the discovery, they are probably rather too profuse in praise of it. Tetanus is not the only disease for the cure of which the operation of tocolósi is performed: it is adopted also in cases of wounds in the abdomen, upon the mistaken notion that any extravasated blood in the cavity of the abdomen is capable of passing off by the discharge from the urethra. Mr Mariner saw the operation performed once in this case, and, as the man was considered in a very bad state, and notwithstanding got well, the cure was attributed to this remedy. It is also performed for relief in cases of general languor and inactivity of the system; but, in such instances, they only endeavour to produce irritation by passing the reed without any thread or artificial-opening: the present king had it thus performed on him for this purpose; and two days afterwards he said he felt himself quite light, and full of spirits.

The natives of these islands are very subject to enlarged testicles, and for this they sometimes perform the operation of boca (castration). Mr Mariner's limited observation on this subject does not authorize him to speak with any degree of certainty in regard to the precise nature of these tumefactions. Their mode of performing the operation is summary enough. A bandage being tied with some degree of firmness round the upper part of the scrotum, so as to steady the diseased mass, at the same time that the scrotum is closely expanded over it, an incision is made with bamboo, just large enough to allow the testicle to pass, which being separated from its cellular connexions, the cord is divided, and thus ends the operation. They neither tie the cord, nor take any pains to stop the bleeding: but, if the testicle be not very large, and the epidydimis not apparently diseased, they perform that operation by dissecting it from that body with the same instrument. The external wound is kept from closing by a pledget of the banána leaf, which is renewed every day till the discharge has ceased; the scrotum, in the mean time, is supported by a bandage. A profuse hæ morrhage is mostly the consequence of this operation. It was performed seven times within the sphere of Mr Mariner's knowledge, during his stay; to three of which he was a witness, not one of whom died. One of these cases was that of a man who performed the operation on himself. His left testicle was greatly enlarged, being about five or six inches in diameter, and gave him, at times, severe lancinating pains. Two or three times he was about to have the operation performed by a native of Fiji, but his courage failed him when he came to the trial. One day when Mr Mariner was with him, he suddenly determined to perform the operation on himself; and it was not

much sooner said than done. He tied on the bandage, opened the scrotum with a very steady hand, in a fit of desperation, divided the cord and cellular substance together, and fell senseless on the ground: the hemorrhage was very profuse. Mr Mariner called in some persons to his assistance, and he was carried into a house, but did not become sensible for nearly an hour: the affair confined him to the house for two or three months. There was one rare instance of a man, both of whose testes were affected with some species of sarcoma, to a degree almost beyond credit. When he stood up, his feet were necessarily separated to the distance of three quarters of a yard, and the loaded scrotum, or rather the morbid mass, reached to within six inches of the ground. There was no appearance of a penis, the urine being discharged from a small orifice about the middle of the tumor, that is to say, about a foot and a half below the os pubis. The man's general health was not bad; and he could even walk by the help of a stick, without having any sling or support for his burthen. It was specifically lighter than fresh water, and considerably lighter than salt water, so as to produce much inconvenience to him when he bathed. He died at the island of Foa, about two or three months before Mr Mariner left Vavaoo.

As to fractures, and dislocations of the extremities, it may be said that there is scarcely any native but who understands how to manage those that are most likely to happen. They are very well acquainted with the general forms of the bones, and articulations of the extremities. They use splints made of a certain part of the cocoa-nut tree: for broken arms they use slings of gnatoo. In fractures of the cranium they allow nature to take her course without interfering; and it is truly astonishing what injuries of this kind they will bear without fatal consequences. There was one man whose skull had been so beaten in, in two or three places, by the blows of a club, that his head had an odd misshapen appearance, and yet this man had very good health, except when he happened to take cava, which produced a temporary insanity. Fractures of the clavicle and ribs Mr Mariner never saw there.

The most common surgical operation among them is what they call tafa, which is topical blood-letting, and is performed by making, with a shell, incisions in the skin to the extent of about half an inch in various parts of the body, particularly in the lumbar region and extremities; for the relief of pains, lassitude, &c.: also for inflamed tumours they never fail to promote a flow of blood from the part; by the same means they open abscesses, and press out the purulent matter. In cases of hard in.. mours, they either apply ignited tapa, or hot bread

fruit repeatedly, so as to blister the part, and ultimately to produce a purulent surface. Ill-conditioned ulcers, particularly in those persons whose constitutions incline to such things, are scarified by shells; those that seem disposed to heal are allowed to take their course without any application.

In cases of sprains, the affected part is rubbed with a mixture of oil and water, the friction being always continued in one direction, that is to say, from the smaller towards the larger branches of the vessels. Friction, with the dry hand, is also often used in similar and other cases, for the purpose of relieving pain.

In respect to inflammations of the eyes, which sometimes rise to a very great height, attended frequently with a considerable purulent discharge; they frequently have recourse to scarification by the application of a particular kind of grass, the minute spicula with which it is replete dividing the inflamed vessels as it is moved upon the tunica adnata. To assist in reducing ophthalmic inflammations, they also drop into the eye an acid vegetable juice, and sometimes another of a bitter quality: the first is called vi, the latter bawlo. The species of ophthalmia to which they are subject, though sometimes lingering, is stated scarcely ever to have produced serious consequences, and is not considered contagious. Mr Mariner neither saw nor heard of but one man who had lost his sight by disease.

In cases of gunshot wounds, their main object is to lay the wound open, if it can be done with safety in respect of the larger blood-vessels and tendons, not only for the extraction of the ball, if it should still remain, but for the purpose of converting a fistulous into an open wound, that it may thereby heal sooner and better. If they have to cut down near larger vessels, they use bamboo in preference to the shell: the same near ten. dons, that there may be less chance of injuring them. They always make incisions nearly in the course of the muscles, or at least parallel with the limb.

The amputation of a limb is an operation very seldom performed; nevertheless it has been done in at least twelve individuals. Mr Mariner seeing one day a man without an arm, curiosity led him to inquire how it happened, and found that he had been one of the twelve principal cooks of Toogoo Ahoo, the tyrant of Tonga, and had submitted to the amputation of his left arm, under the circumstances related vol. I. p. 80. The mode in which this operation was performed was similar to that of tootoonima, described in vol. II. p. 178, only that a large heavy axe was used for the purpose. The bleeding was not so profuse as might be imagined, owing, no doubt, to the bluntness of the in strument and violence of the blow. This stump appeared to

Mariner to be a very good one. The arm was taken off about two inches above the elbow. Ten were stated to have done very well; of the remaining two, one died of excessive hæmorrhage, and the other of mortification. There was also a man living at the Island of Vavaoo who had lost a leg in consequence of the bite of a shark, which is not a very uncommon accident; but there was something unusual in this man's particular case. His leg was not bitten off, but the flesh was almost completely torn away from about five inches below the knee down to the foot, leaving the tibia and fibula greatly exposed, and the foot much mangled. He was one of those who chose to perform his own operations. With persevering industry, therefore, he sawed nearly through the two bones with a shell, renewing his tedious and painful task every day till he had nearly accomplished it, and then completed the separation by a sudden blow with a stone! The stump never healed. Mr Mariner had this account from the man himself and many others.

Téfe, or the operation of circumcision, is thus performed:A narrow slip of wood, of a convenient size, being wrapped round with gnatoo, is introduced under the præputium, along the back of which a longitudinal incision is then made to the extent of about half an inch, either with bamboo or shell (the latter is preferred). This incision is carried through the outer fold, and the beginning of the inner fold, the remainder of the latter being afterwards torn open with the fingers. The end of the penis is then wrapped up in the leaf of a tree called gnatái, and is secured with a bandage. The boy is not allowed to bathe for three days. The leaf is renewed once or twice a day. At the Fiji Islands this operation is performed at fourteen years of age, by drawing forward the præputium, and amputating a portion, according to the Jewish rite.

Be.

The operation of the ta tattow, or puncturing the skin, and marking it with certain configurations, though it is not properly surgical, we mention it here, as it is very apt to produce enlargements of the inguinal and axillary glands. The instrument used for the purpose of this operation somewhat resembles a small-tooth comb. They have several kinds, of different degrees of breadth, from six up to fifty or sixty teeth. They are made of the bone of the wing of the wild duck. ing dipped in a mixture of soot and water, the outline of the tattów is first marked off before the operator begins to puncture, which he afterwards does by striking in the points of the instrument with a small stick cut out of a green branch of the cocoa-nut When the skin begins to bleed, which it quickly does, the erator occasionally washes off the blood with cold water, and tedly goes over the same places. As this is a very painful

tree.

process, but a small portion of it is done at once, giving the patient (who may justly be so called) intervals of three or four days rest, so that it is frequently two months before it is completely finished. The parts tattowed are from within two inches of the knees up to about three inches above the umbilicus. There are certain patterns or forms of the tattów, known by distinct names, and the individual may choose which he likes. On their brown skins the tattow is black, on the skin of an European it has a fine blue appearance. This operation causes that portion of the skin on which it is performed to remain permanently thicker. During the time that it is performed, but sometimes not for two or three months afterwards, swellings of the inguinal glands take place, and which almost always suppurate. Sometimes they are opened with a shell before they point, which is considered the best treatment; at other times they are allowed to take their course. We need not wonder at the absorbents becoming so much affected, when we consider the extent of surface which is subjected to this painful operation. Even the glans penis and the verge of the anus do not escape. It is considered very unmanly not to be tattowed, so that there is nobody but what submits to it as soon as he is grown up. The women are not subjected to it, though a few of them choose to have some marks on the inside of their fingers. The men would think it very indecent not to be tattowed, because though in battle they wear nothing but the mahi, they appear by this means to be dressed, without having the incumbrance of clothing. It is a curious

circumstance, that at the Fiji Islands, the men, on the contrary, are not tattowed, but the women are. The operation is managed by their own sex, though by no means to that extent to which it is performed on the Tonga men, contenting themselves with having it done on the nates in form of a large circular patch, though sometimes in that of a crescent; and most of them have it also done on the labia pudendi, consisting of one line of dotes on each side, just within the verge of the external labia.

We cannot with certainty say that the glandular ulcerations above alluded to are always produced by the tattów, though in all likelihood, when it has recently been performed, it is the exciting cause; but the people are very subject to scrofulous indurations, glandular enlargements, and ulcers. They call the disease cahi; the parts affected are the groins, axillæ and neck; though many other parts of the body are also liable to ulcers,

* I have seen two instances of the Tonga tattów, in Jeremiah Higgins, and in Thomas Dawson, both of the Port au Prince The beauty and neatness of the execution far exceeded my expectations.