nstrument
consisting of a sharp spike of iron projecting about one-sixteenth of
an inch from a handle with broad shoulders is placed against the scalp
of the suspects and the handle struck a sharp blow. The projecting
shoulder is supposed to prevent the spike from entering the scalp
of one farther than that of another. The person who bleeds most is
considered guilty -- he is "hot headed."

I was once present at an Igorot trial when the question to be decided
was whether a certain man or a certain woman had lied. The old men
examined and cross-questioned both parties for fully a quarter of an
hour, at which time they announced that the woman was the liar. Then
they brought a test to bear evidence in binding their decision. They
killed a chicken and cut it open. The gall was found to be almost
entirely exposed on the liver -- clearly the woman had lied. She looked
at the all-knowing gall and nodded her acceptance of the verdict. If
the gall had been hidden by the upper lobe of the liver, the verdict
would not have been sustained.

If a person steals palay, the injured party may take a sementera from
the offender.

If a man is found stealing pine wood from the forest lands of another,
he forfeits not only all the wood he has cut but also his working ax.

The penalty for the above two crimes is common knowledge, and if the
crime is proved there is no longer need for the old men to make a
decision -- the offended party takes the customary retributive action
against the offender.

Cases of assault and battery frequently occur. The chief causes are
lovers' jealousies, theft of irrigating water during a period of
drought, and dissatisfaction between the heirs of a property at or
shortly following the time of inheritance.

It is customary for the old men of the interested ato to consider all
except common offenses unless the parties settle their differences
without appeal.

A fine of chickens, pigs, sementeras, sometimes even of carabaos,
is the usual penalty for assault and battery.

Adultery is not a common crime. I was unable to learn that the
punishment for adultery was ever the subject for a council of the old
men. It seems rather that the punishment -- death of the offenders
-- is always administered naturally, being prompted by shocked and
turbulent emotions rather than by a council of the wise men. In
Igorot society the spouse of either criminal may take the lives
of both the guilty if they are apprehended in