THE MEDICINE MAN IN NATAL AND ZULULAND. 203 



Tlie offices of the medicine man are various, and are not 

 restricted to the heahng of disease. They may be called U|X)n 

 to cure persistent evil dreams ; they may also prescribe love 

 charms which will break down every obstacle or remove the spell 

 which causes liabiyc (hysteria) in girls. The sex of the unborn 

 child can be arranged for in accordance with the mother's desire 

 by administering the proper potion. They may be recjuired to 

 protect a kraal from lightning, an interesting ceremony, and one 

 which brings with it much kudos; if the kraal is not struck its 

 salvation is due to the skill and power of the doctor. Then there 

 is the custom of ukusukiila or ukukanda amasunn — the doctoring 

 of the fields to make them fruitlful. The bones of a dead man. 

 or certain parts of the body, are a valuable if not vital ingredient 

 if the medicament is to be effective. 



Enough has been said to show how closely superstition is 

 interwoven with medicine in the treatment oi disease, and ho\A- 

 largely medicines figvu-e in superstitious practices which have for 

 their object the circumvention of the evils attributed to witch- 

 cralft. All the illustraions given come within the province of the 

 Native doctor or medicine man ; and alth(Migh every medicine 

 man may not claim to be proficient in all branches of his profes- 

 sion, yet few, if any, confine themselves to the use of medicines 

 as the sole means of curing disease. There are, of course, 

 specialists whose particuar functions are mainly confined t<> 

 superstitious practices, and yet who still rank as medicine men 

 and not as witch doctors, in that they prdfess no ]x>wers of 

 divination. It has been made clear that stringent legislation has 

 endeavoured to render it im]x)ssible for a medicine luan to resort 

 to magic in any form in attending to hisi patients, but it is 

 doubtful if there are any who do not transgress in some way or 

 other. The description which has been attempted of the Native 

 doctor and his methods is true enough to-day in spite of legisla- 

 tion, useful though such legislation has been in checking illegal 

 practices based on superstition and its ramifications. It has 

 reference only to Natal and Zululand ; but, as a type, the sketch 

 in its nnigh outline is perhaps sufficiently accurate to apph . 

 luutotis iiiiifandis, to the Native doctor of all the Bantu tribes in 

 South Africa. It is not sought to minimise in any degree the 

 undoubted knowledge possessed by many of these men in regard 

 to the useful qualities of certain plants as medicines — the male 

 fern (Felix tnas) for tapeworm; the innondi (Chlorocodou- 

 JJliitei) for indigestion and flatulence, and many others; but 

 with this knowledge goes a profound ignorance o)f the dangerous 

 and ix>isonus nature of other plants if recklessly used, not to 

 mention the admixture of deleterious animal and mineral sub- 

 stances with their prescriptions. When misadventure results and 

 death ensues, it is often difficult for' the pathologist who may 

 investigate the case to ascertain what poison has been introduced, 

 the toxic f[ualities of many South African plants having yet to 

 be determned by scientific research. In one such case, arising 

 out of a charge of culpable homicide, it could only be said that 



