196 



Vernac. name. — Maragua (Katagum, Dalziel). 



Katagum : Kuka. Cosmopolitan in the Tropics. 



The root is added to flavour milk in Katagum (Dalziel, Herb. 

 Kew). 



Used in native medicine in India as a deobstruent and diuretic for 

 coughs, and as a blood purifier (Moloney, For. W. Afr. p. 311, from 

 Dymock, Mat, Med. W. India, p. 178). 



This plant is recommended for green manuring and as a cover 

 plant in rubber plantations, &c ; it is considered better adapted for 

 planting in voung clearings than Crotalaria (Campbell, Agric. Bull. 

 Fed. Mai. States, viii. 1909, p. 447). 



May be propagated by seeds, germinates quickly, grows freely, and 

 covers the ground in a few months. 



On some plantations in the Federated Malay States it is grown in 

 the form of hedges at sufficient distances from each tree to allow 

 the air to circulate freely (Agric. News, Barbados, 1909, p. 405). 



When well established it can be cut over as desired, or about two 

 or three times a year. 



Ref. — "A Useful Leguminous Plant," in Agric. News, Barbados, 

 1908, p. 405 t 



Tephrosia Vogelii, Hook.f. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 110. 



III. — Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. t. 31 ; Ann. Inst. Col. Marseille, ix. 

 t902, t, 7. 



Vernac. names. — Were (Lagos, MacGregor, Dawodu), Igongo 

 (Gaboon, Moloney) ; Laye Igu (Abeokuta, Irving) ; Igan (Lagos, 

 Dawodu) ; Igun (Oloke-Meji, Foster) ; Agba-odo (Yoruba, Millson) ; 

 Cafoto (Golungo Alto, Welwitsch) ; Calembe (Pungo Andongo, 

 Welwitsch) ; Kambeti (Barotseland, Cockerell) ; Tawy (Sierra Leone, 

 Scott Elliot) ; Kassa (Gonga, Armitage). 



Lagos ; Bassa ; Nupe, and throughout Tropical Africa. 



Used for stupefying fish in Bassa (Elliott, Herb. Kew), Nupe 

 (Barter, Herb. Kew), Lagos (MacGregor, Millen & Dawodu, Herb. 

 Kew), Yoruba (Millson, Kew Bull. 1891, p. 210), Unyoro (Grant, 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. 1872, p. 55), Sierra Leone (Scott Elliot, Herb. 

 Kew), Angola (Welwitsch, in Hiern. Cat. Welw. Afr. PI. i. p. 220), 

 Barotseland (Cockerell, Mus. Kew), Gonga Country Gold Coast 

 (Armitage, Herb. Kew), Zambesi (Buchanan, Herb. Kew), and pro- 

 bably for the same purpose throughout Tropical Africa. 



The methods adopted are much the same everywhere. The leaves 

 and branches are pounded and thrown on the surface of the water, 

 causing the fish to rise to the surface stupefied or dead a few minutes 

 afterwards. They are quite wholesome and fit for food. 



The following passage gives an account of the use of " Kassa " in 

 the Gonga Country : — 



" A stretch of about half a mile of water is dammed and any 

 alligators in it killed; the people from the neighbouring villages 

 assemble, each bringing their bundle of "Kassa" leaves, which are 

 beaten to a pulp, taken to the prepared stretch of water and thrown 

 in. Men then enter the water and splash about, and in about ten 

 minutes fish begin to appear on the surface and are collected in 

 baskets or by hand. The largest fish are taken in this way. The 

 skin of the men who enter the water into which the Kassa has been 

 thrown, is affected by the latter and becomes rough, or as they say, 

 like a stick " (Colonial Office to Kew, April 23rd, 1898. Extract from 

 Report on Gonga Country by Inspector Armitage). 



