Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

426 DECORATIVE ART
the under part of the lamina is reduced by half
throughout. Next, the comb is again turned round,
and from the front, at the bottom end, thin strips
of the outer cuticle are torn in order to mark the
interstices between which the teeth are to come. At
the bottom of the pattern an incision is made to
prevent these strips from tearing away and so spoiling
the pattern ; these small incisions are then deepened,
and the same process having been repeated at the
back of the comb, the teeth are thus entirely released.
It remains to polish the borders, to scrape away loose
fibres, to point the teeth, and the comb is finished.^
The process of incision is called " makeii
("makiee "), the comb "tin-leig," and the entire
pattern " kenaij " (" kenije "), i.e. "drawing." The
whole of the solid part of the comb is sometimes
also called "was."'- The old standards of measurement
for these combs, though they are certainly now
very little regarded, were :
(i) for the teeth, a palm's
breadth ("tappar"); (2) for the length of the solid part,
from the upper extremity to the teeth, the length of
the forefinger (" jayi ") ; (3) for the width of this same
part the breadth of four fingers pressed together at the
tips (" en-chas "). The teeth of the comb are called
"mad," which in Semang either means "eye" or
" blade." [The eight parts of the pattern on the solid
part are named:— (i) first panel = " was "; (2) second
panel = " pawer " ("pawaire"); (3) third panel =
" kabo' saleg " (" kabur salag ") ; (4) fourth panel =
" kabo' padi " ("kabur padi ") ; (5) fifth or central
panel = " tin-weg " or "tin-wag"; (6) sixth panel =
"ning"; (7) seventh panel =" bie " (" beay ") ; (8)
eighth panel = " nos." The top border or edge of the
^ Z.f. E. XXV. TJ-T^.
- See p. 397, n. i, atiie.
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