6o8 NATIVE MEDICINES. 



that bay found that they had left it among them, and 

 saveral adults were cut off by a form of the complaint 

 called Laryngismus stridulus, the disease of which the 

 great Washington died. Similar cases have occurred in 

 the South Sea Islands. Ships have left diseases, from 

 which no one on board was suffering at the time of their 

 visit Many of the inhabitants here, were cut down, 

 usually in three days from their first attack, until a native 

 doctor adopted the plan of scratching the root of the 

 tongue freely with a certain root, and giving a piece of it 

 to be chewed. The cure may have been effected by the 

 scarification only, but the Portuguese have the strongest 

 faith in the virtues of the root, and always keep some of it 

 within reach. 



There are also other plants which the natives use in the 

 treatment of fever, and some of them produce diaphoresis 

 m a short space of time. It is certain that we have got 

 the knowledge of the most potent febrifuge in our pharma- 

 copoeia from the natives of another country. We have no 

 cure for cholera and some other diseases. It might be 

 worth the investigation of those who visit Africa to try 

 and find other remedies in a somewhat similar way to that 

 in which we found the quinine.* 



* I add the native names cu a few of their remedies in order to 

 assist the inquirer : — Mupanda panda : this is used in fever for produc- 

 ing perspiration ; the leaves are named Chirussa ; the roots dye red 

 and are very astringent. Goho or Goo : this is the ordeal medicine ; 

 it is both purgative and emetic. Mutuva or Mutumbue : this plant 

 contains so much oil that it serves as lights in Londa ; it is an emol- 

 lient drink for the cure of coughs, and the pounded leaves answer as 

 soap to wash the head. Nyamucu ucu has a curious softening effect 

 on old dry grain. Mussakasi is believed to remove the effects of the 

 Goo. Mudama is a stringent vermifuge. Mapubuza dyes a red 

 colour. Musikizi yields an oil. Shinkondo : a virulent poison ; the 

 Maravi use it in their ordeal, and it is very fatal. Kanunka utare is 

 said to expel serpents and rats by its pungent smell, which is not at all 

 disagreeable to man ; this is probably a kind of Zanthoxylon, perhaps 

 the Z. melancantha of Western Africa, as it is used to expel rats and 

 serpents there. Mussonzoa dyes cloth black. Mussio : the beans of 

 this also dye black. Kangome, with flowers and fruit like Mocha 

 coffee ; the leaves are much like those of the sloe, and the seeds are 

 used as coffee or eaten as beans. Kanembe-embe : the pounded leaves 

 -used as an extemporaneous glue for mending broken vessels. Katun- 

 guru is used for killing fish. Mutavea Nyerere : an active caustic. 

 Mudiacoro : also an external caustic, and used internally. Kapande : 



