Among the lowest classes, whilst a woman is lying-in, the husband closes all the windows to prevent the evil spirit (_asuan_) entering; sometimes he will wave about a stick or bowie-knife at the door, or on top of the roof, for the same purpose. Even among the most enlightened, at the present day, the custom of shutting the windows is inherited from their superstitious forefathers, probably in ignorance of the origin of this usage. In Spanish times it was considered rather an honour than otherwise to have children by a priest, and little secret was made of it. In October, 1888, I was in a village near Manila, at the bedside of a sick friend, when the curate entered. He excused himself for not having called earlier, by explaining that "Turing" had sent him a message informing him that as the vicar (a native) had gone to Manila, he might take charge of the church and parish. "Is 'Turing' an assistant curate?" I inquired. My friend and the pastor were so convulsed with laughter at the idea, that it was quite five minutes before they could explain that the intimation respecting the parochial business emanated from the absent vicar's _bonne amie_. Consanguine marriages are very common, and perhaps this accounts for the low intellect and mental debility perceptible in many families. Poor parents offer their girls to Europeans for a loan of money, and they are admitted under the pseudonym of sempstress or housekeeper. Natives among themselves do not kiss--they smell each other, or rather, they place the nose and lip on the cheek and draw a long breath. Marriages between Spaniards and pure native women, although less frequent than formerly, still take place. Since 1899 many Americans, too, have taken pure native wives. It is difficult to apprehend an alliance so incongruous, there being no affinity of ideas, the only condition in common being, that they are both human beings professing Christianity. The husband is either drawn towards the level of the native by this heterogeneous relationship, or, in despair of remedying the error of a passing passion, he practically ignores his wife in his own social connections. Each forms then a distinct circle of friends of his, or her, own selection, whilst the woman is but slightly raised above her own class by the white man's influence and contact. There are some exceptions, but I have most frequently observed in the houses of Europeans married to native women in the provinces, that the wives make the kitchen their chief abode, and are only seen by the visitor when some domestic duty requires them to move about the house. Familiarity breeds contempt, and these _mesalliances_ diminish the dignity of the superior race by reducing the birth-origin of both parents to a common level in their children.