314 
MEDICAL PRACTICES AND SUPERSTITIONS OF KOKDOFAN 
Knives 
Setons 
Hooks, blunt 
and sharp 
6. El Muz. Native razor for circumcision of males and females, and various other 
operations, is a short (4 inches to 6 inches) 
spear-head shaped knife welded from a single 
piece of iron. Before use a piece of cloth is 
wrapped round the handle to give a better grip. 
The blade is cleverly welded on the hollow and 
extremely sharp. (Fig. 85.) 
7. El Sakiii. The Kordofan knife (worn at the bend of the left elbow), alluded to 
above as carrying in its sheath the samandi.a, needles, etc., is also used itself in the rough 
native operations on both man and beast, besides being the universal weapon in all cases of 
Pig 8(3 —K1 Hakin 
r 
Pig 87.—Bl Mikhr.iy 
necessity. It is kept particularly keen and well-pointed. Written and herbal charms are 
frequently attached to the sheath for convenience and safety. (Fig. 86.) 
8. El Si‘f. The ordinary sword is used for amputations of the larger limbs in cases of 
surgical necessity and for punishment. 
9. El Mikhraij. \ sharp-pointed piece of iron with a wooden handle, used in 
puncturing the skin for the insertion of setons. A fold of skin is picked up between the 
finger and thumb, pierced, and a horse or giraffe- 
hair passed through and loosely tied, a procedure 
almost identical with the European methods of a 
past generation. This treatment is employed to 
relieve inflammations, especially of the eye when the 
seton is inserted at the outer angle of the orbit, a custom still in vogue among some of our 
more antiquated ophthalmic surgeons. (Fig. 87.) 
10. El I.thfa. A. small blunt-pointed iron hook on a stem about five inches long and 
supplied with a wooden handle—it is used in operations for opening up the vulva before 
marriage and child-birth, the hook being passed under and caught in the thin scar tissue 
which occludes the vaginal orifice; traction 
is then exerted in an outward direction, - ■ _ \ a 
and the semi-circular piece of skin, thus t —*—^—My g 
brought into prominence, ra23idly removed 
with a single cut of the “muz.” After 
such an ojieration a smooth cylinder of wood may bo worn within the vulva to ^irevcnt 
the raw surfaces completely uniting. 
Another variety of Ishfa is jirovided with a shaiqi hook to iiiqiale and draw forward the 
uvula during removal of that organ. (Fig. 88, B.) 
Fl6. 88 —El Ishfa 
