OF THE TONGA PEOPLE.

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when he happened to take cava, which pro-duced a temporary insanity. Fractures of theclavicle and ribs Mr. Mariner never saw there.

The most common surgical operation amongthem is what they call tafa, which is topicalblood-letting, and is performed by making,with a shell, incisions in the skin to the extentof about half an inch in various parts of thebody, particularly in the lumbar region and ex-tremities, for the relief of pains, lassitude, &c.;also for inflamed tumours they never fail topromote a flow of blood from the part; by thesame means they open abscesses, and press outthe purulent matter : in cases of hard indolenttumours, they either apply ignited tapa, or hotbread-fruit repeatedly, so as to blister the part,and ultimately to produce a purulent surface.Ill-conditioned ulcers, particularly in those per-sons whose constitutions incline to such things,are scarified by shells; those that seem dis-posed to heal are allowed to take their coursewithout any application.

In cases of sprains, the affected part is rub-bed with a mixture of oil and water, the fric-tion being always continued in one direction,that is to say, from the smaller towards thelarger branches of the vessels. Friction, withthe dry hand, is also often used in similar andother cases, for the purpose of relieving pain.