Beating the heat

LAST Wednesday's column brought in a lot of text messages and e-mail, but not so much in response to the sullen looks and "footshakes" of Filipinos documented from the 19th to the early 20th centuries. Asking aloud about the discoloration at the base of the spine that J. Mallat described in infants, many readers, some living as far as the United States, replied with material or website links on the so-called "Mongolian spot." Typical was Ross Mangan's e-mail which said:

"I am an Australian resident of the Philippines, married to a Filipina. Our four-year-old daughter was born in Darwin. We noticed a bruise-like formation similar to that described by Mallat and raised it at the hospital shortly after birth. The medical staff called it Mongolian Spot and said it was not an uncommon occurrence among Asians. The following is an extract from http://www. fwcc.org/mongolianspot.htm.

"Mongolian Blue Spots are flat birthmarks with wavy borders and irregular shapes, common among people
of Asian, East Indian, African and Latino heritage. They may be seen in about 10 percent of Caucasians to over 90 percent of African Americans. Bluish gray to deep brown to black skin markings, they often appear on the base of the spine...etc.

"From my observation the Spots are not particularly noticeable on darker skin but much more so if the skin is white (as in the case of my daughter)."

Copies of Mallat's 1849 work on the Philippines, translated from the original French by Pura Santillan Castrence, are still available at the National Historical Institute (on T.M. Kalaw Street, Manila) which is holding a book sale next week in celebration of History Week. Mallat is a particularly pleasant read because of the details that went into his book. For example he noted that Filipinos let their right thumbnail grow, so that men could use the nail to play stringed instruments and women could use the nail for sewing.

This is not so common these days, but the late President Ferdinand Marcos had one overgrown nail in his hand. I cannot recall now if it was a thumbnail or a pinky nail (which is often used to clean one's ears!).

We cannot leave Mallat without sharing his descriptions of sleeping habits in the 19th-century Philippines. The challenge was how to sleep soundly despite the heat and humidity in those days when there were no electric fans or air-conditioning units:

"One goes to bed in a special dress for the night, similar to that of the Indians and very light. On the mat is spread a sheet for covering oneself and a blanket of Ilocos cotton which is rarely used. Cushions are not wanting for on their number depends the degree of pleasure and coolness enjoyed while sleeping; there is one for every limb, and air circulates under and along the sides. The cotton cushion, called abrasador, requires particular description: it is of cylindrical shape; its length from 3.5 feet by 10 inches in diameter; it is more or less hard, according to the taste of the person, covered with fine cloth, embroidered or not, to which it owes its coolness. As its name indicates, its purpose is to be embraced, and usually it is placed between the legs and arms during sleep. Between the abrasador and the body is left a suitable distance for the air to be able to circulate. At first sight, one would think such a cushion to be suffocating instead of refreshing; but it is the very opposite, as long as one knows how to use it. New users have as much difficulty getting used to it as those who have grown into the habit of doing without it."

In some homes, I still see an abrasador although it seems to have fallen into disuse probably because it is more difficult to store than ordinary pillows.

What follows next made me realize how the Rizal family slept in Calamba. You see there are only four tiny bedrooms in the reconstructed Rizal Shrine: one for the parents of the hero, one for Paciano, another for Rizal, and another that couldn't have possibly contained the nine Rizal girls! Where did they sleep? Probably in the sala as described below:
"In the evening, many families spread an immense double mat on the floor, on which everybody sleeps, each place marked by one's abrasador and the four to six pillows belonging to him. An immense mosquito net is attached to the four corners of the room. It is mainly by choice, although there are beds, that one prefers to sleep on the floor, because it is cooler, so extremely hot is it at night. There are moments when it is in vain for one to leave the windows open for one to be less stifled.

"The manner of arranging the pillows at each one's disposal, is to place one under each leg, one under each arm, one under the head and one under the buttocks, plus the abrasador already mentioned. The body leans on each of them only at a point, the rest lie on empty space, so that air circulates from everywhere around the body, and one cannot be more comfortably and softly bedded, even on the floor. During the intense heat of summer, the use of the precious abrasador could perhaps be adapted in France. We regret very much not being able to give in our atlas the representation of a resident of Manila lying down on his pillows."

It's easier to use a hammock than balancing on a sea of pillows. The above just illustrates that necessity is truly the mother of invention.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu