68 EEV. FATHER A. T. BRYANT. 



America are not found in S. Africa, a single species of the 

 same genus is indigenous to the coastal bush of Natal and 

 Zululand. This is the inGqaqahulani or (N) iYali or nLimi- 

 hrenyathi (Smilax kraussiana). It is an entangling bush- 

 climber with stems about a quarter of an inch in thickness, 

 bearing tiny hooked thorns. It constitutes one of the minor 

 eye remedies of the natives when afflicted with ophthalmia, 

 though generally in conjunction with one or other of the 

 plants already mentioned, a decoction being made, and the 

 eyes held for a time over the steaming pot. 



Earache. 

 Pain in the ear is relieved most usually by the thick mottled 

 leaves of the dwa,vf isiKhoIokntho (Sanseviera thyrsif olia), 

 which are warmed over the fire and a drop of the juice let 

 flow into the ear. The roots of the umFana-Tva'sihlanjana 

 (Stylochiton sp.), boiled in a little urine, or the leaves of 

 the isiNama (of the kind used to provide smoking-tubes) 

 crushed and steeped in the same fluid are other cures for 

 earache. The umSintsi (Erythrina caifra) leaves are also 

 sometimes crushed, infused in hot water, and a drop of the 

 liquid placed in the ear. The umHlakuva is another common 

 household remedy for this purpose. 



Toothache. 



Before the advent of the white man, dentistry was an 

 unknown art among the Zulus. They were a people not yet 

 attained to the inventive stage, and they turned instinctively 

 to Nature for aid in all their needs. 



Owing to the lack of suitable implements for extraction, the 

 aim of the native doctor is to destroy the troubling tooth 

 in situ. He claims to possess medicines which, when applied 

 to a decaying tooth, cause it to drop out forthwith. This is 

 merely an exaggerated statement of a property certain plants 

 have, when inserted within the decayed cavity, of causing 

 such teeth to break up, thus falling out piecewise. Such 



