154 
SUMATRA. 
tice is either by adminiftering the juices of certaio treeu and herbs in* 
wardly, or by applying outwardly a poultice of leaves chopped fmall, 
upon the breaft or part effected, renewing it as foon as it becomes dry. 
'For internal pains, they rub oil on a large leaf of a ftimulant quality, 
and heating it before the fire, clap k on the body of the patient, as a 
blifter, which produces very powerful effe^ls. Phlebotomy they n£ver 
ufe, yet the people of the neighbouring iflaad of Neas^ are famous for 
their fltill in cupping, which they praftice in a manner peculiar to them- 
felves. 
In fevers they give a decoction of the herb lakoon^ and bathe the pa?- 
tient, for two or three mornings, in warm water. If this does not prove 
effe6:ual, they pour over him, during the paioxyfm, a quantity of cold 
water, rendered more chilly by the dmun fedhfgifi, which, from the 
fudden revulfion it caufes, brmgs on a copious pcrfpiration. Pains and 
fwellings in the limbs, are likewiHe cured by fweating; but for this pur- 
pofe, they either cover themfelves over with mats, and fit in the fun- 
fhine at noon, or if the operation be performed within doors, a lamp, 
and fometimes a pot of boiling herbs, is enclofed in the covering with 
them. 
There are two fpecies of leprofy known in thefe parts. The milder 
fort, or mpettg0\ as I apprehend it to be; is very common among the 
inhabitants of Neas ; great numbers of whom are covered with a white 
fcurf or fcalcs, that render them loathfome to the fight. But this dif- 
temper, though difagreeable from the violent itching and other incon- 
veniences with which it is attended, does not appear immediately to af- 
fect the health; flaves in that fituation being daily bought and fold for 
-field and other out-door work* It is communicated from parents to uieir 
who put iheir iruft En thee t" From the many fold* that appear in the rjrigin&U 1 hiive raafon to 
apprehend ihat it had been woro, and by foiae EngUfhrnan, whom fretiuent ficknefs and the foftd 
love of life, had rendered wjcak and fuperftitious enough to tiy the effirfts of this harbaroua asd 
ndktjious quackery. 
offspringi 
