JIEDICAL PEACTICES AMD SUPEESTITIONS OF KORDOFAN 
319 
the heading “Surgical Instruments’’). After a few minutes, when the circulation has 
been thoroughly retarded, the skin is divided witli a single cut of a sliarp knife or razor. 
In other cases only a single knot of string is used to retract the glans and retard the 
circulation, or again no constriction is employed at all, the glans being simply pushed out of 
the way by means of a murwad and divided with a circular cut. Sometimes the operator, 
using no instrument save a knife, inflates the prepuce 
with his lips and cuts it off rapidly. The Jewish 
custom still in vogue of biting off the prepuce is 
apparently not employed. ' 
The prepuce having been removed, the clamp is 
loosed (if one has been used) and there ensues little 
or no bleeding. The mucous membrane is then 
retracted and sutured to the skin in two or three 
places by means of giraffe hair stitches, or, more 
commonly, fine sharp thorns, prepared in separate 
dishes (commonly small gourds or clam shells) of 
boiled butter, which are passed through the mucous ; 
membrane and skin and then broken off short. * 
Often the mucous membrane is simply retracted and 
no sutures applied. 
After the operation the wound is dusted over Fii^. 100.—Circumcisioa tboru autvires ifi siiu 
with either ground charcoal, wood ash, ground dura, “ Hankank ” or “ Karkarab ” (a powder 
made from cotton seeds) or charred cow- or sheep-dung. The boy is then placed in a 
bed laid on the floor of a special tukl, his clothes being kept off the wound by means of 
a string suspended from the roof. His diet is at first restricted, but after three days, 
when the sutures are removed, he can eat as he pleases, and on the seventh day is 
discharged. The Hakim visits his patients daily, dressing them when necessary. 
During such an operation the greatest excitement prevails, a mob of friends and 
relations crushing in to get a better view. The patient is usually provided with a whip, 
which he weaves in his hand the while as a sign of courage. He seldom utters a sound, 
and I imagine the j)ain is but momentary. 
4. Giremne-ision of Girls. Usually undertaken at the age of five or six and attended Circumcision 
by much less ceremony than in the case of boys. of girls 
The girl is placed on an angareeb* in a tnkl, and the parts well washed with water. 
Assistants hold her down and keep her legs apart whilst the “ Hakima,” an old woman — 
or, in some cases, an old man — operates. 
The clitoris is caught between the finger and thumb and severed rapidly with a sharp 
knife or razor, and after this each of the labia minora in turn. Some prefer to remove 
all with one sweep. Very hot water is then applied as a styptic and a dusting of one 
of the following ; — 
(«) Powdered natron. 
(/<) .\ paste of powdered dura and water. 
(fi) Alum. 
(d) “ Shish,” a charcoal mixture. 
The legs of the patient are tied together after the operation for seven days. She is 
dressed daily, alum and water being used as an astringent and antiseptic lotion. Some¬ 
times, a small cylinder of wood is inserted into the vulva to maintain a urinary j)assage. 
Native bedstead. 
