ZULU MEDICINE AND MEDICINE-^IEN. 39 



the wound a puff of the hot steam rising from the bundle of 

 boiled roots. Perhaps so uncouth a method ol)tains its use- 

 fulness from acting- as a rough kind of counter-irritant. 



A less barbarous treatment^ and, perhaps, a more effective 

 remedy, is the bark of the iiMahluheJcufeiii (Croton gratissi- 

 mum) and the umZilanyonl (Croton syl vatic um). A 

 certain German doctor has attained to some degree of popular 

 fame by affixing his name to a certain patent " oil," which I 

 have found to produce very good results as an eruptive 

 rubefacient in cases of internal inflammation, particularly of 

 the chest. Now, this " oil " is said to consist mainly of half 

 and half croton and olive oils. The Zulus were familiar with 

 this property of the crotons and its employment as a counter- 

 irritant probably long before any European was. The method 

 of application is to ground up the dry bark very finely and 

 rub the powder into incisions cut in the skin. 



Decoctions of the leaves or roots of the iimKhokha (Abrus 

 precatorius),^ as also those of the islGoho (Asparagus sp.), 

 are sometimes used for this same uHlabo complaint; or the 

 leaves and stalks of the iBohloloIo (Senecio speciosus) 

 may be burned, and the ashes rubbed into incisions made on 

 the spot. 



Chest pains generally — an accompaniment, of course, of all 

 of the more serious lung diseases — are said to be relieved by 



' This small coast-shrub is the identical "weather plant" (Abrus 

 precatorins uobilis) — or else a closely allied species or variety — now 

 rendered famous by the reputed discoveries of Professor Nowack, of 

 Austria, in regard to its supposed powers of foretelling atmospheric 

 and seismic disturbances, generally, of course, of a disastrous nati;re. 

 Sti-angely enough, with the Zulus, the plant is used as a common charm 

 for the bringing of " good '" fortune, on which account its little red and 

 black bean-like seeds may be often found carried by natives in the 

 purse, pocket or basket. It is, further, a member of the same botanical 

 sub-order as the liquorice plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra), and its roots 

 may contain similar properties. Now, the roots of liquorice are well 

 known as a European medicine for catarrhs and irritation of the air- 

 passages in man. So that we have here another of those numerous 

 instances of the keenness and accuracy of observation of the native 

 doctors. 



