Diagnostic Procedures Of The Iban Manang (UM Press)

Diagnostic Procedures Of The Iban Manang (UM Press)
Author: Roland Werner
Publisher: The University of Malaya Press
Total Pages: 153
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 9674880461

This part deals with diagnostic procedures of body/soul and predictions. Soul-wandering and soul-catching within the longhouse are demonstrated by various illustrations, involving the concepts of spiritual transformation of longhouse structures into various physical counterparts/ mortars/bolders, pillars/nibong palm, ruai/seashore and finally the “waterfall, as last barrier before the “Bridge of Fright” which leads to “the world of the dead”. The native concept of the soul and soul-wandering is combined with an overview of history of the soul-concept of different cultures. Principles and procedures of the “seeing-stone”/batu karas/ilau/quartz are followed by experiments of optic partition of the quartz-crystal. The diagnostic ritual of mayang pinang, analyzing the flower bud of areca catechu, is one way to disclose the prospects of healing. Planting a pentik (betanam pentik) is divining the fate of a sick. Another procedure of divining the fate of a sick person is bebayan (making a bayan/ monitor lizard). Pig’s liver reading is the final stage of the traditional pig-killing ritual which is demonstrated step by step. A comparative study of traditional and modern pig-killing reveals the conceptional, anatomical, pathohistological, technical and diagnostic differences of tradition and modernity. Palpation and massage-procedures are presented with numerous detailed illustrations. Finally attention is drawn to traditional procedure by which so called “tiny stones” are massaged to the surface of the skin. A scientific study dealing with various forms of calcification of the skin (calcinosis cutis) explains the topographical realities of such “tiny skin stones”.

Borneo Studies in History, Society and Culture

Borneo Studies in History, Society and Culture
Author: Victor T. King
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 619
Release: 2016-08-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811006725

This edited book is the first major review of what has been achieved in Borneo Studies to date. Chapters in this book situate research on Borneo within the general disciplinary fields of the social sciences, with the weight of attention devoted to anthropological research and related fields such as development studies, gender studies, environmental studies, social policy studies and cultural studies. Some of the chapters in this book are extended versions of presentations at the Borneo Research Council’s international conference hosted by Universiti Brunei Darussalam in June 2012 and a Borneo Studies workshop organised in Brunei in 2012. The volume examines some of the major debates and controversies in Borneo Studies, including those which have served to connect post-war research on Borneo to wider scholarship. It also assesses some of the more recent contributions and interests of locally based researchers in universities and other institutions in Borneo itself. The major strength of the book is the inclusion of a substantial amount of research undertaken by scholars working and teaching within the Southeast Asian region. In particular there is an examination of research materials published in the vernacular, notably the outpouring of work published in Indonesian by the Institut Dayakologi in Pontianak. In doing so, the book also addresses the urgent matters which have not received the attention they deserve, specifically subjects, themes and issues that have already been covered but require further contemplation, elaboration and research, and the scope for disciplinary and multidisciplinary collaboration in Borneo Studies. The book is a valuable resource and reference work for students and researchers interested in social science scholarship on Borneo, and for those with wider interests in Indonesia and Malaysia, and in the Southeast Asian region.

Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures

Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures
Author: Jan Gyllenbok
Publisher: Birkhäuser
Total Pages: 925
Release: 2018-04-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319667122

This third volume of Gyllenbok's encyclopaedia of historical metrology comprises the second part of the compendium of measurement systems and currencies of all sovereign states of the modern World (J-Z). Units of measurement are of vital importance in every civilization through history. Since the early ages, man has through necessity devised various measures to assist him in everyday life. They have enabled and continue to enable us to trade in commonly and equitably understood amounts, and to investigate, understand, and control the chemical, physical, and biological processes of the natural world. The encyclopeadia will be of use not only to historians of science and technology, but also to economic and social historians and should be in every major academic and national library as standard reference work on the topic.

Submarine Telegraphy and the Hunt for Gutta Percha

Submarine Telegraphy and the Hunt for Gutta Percha
Author: Helen Godfrey
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2018-03-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004357289

In Submarine Telegraphy and the Hunt for Gutta Percha, Helen Godfrey traces the connections between submarine telegraphy and the peoples of Singapore and Sarawak (Borneo) who supplied 'gutta percha', the latex insulating the world network of undersea telegraph cables. The book examines the complex inter-relationships linking metropolitan and local environments in a trade once described as a matter of interest to the whole civilized world. Using previously untapped corporate and official archives, trade data and a rich documentary record, the study explores the roles of cable producers, scientists, administrators, and local Chinese and indigenous traders. It reveals how a global trade may transcend technological, geographic and cross-cultural challenges, even hostilities. Motivations and outcomes are more complex than simple commercial gain.

Borneo and Sulawesi

Borneo and Sulawesi
Author: Ooi Keat Gin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2019-11-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429773463

This book presents a great deal of new research findings on the history of Borneo, the history of Sulawesi and the interrelationship between the two islands. Some specific chapters focus on empires and colonizers, including the activities of James Brooke in Sulawesi, of Chinese mining communities in Borneo and of the the quisling issue in immediate post-war Sarawak. Other chapters consider indigenous peoples and how different regimes have handled them. The book is published in honour of Victor T. King, a leading scholar in the field of Southeast Asian studies, and a final chapter discusses his contribution to scholarship, in particular his views on how area studies should be approached, and the implications of this for future research.

The Architecture of Life and Death in Borneo

The Architecture of Life and Death in Borneo
Author: Robert L. Winzeler
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2004-02-29
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 082486459X

Among Borneo's spectacular indigenous buildings, the longhouses, mortuary monuments, and other architectural forms of the interior are some of the most outstanding, and much of the renewed interest in indigenous architecture has focused on the rapidly vanishing or now extinct traditional forms of a small number of surviving examples or recreations. Drawing on the author's extensive research and travel in Borneo, this impressive and original study offers a more comprehensive account of this architecture than any previous work. Organized into two sections, the book first documents and explains traditional built forms in terms of tools and materials, the environmental context, village organization, and social arrangements. This section includes a full discussion of architecture designs and symbolism, especially those dealing with life and death. The author next looks at the destruction or transformation of traditional architecture based on a number of interrelated developments, including religious conversion, Western influence, internal migration, and logging, as well as governmental attitudes and efforts. The book concludes with a discussion of recent efforts to document and preserve traditional structures and turn indigenous as well as colonial architecture into history and heritage.