sojie tribal customs in their relation to medicine and morals 247 



Theory op Disease 



It is interesting how nearly akin is the theory of disease in the case of these pagan 

 people, and the rnde Mohammedan tribes of Kordofan^ where " The Evil-Eye " and 

 " Evil spirits and infinences " were found to be the two important factors in its causation. 



Amongst both peoples (Mohammedan and Pagan) too, the influence of the supreme 

 Allah on the one hand and the semi-mythical Umbolie (Nyam-nyam) and Bolinhula (Gour) 

 on the other seems almost entirely lost sight of in a maze of more potent, if more worldly, 

 supernatural influences. 



This makes an interesting comparison with ourselves, since sucli a supreme power, 

 "The will of God," would of course form the basis, were it worked out, of the Christian 

 theory of disease upon which such a well organised structure of Science has arisen. 

 It is the Evil Spirit then, that is the all-important factor in the causation of disease 

 amongst both the Nyam-nyam and Gours. 



With them, assuredly, "The evil that men do lives after them;" and so it befalls that '^<^'""f'" 



continued 



the ghosts of their malign forefathers, who still lurk in an after-life, on the same world existence of 

 as themselves, amongst the thickets and along the forest paths, animating animals, hiding '■^^ spirits of 



the departed 



as snakes in the long grass, or writhing in storms and whirlwinds and ever seeking to 

 regain a more human and concrete existence, or to disease and destroy those that still 

 possess it, are most to be dreaded. 



On this subject Livingstone remarks: " The prevalence of certain superstitious ideas 

 through the whole country north of the Zambesi seems to indicate a community oi 

 race among the triljes. AH believe that the souls of the departed still mingle among 

 the living and partake, in some way, of the food they consume. In sickness, sacrifices are 

 made to appease the spirits who wish, as they imagine, to take the living away from the 

 earth and all its enjoyments." It is by giving an opening to such evil spirits, through 

 the " Sahar," spells, and incantations, that one man can damage another and inflict 

 disease upon him. 



The influence of the Evil Eye, though, I think, an independent aboriginal idea, is a less 

 important factor. It has been brought into prominence, however, by contact with 

 Mohammedans, whose Koranic charms one sees not infrequently worn by these people, 

 against it and other evils. 



It is not to be wondered at under these circumstances that the theory, diagnosis 

 and treatment of disease is very indefinite, and that — from neglect, infant mortality, 

 malpraxis, ignorance of the infectivity of certain maladies and accidents — the death-rate, 

 especially amongst males, is a very high one, the fittest only, in a large part women, 

 surviving. 



The Shilluks (according to a member of the Austrian Mission, who kindly gave me " Theory of 

 this note) have such a well-defined and interesting theory of disease that I think it amo'nest the 

 worth recording, in comparison with the above. .shilluks 



Amongst them disease is classed under three headings ; — 



1. Jok, arising from the ill-will of ancestors and other evil spirits, and combated 

 by animal sacrifices to the offended one. The sick person is sometimes placed within 

 the eviscerated abdomen, or wrapped in the warm entrails of the sacrifice. 



2. Yuop, arising from witch-craft, invoked by an enemy, in which case a counter- 

 spell is prescribed by a recognised witch-doctor. 



' I'idc "Medical I'rai.'tices and Superstitions of Kordofan." — Tliin! Urpmi, ll'cl/rome Tiuipical J!i:s>an-/( 

 Ijiibomloricx. Kliarkiuni. 



