When A Girl Has Her First Menstruation A Hen Or A Pig Is Killed, And In The Evening The Blood Thus Obtained Is Applied To The Inside Of A Folded Leaf Which The Blian Wafts Down Her Arms - "Throwing Away Illness," The Meat Of The Sacrifice Being Eaten As Usual.

The same treatment is bestowed upon any one who desires good health.

As many infants die, it is the custom to wait eight or ten days after birth before naming a child, when a similar sacrifice is made, and a leaf prepared in like manner is passed down the arms of the infant by the blian. In selecting a name he resorts to an omen, cutting two pieces of a banana leaf into the shape of smaller leaves. According to the way these fall to the ground the matter is decided. If after two trials the same result is obtained the proposed name is considered appropriate. Also on the occasion of marriage, a similar sacrifice and the same curative practice are used.

When couples tire of each other they do not quarrel. The husband seeks another wife and she another husband, the children remaining with the mother. The sacred numbers of the Oma-Sulings are four, eight, and sixteen. Contact with a woman's garment is believed to make a man weak, therefore is avoided.

The interpretation of designs in basketwork, etc., is identical with the Oma-Sulings and the Penihings, though the women of the last-named tribe are better informed on the subject.

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