68 Transaction*. — Miscellaneous. 



Also, papaka, or he atua, likewise attributed to a special demon. 

 This disease originated with Te Whatu-i-apiti Hapu of Here- 

 tiunga, and consists of a series of ulcers which break out on 

 various parts of the body, sometimes causing death. No remedy 

 was used to relieve the complaint. To ulcerated surfaces they 

 applied as a poultice the leaves and tender shoots of the astringent 

 koromiko( Veronica salicifolia), the boiled leaves of the kopakopa 

 (Plantago major), or the poroporo leaf (Solarium laciniatun 

 The bark of the pukatea (Atherosperma novce-zdandioe) steeped 

 in water, after removing the outer rind, formed a healing lotion 

 for tuberculous and chronic ulcers. The miro or black-pine 

 (Podocarpus ferruginea) yields a gum used for the same com- 

 plaints. A favourite method also was to bathe the affected 

 p nts in the hot sulphur and siliceous springs of Rotorua, Taupo. 

 and other places in that district. 



Mate pokapoka is a general term which includes all diseases 

 that cause ulceration and destruction of the skin. It is applied 

 to ulcers, syphilitic skin eruptions, patito (ringworm), and hum. 

 " This latter." says Elsdon Best, " is a very disfiguring complaint. 

 of which I do not know the European name, and seems generally 

 to attack the neck and side of the head, which get into a dread- 

 ful state. When cured it leaves the skin much marked, drawn. 

 and seamed. This complaint is also termed hore ; it is said to 

 hive been common here before the arrival of Europeans." From 

 so meagre a description of the lesion one cannot do more than 

 suggest the possibility of hura being a tuberculous skin ulcera- 

 tion. Patito is a disease of the scalp, commonly seen in children. 

 The term is also applied to ringworm, but probably the latter 

 may be a modern application. The following is the Tuhoe 

 method of treating these complaints. "Some wood-ashes arc 

 placed in a small vessel, and over them is poured a liquid made 

 by boiling or steeping pieces of the bark of kowhai (Edtcarsia 

 wicrophyUa) and manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) trees in 

 water. This mixture is stirred and allowed to dry, when it 

 sets hard. When used, the skin is scored with a sharp instru- 

 ment, and some of the block of ashes is scraped off and rubbed 

 into the scored lines. This ash-mixture is termed pureke. 



' This scoring of the skin is very common among the Maoris. 

 It is done for headache and almost any pains affecting the body. 

 The skin is Bcored with a needle, and then either painkiller or 

 vinegar is rubbed in. as a rule." 



Maihi (dandruff) is treated like mate pokapoka by rubbing 

 ashes on the scalp. 



Hakihaki (scabies, or the itch), a contagious animal-parasitic 



ise, a sort of eczema or dermatitis, caused by the presence of 

 an animalcule, the itch-mite, in the skin, was one of the com- 



