Note 7 — XXII

Ill-usage prevails to a great extent, although prohibited by a stringent law; the non-enforcement of which by the alcaldes is charged with a penalty of 100 dollars for every single case of neglect. In many provinces the bridegroom pays to the bride’s mother, besides the dower, an indemnity for the rearing (“mother’s milk”) which the bride has enjoyed (bigay susu). According to Colin (“Labor Evangelico,” p. 129) the penhimuyal, the present which the mother received for night-watching and care during the bringing up of the bride, amounted to one-fifth of the dowry.