is
given a few light blows on the back. For three days the child sucks
one end of a rag the other end of which rests in a saucer of honey,
and the mother is fed on rice and clarified butter. On the fourth day
the mother begins to suckle the child. Until the mother is pregnant
a second time, no _choti_ or scalp-lock is allowed to grow on the
child's head. When she becomes pregnant, she is taken with the child
before the village god, and a tuft of hair is thereafter left to grow
on the crown of its head.

_Kamma._--A large cultivating caste of the Madras Presidency, of
which a few representatives were returned from the Chanda District in
1911. They are derived from the same Dravidian stock as the other great
cultivating castes of Madras, and, originally soldiers by profession,
have now settled down to agriculture. No description of the caste
need be given here, but the following interesting particulars may
be recorded. The word Kamma means an ear ornament, and according
to tradition a valuable jewel of this kind belonging to a Raja of
Warangal fell into the hands of his enemies. One section of the great
Kapu caste, boldly attacking the foe and recovering the jewel, were
hence called Kamma, while another section, which ran away, received
the derogatory title of Velama (_veli_, away). Another story says that
the Kammas and Velamas were originally one caste, and had adopted the
Muhammadan system of _gosha_ or _purda_. But finding that they were
thus handicapped in competition with the other cultivating castes, it
was proposed that the new custom should be abandoned. Those who agreed
to this signed a bond, which was written on a palm-leaf (_kamma_),
and hence received their new name. In the Central Provinces the Kammas
are divided into three subcastes, the Illuvellani or those who do not
go out of the house, the Tadakchatu or those who live within _tadaks_
or mat screens, and the Polumtir or those who go into the fields. These
names are derived from the degrees in which the different subdivisions
seclude their women, the Illuvellani observing strict _purda_ and the
Polumtir none whatever, while the Tadakchatu follow a middle course. On
this account some social difference exists between the three subcastes,
and when the Illuvellani dine with either of the other two they will
not eat from the plates of their hosts, but take their food separately
on a leaf. And the Tadakchatu practise a similar distinction with the
Polumtir, b