58 EEV. ALFRED T. ERYANT. 



while boiling hot, the sprinkling- being done by a small bunch 

 of the leafy stalks of the nmGunya, iClmamUlo, uMagwanyana 

 and other herbs, whose property is said to ba to render the 

 boiling- water harmless. The native doctor thus first clears 

 out and "softens down" the body through a vapour-bath, and 

 then endeavours to excite a shock or thrill throughout the 

 system by means of the hot-water sprinkling. This treatment 

 is further supplemented by medicinal draughts. 



To allay the pains of rheumatic fever, the whole viscous 

 bulb of the inGcino (Scilla rigidifolia) veld-herb is 

 thoroughly boiled in a quart of water, of which one tea- 

 spoonful is taken morning and evening- for one day only. Or 

 a lai-ge handful of the uGohu root (Grunnera perpensa) is 

 pounded and boiled along with the chopped bulb of the 

 'umDuze or Natal Lily, and the decoction drunk. Other 

 general remedies are the roots and bark of the umNyezane 

 (Dovyalis rhamnoides), which are boiled and the extract 

 drunk. Or the roots of the umLiihiina (Turrtea hetero- 

 pliylla) along with umQalothi bark (Strychnos hen- 

 ningsii) may be prepared in the same way. The pungent 

 bark of the islBhaha is also praised as a specific for rheuma- 

 tism, and I am of opinion that the peppei-y bark of the 

 iiiiiNungwane (Xanthoxylon capense) would prove equally 

 efficacious. 



Local treatment sometimes takes the form of a simple 

 sprinkling of the painful part, by means of a small brush, 

 with the boiling decoction of the iCiiiiamlilo (Pentanisia 

 variabilis), this plant, the pretty Avild forget-me-not of the 

 veld, having the reputed property, as mentioned above, of 

 preventing burning liquids from injuring the tissue. Simi- 

 larly, the roots of the uSIiaqa (Berkheya sp.) may be boiled, 

 its leaves pounded and mixed with cold water, which is then 

 added to the boiled root-decoction, and the mixture used to 

 foment the painful limb, any benefit derived therefrom being 

 probably due to the fomentation rather than to the herb, 

 which is generally held to be simply astringent. 



For stiff-neck the bark of the iimSongi tree is used. 



