Atjeh folk-veterinary practice — the body of folk-veterinary knowledge and technique applied by the Atjehnese (Atjeher) to the medical care of buffaloes and cattle — is documented in Kreemer’s *De Karbouw* ([[1956)]] (pp. 165-168) as a substantial corpus of remedies, surgical techniques, and magical-therapeutic practices. The corpus is documented principally through Snouck Hurgronje’s Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] (vol. II, pp. 51, 55-56, 326) and Kreemer’s *Atjeh* (vol. II, pp. 596, 619, 624, 645, 647, 548 vg.) — and exemplifies the wider Atjehnese pattern of integration of folk-veterinary technique with magical-therapeutic and Islamic-amulet practice.
Documented practices
The principal documented Atjeh folk-veterinary practices recorded in De Karbouw are:
Wound treatment: salt on the nasal septum wound
When the Atjeher pierces the nasal septum of a buffalo to draw the nose-rope through, he rubs kitchen salt on the wound so that it heals quickly (De Karbouw, p. 166; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 647). Salt is also used as a general wound-remedy.
Diarrhoea remedy: burnt hide and puffed rice
For diarrhoea, the Atjeher prescribes internally an infusion of burnt buffalo-hide and puffed rice, both ingredients first being finely pounded (De Karbouw, p. 166; Snouck Hurgronje, Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] II, p. 51).
Gall-bladder remedy: swallowing whole
From Atjeh comes the report that the gall-bladder (phét, Mal. pahit) of buffalo, cow, or goat is swallowed whole as a remedy against wasting disease (uitterende ziekte) (De Karbouw, p. 167; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 645).
Joint-marrow remedy
A remarkable practice of Atjehse origin: for unpleasant sensations in the joints, one asks a person slaughtering a buffalo or cow for one or more of the legs in unbroken state, takes out the joint-marrow (oetaq toeleuëng) and rubs it on the painful parts or drinks an extract of it (De Karbouw, p. 167; Snouck Hurgronje, Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] II, pp. 55-56).
Surgical practice: cauterising with the glowing iron
The Atjehers cauterise wounds with maggots in buffaloes and cattle with the glowing iron (gloeijzer) (De Karbouw, p. 168; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 619; Kreemer, *Volksheelkunde*, pp. 103 vg.).
Holy-grave therapy for sick cattle
The Mohammedaanse Atjeher brings his sick cattle to a holy grave (heilig graf, kramat) to wash the animals’ heads with water there; if the distance is too great, he takes some earth from the grave and mixes it in the drinking water of the sick beasts (De Karbouw, p. 168; Snouck Hurgronje, Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] II, p. 326). This is the principal documented Atjehnese instance of the integration of folk-veterinary practice with Islamic saint-veneration (kramat-cult).
Magic “cooling” of epidemics
A magical “verkoeling” (cooling) is applied to cattle and stables to neutralise “hot” (baleful) influences when an epidemic breaks out (De Karbouw, p. 168; Kreemer, *Atjeh* I, p. 509; II, pp. 548 vg.) — an instance of the wider Atjehnese “verkoeling” concept of magical neutralisation of “warm” disastrous influences.
Bespreken/bespuwen with sirih-spittle
The Atjeh practice of bespuwen (spitting) with sirih-spittle, possibly mixed with chewed magical leaves/herbs, as a calming/pain-killing measure (De Karbouw, p. 165; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 553) — a general Indonesian practice, but with explicit Atjeh attestation.
Therapeutic power of buffalo-spittle / wallow-water
The water from a pool in which a buffalo has wallowed has therapeutic power, both internally and externally administered (De Karbouw, p. 160; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 596).
The sakét oelèe neuraja maturation-crisis concept
The Atjehnese concept of the *sakét oelèe neuraja* — the critical maturation-crisis through which every buffalo must pass before adulthood, recognised by “the falling-out of the nest-hairs” — is part of the wider folk-veterinary conceptualisation of the buffalo’s life-cycle (De Karbouw, p. 172; Snouck Hurgronje, Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] II, p. 52; Kreemer, *Atjeh* II, p. 624).
Significance
Atjeh folk-veterinary practice is significant for the encyclopedia of Acheh history as the documented corpus of folk-veterinary knowledge and technique applied by the Atjehnese to the medical care of buffaloes and cattle. The corpus exemplifies the wider Atjehnese pattern of integration of folk-veterinary technique (salt on wounds, burnt-hide diarrhoea remedy, gall-bladder swallowing, joint-marrow rubbing, glowing-iron cauterisation) with magical-therapeutic practice (sirih-spittle bespuwen, spittle/wallow-water therapy, the sakét oelèe neuraja concept) and with Islamic-amulet and saint-veneration practice (the kramat-grave therapy for sick cattle, the “verkoeling” of epidemics). The corpus is documented principally through Snouck Hurgronje’s Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] and Kreemer’s *Atjeh*, and is re-cited in *De Karbouw* as one of the principal documents of the Atjehnese folk-veterinary complex.
Sources
De Karbouw — Zijn betekenis voor de volken van de Indonesische Archipel, by J. Kreemer (‘s-Gravenhage / Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve, 1956), pp. 160, 165-168, 172.
De Atjehers, by C. Snouck Hurgronje, 2 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1893-94), vol. II, pp. 51, 55-56, 326. Atjèh, by J. Kreemer, vol. I (1922), p. 509; vol. II (1923), pp. 548-549, 553, 596, 619, 624, 645, 647. Volksheelkunde in Nederlandsch-Indië, by J. Kreemer, pp. 103 vg.