corn' hairs distributed
very abundantly over their bodies
Their noses are broad and hat, theiI
lips thick, their arms disproportion-
ately long.
Do Not Tattoo Bodies.
They do not tattoo their bodies
but ornament them with scar pat
terms. produced by cutting through
the skin with sharp pieces Of bamboo
and rubbing dirt into the wounds
thus formed in order to infect them
And make good, big scars!
The men wear small clouts and
the women short skirts reaching from
the waist to the knee. They are very
let being preferred, but individuals
who cannot get cloth, and there are
many such, use instead the so-cailed
bark cloth SO widely employed by
Inhabitants of the islands of the Pa
Ecific. Men frequently shave the
crowns of their heads in order to
let the heat out"
Throughout the year they subsist
chiefly on vegetable products, which
they obtain from the virgin forest
and on fish and game. They are won
derful woodsmen and display great
skill in taking fish and game and in
stilI-hunting their enemies; but here
their proficiency ends. They are good
at nothing else, and their intelligence
is of an exceptionally low order.
MANY of the Negritos point theiI
front teeth. but not by filing them, as
wood is held behind the tooth to be
operated upon; the point of bolC
is placed in such a position as to
slant across the corner of tooth to
De~remOVeQ, anu u SndTp DIOW Oh the
bolo chips a piece from the tooth. The
opposite corner is similarly operated
upon, and an artistic point Is thus
produced,
"The music and dancing of the
Negritos are especially interesting
Many of them know how to make ant
to play both the bamboo nose flute
and a kind of jewsharp made from
bamboo Some of them use crude
stringed instruments, fashioned from
single joints of bamboo. the string.
being cut from the outer layer OF
wood, to which their ends remain at.
tached, and being raised up by means
of bridges The distribution of thu
several kinds of musical instrument
above mentioned is more or less local
| but the bronze tom-tom. or 'ganza,' il
Negritos play it with a drumstick
while others beat it with their hands
Many of their dances are pantomimic
| Their singing is often weird in the ex
| treme.
There are many stories current t,
| the effect that Negrieos are often t.
| be met with wandering through tn
forest in a state OF absolute nudity
| and that they indulge in various OBJ
| scene dances I am satisfied that tn
| former series Of tales are withou
| foundation in fact. Objectionable
| dances are very rare among the will
peoples of the Philippines. although
1 they are sometimes indulged in by tn
| Moros, and are common among tn
| Manobos of Mindanao.
The headhunting peoples OF tn
Philippines are apparently limited I
northern Luzon- None Of the war
like hill tribes inhabting other part
of the archipelago are known to tax
the heads of their victims"