*93 



MALAY DRUGS. 



In 1894 I read before a meeting of the Medical Society a paper, 

 in the Malay Materia Medica, which was published in the journal 

 of that Society. A comparatively small number of copies were 

 printed and the paper u now practically unprocurable, I have 

 therefore thought well to reproduce it in main part adding addi- 

 tional information on the drugs used by the Malays as far as I 

 have been able to collect information on them. 



The difficulty of studying the locally used drugs lies largely in 

 the fact that they are imported from the forests to the shops 

 often in the form of chips of wood, twigs, or roots, quite uniden- 

 tifiable, and though the Native name is often of much use, yet one 

 can never be quite sure even that that is used correctly by the 

 drug-seller. In the villages one often can get hold of a man who 

 really knows the plants which are used, but frequently I have 

 found no one in the place who is acquainted with the Native 

 medicines. There is a tendency too for this lore to die out as 

 European medicines are now more universally procurable at the 

 various dispensaries now scattered over the Peninsula. The old 

 herbalist's occupation dwindles away and soon the knowledge is 

 lost. This has happened in all countries where civilization and 

 scientific medicine have invaded the country districts. 



The best herbalists are the Jakuns and the. Sakais who have to 

 depend on the forests for their medicine as well as their food, and 

 who also used to trade in the drugs valued by the Malays and 

 Chinese. 



The country Malay's knowledge of human physiology and ana- 

 tomy is naturally very limited and his nosology almost as scanty. 

 He is acquainted with conspicuous and easily determined diseases 

 such as dysentery and small-pox, and seems to know something 

 about these ailments, but obscurer diseases as heart disease, 

 hysteria and till it was common, consumption were always referred 

 to witchcraft or the action of devils, and treated as such. 



Indeed in examining the Malay pharmacopoeia one cannot 

 help being struck with its resemblance to that of England five 

 centuries ago. We have the uses of various portions of animals 

 such as the Slow Loris, Kangkong {Nyctipithecus) shown to be 

 worthless as drugs long ago. We have the same ideas that this 

 or that plant with the addition of rose water or pepper will serve 

 for any illness that may occur. We have the sacred herbs brought 

 from Mecca, of which the most popular is the Rose of Jericho 

 {Anastasia hierochuntica) which being brought from Mecca as a 

 flower from Eve's grave is supposed to have marvellous properties. 

 Another popular remedv from Mecca is Water from the well of 

 Zem-zem, a well at which probably many millions of people 

 affected with Cholera and other disease have bathed for genera- 

 tions. Bottles of this filthy liquid are brought back by pilgrims 

 and used as valuable medicines. 



The Rose of Jericho is immersed in water and when it expands 



