MKniCAL PKACTICES AND SITPERSTITIONS OF KORDOFAN 
301 
{Boscia nener/alensia), Ghnir ( ? ), Tibet ( ? ), Tie.hra ( ? ) and Denobia (?) are 
used in the various courses prescribed for syphilis. Shatta (red pepper) is largely taken 
as a stomachic and also employed in poultice applications, for which purpose, too, 
Bii.mia, Tiiuiluh (Gapparis apJii/Ua), and Castor Oil leaves are used. Samuk (gum arable) 
is prescribed in chest troubles and many other ills; it also forms a vehicle for various 
active drugs, the more usual vehicles being, however, milk, marissa, oil, butter and water. 
Additional Drugs 
Since Captain Anderson has been at such jDains to give a full list of drugs employed 
in Kordofan, many of which are in general use throughout the Sudan, I think it would be a 
pity not to record the names of others which have come under notice. Most of them are 
represented in the Laboratories’ museum, and from time to time, Mr. Broun, Director of 
Woods and Forests, has been good enough to aid me in their recognition. Amongst the 
organic group one may mention, jalap, aloes, gall-nuts, cannabis indica, hyoscyamus, fennel, 
cardamoms and cinnamon. All these have their place in the British Pharmacopceia. Others 
of local repute, but not honoured in like fashion, are represented by the Tebeldi fruit, the 
resin of Gardenia thnnbergia, dalle, balanites and alhizzia. 
Taking these in detail, we note that jalap, as a rule, comes from Mexico; but what 
look very like ipomoea seeds [Mulkat) can be bought as a purgative in the market at 
Omdurman. They are probably imported. 
Aloe harbadensis is a native of Northern Africa. Gall-nuts are called Afiis and 
probably come from Syria. Sa.karan is obtained from Ihjoscyamus muticus and Datura 
fastuosa as well as from D. stramonium. H. muticus is very rich in hyoscyamine and 
is used as a narcotic and poison. Egyptians make anodyne plasters from the seeds. 
Cannabis indica, in the form of IFaschisch, is a forbidden luxury, but is to be found 
in the markets for all that. Opium is also often smuggled into Khartoum. Fennel 
is known as Schumar, and is used as a carminative. So is cinnamon, Kurfit-el-dam, a 
remedy of repute in so-called blood-sickness. Myrrh, mentioned by Captain Anderson, 
and, in Khartoum, termed Murr Iligazi, besides its ordinarj' uses, is esteemed as a dressing 
for ulcers. Tebeldi, or gongoleise, is the huge fruit of the Baobab tree, Adansonia digitata, or 
“ cream of tartar tree,” which is very plentiful round about Eoseires on the Blue Nile, and 
constitutes a wonderful feature in the landscape. The pulp of the seeds has a pleasant 
taste, due to tartaric acid, and is freely used as a diaphoretic, while it is also employed in 
dysentery. Samk-abu-Baka —the resin of Gardenia thnnbergia —is to be found in every 
drug-dealer’s basket and is valued as a purgative. Triantheina salsoloides, called Dalle, is 
said to be good for infectious fevers, probably on account of its disgusting odour. Laloh, 
the fruit of Balanites cegyptica, is another common purgative and is also said to be of value 
in the dressing of wounds. Arad, the pods of Alhizzia amara, are often seen. The plant 
must be esteemed, as 1 am credibly informed it serves the purposes of an emetic and 
astringent, is good for cough and malaria, and can be utilised as a poison. 
In the Bahr-El-Ghazal a root called Kassa, in the Golo tongue, is employed by the 
natives in cases of blackwater fever, while Tili, a powdered red wood, possibly from 
Terminalia splendida, has a reputation in dysentery. Butyrospermum parkii (butter tree) is 
used both as a food and as a medicine. 
Amongst the inorganics, sulphate of copper and salts of iron and zinc are found, but 
these do not play so important a part as the vegetable remedies. Gardugga, a favourite 
purge, consists of common salt and the sulphate and the carbonate of soda. — A.B. 
Note by 
Dr. Balfour 
