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they say are liable to produce gita (tetanus),unless the wound be of such a nature, and insuch a situation, that it may with safety be firstlaid completely open, then there is no danger.Mr. Mariner never witnessed a case of tetanusproduced by these means; but he met withmany who said they had seen it in persons whohad got nearly well of their wounds, but hap-pening to wash themselves too soon, spasm su-pervened, and death was the consequence. Theynotice that wounds in the extremities, parti-cularly in the feet and hands, are liable to pro-duce tetanus : also, in persons already wounded,sudden alarms, or even any sudden noise thatcalls the attention abruptly, is liable to producethis complaint. They never allow females tobe near men thus wounded, lest the mere sti-mulus of venereal desire should induce thisdangerous complaint. As to cutting the hairand nails, they positively assert that the meresensation of these simple and common opera-tions has not unfrequently been productive ofthese dreadful consequences. The man whosecase we have just mentioned was eight monthswithout being washed, shaved, or having hishair or nails cut.

Gita is a disease very common among theTonga people; but still more common amongthe natives of the Fiji islands, who, from their