Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/22

 an ornamental geometric pattern, but consists of a series of hieroglyphics. It is noted by Skeat and Blagden that " the Semang women wore in their hair a remarkable kind of comb, which appears to be worn entirely as a charm against diseases. These combs were almost invariably made of bamboo, and were deco- rated with an infinity of designs, no two of which ever entirely agreed. It was said that each disease had its appropriate pattern. Similar combs are worn by the Pangan, the Semang and Sakai of Perak, and most of the mixed (Semang-Sakai) tribes." I am informed by Mr. Vincent that, as far as he knows, the Kadir combs are not looked on as charms, and the markings thereon have no mystic significance. A Kadir man should always make a comb, and present it to his wife just before marriage or at the conclusion of the marriage ceremony, and the young men vie with each other as to who can make the nicest comb. Sometimes they repre- sent strange articles on the combs. Mr. Vincent has, for example, seen a comb with a very good imitation of the face of a clock scratched on it.

In discussing the racial affinities of the Sakais, Skeat and Blagden write that " an alternative theory comes to us on the high authority of Virchow, who puts it forward, however, in a somewhat tentative manner. It consists in regarding the Sakai as an outlying branch of a racial group formed by the Vedda (of Ceylon), Tamil, Kurumba, and Australian races ... Of these the height is variable, but, in all four of the races compared, it is certainly greater than that of the Negrito races. The skin colour, again, it is true, varies to a remarkable degree, but the general hair character appears to be