hich are separated from each other by a variety of fanciful
drawings. A charm against an ague I once accidentally met with, which
from circumstances I conclude to be a translation of such as are employed
by the Portuguese Christians in India. Though not properly belonging to
my subject, I present it to the reader. "(Sign of the cross). When Christ
saw the cross he trembled and shaked; and they said unto him hast thou an
ague? and he said unto them, I have neither ague nor fever; and whosoever
bears these words, either in writing or in mind, shall never be troubled
with ague or fever. So help thy servants, O Lord, who put their trust in
thee!" From the many folds that appear in the original I have reason to
apprehend that it had been worn, and by some Englishmen, whom frequent
sickness and the fond love of life had rendered weak and superstitious
enough to try the effects of this barbarous and ridiculous quackery.)

FEVERS.

In fevers they give a decoction of the herb lakun, and bathe the patient,
for two or three mornings, in warm water. If this does not prove
effectual, they pour over him, during the paroxysm, a quantity of cold
water, rendered more chilly by the daun sedingin (Cotyledon laciniata)
which, from the sudden revulsion it causes, brings on a copious
perspiration. Pains and swellings in the limbs are likewise cured by
sweating; but for this purpose they either cover themselves over with
mats and sit in the sunshine at noon, or, if the operation be performed
within doors, a lamp, and sometimes a pot of boiling herbs, is enclosed
in the covering with them.

LEPROSY.

There are two species of leprosy known in these parts. The milder sort,
or impetigo, as I apprehend it to be, is very common among the
inhabitants of Nias, great numbers of whom are covered with a white scurf
or scales that renders them loathsome to the sight. But this distemper,
though disagreeable from the violent itching and other inconveniences
with which it is attended, does not appear immediately to affect the
health, slaves in that situation being bought and sold for field and
other outdoor work. It is communicated from parents to their offspring,
but though hereditary it is not contagious. I have sometimes been induced
to think it nothing more than a confirmed stage of the serpigo or
ringworm, or it may be the same with what is elsewhere termed the
shingles. I have known a Nias man who has effected a temporary removal of
this scurf by