Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 97-99. (Budapest, 1982)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK - ELŐADÁSOK - Müller Mária: Népi gyógymódok, hiedelmek az algériai kabilok között (angol nyelven)

decorates the walls of the houses and the interiors of the flats. Most often it is layed above the entrance door. A great role is attributed to the hand in cultic life and in healing. Curses are called down by the left hand. The right hand of the marabu is believed to have magic power. The Kabyle author Mouloud Feraoun writes of a marabu who heals by the lay of the hand. The Kabyles believe in the magic power of the European doctor's right hand as well, that is they endow the doctor with such power. Very often they would seize the doctor's right wrisk and place it on the head or forehead of the sick child. First 1 thought they were showing the ailing part of the body. On my question they told me they believed in the wonderful effect of the doctor's hand that is why they placed it on the head or forehead of the sick child. Beside the hand, the Kabyles attribute magic powers to the eye as well. Even the newborn infants are protected against the evil eye by means of putting an antracit-like black dye into their eyes and smearing with it the eye-lids, too. They do not like showing the baby under six weeks to strangers fearing the evil eye. When in the street, the infants and small children are hidden under the veil of the mother lest the evil eye should be cast on them. Beside the hand, the eye also often appears on the house walls, protecting the dwellers against evil charm. The infant is kept at home until the age of six month, usually in the curtained room. Dull nutrition, lack of vitamins and sunshine are the causes for the high occurrence of rachitis and anaemia with Kabyle children. Later when they can walk, they are put under the supervision of some older child. From this time they get out to the courtyard or the street and spend their whole day outside until they reach school age. Many of the deliveries are performed at home with the help of the mother-in-law or a neighbouring old woman. The umbilical cord is cut with any instrument around. They tie it down with a piece of cloth, pack thread or some hurds. The navel of the newborn is smeared with henna. This is a vegetable dye which is thought to have blood-clotting, antiphlogistic and disinfectioning effects. The use of henna is likely to contribute to the high occurrence of umbilical tetanus among Kabyle mountain dwellers. I admitted to my ward 71 newborn infants with umbilical tetanus. I saw about 500 newborn with umbilical tetanus in moribund state during the four years, whose parents refused hospital admission. The number of infant deaths due to umbilical tetanus cannot be stated around Bejaia, since it is still usual in the Kabyle villages and manors that the newborn is not announced at the council house so as to avoid administrative problems. Children are reported when they reach the age of six weeks. It also happens that they miss the announcement later, too. I had to make certain the age of a child of about 12 years who had the name and date of birth of the other child having died at birth. It also happened that the girl inherited the birth data of her previously deceased brother. In such cases I was consulted in order that I verify the age and sex and give a certificate of the result. Because of the primitive sanitary conditions, infant mycoses are very frequent. These are also treated with henna or the dried powder of some plant. I saw an erythematous infant whose genitalia were sprinkled with salt. The Kabyles swaddle their infants with a bandage of about 4-5 meters long. They start winding it around the infant at the shoulders and proceeding distally they tighten it more and more. It is very difficult to dissuade them from this ancient way of swaddling which, had been followed by the Romans and Etruscans. In case of infants with dislocated hip this was particularly troublesome. In Algeria, therapeutic appliances are hardly available, there is no Pavlik'sharness or Freyka's pillow. I could only make them bind up the infant widely, lay it prone and put it on the grandmother's back the earliest possible. Usually