ZULU MEDICINE AND MEDICINE-MEN. 71 



(Cyrtaiitlius obliquus). The dark-coloured jjortion of the 

 root below the bulb was dried, pulverised, and rubbed into 

 incisions made at the seat of breakage. Equally effective, and 

 applied in the same way, is the herb uNyivaleni (Cluytia 

 pulchella). Others employ the root-bark of the coast-tree 

 umNqandane ivempisi or inDodemnyama (Royena villosa) 

 along- with the root of uMathunga as above ; roast both on a 

 pot-lid till dry, pulverise, and rub into incisions as before. 



For simple sprains (notwithstanding that the natives fre- 

 quently refer to these also as breakages or uhwaphuka) the 

 iiNyenya (Rhamnus prinoides) and the ii'idaceous hiDawo- 

 lucicatha are used as embrocations. 



Snake-bite. 



The treatment of snake-bite must always hold an important 

 place in the medicine of the aborigines of a snake-infested 

 country like Zululand and Natal. It has been asserted by 

 European experts over and over again that snake-poison, 

 when taken into the system through the stomach, is harmless 

 and inert, and yet, as far as I can discover, the homoeopathic 

 principle reigns supreme among all those races of mankind 

 that have been born and reared amongst snakes, and the anti- 

 dote is taken through the mouth. The orthodox antidote of 

 the Zulu doctor, no less than of the Indian of Brazil, is the 

 snake itself, and by preference the very snake that has bitten, 

 or, if this be unprocurable, another of its species. 



There are venomous snakes of several distinct kinds in 

 South Africa, each with its own peculiar poison, and demand- 

 ing its own peculiar treatment. There are the colubrine 

 black (Dendraspis angusticeps) and the green IMcunhha ; 

 the yiipers, iBhuluht, or puE-addev (Bitis arietans) and the 

 uMaqaiidalingophi — all lethal snakes; and the naias or so- 

 called cobras, imFezl and iPhunjji, scarcely less poisonous, 



A native snake-specialist would keep a regular supply of 

 the dried bodies — the head, bile, liver, heart and lungs — of 



