Bioseparations Science and Engineering Topics in Chemical Engineering 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Bioseparations Science and Engineering Topics in Chemical Engineering 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Bioseparations Science and Engineering Topics in Chemical Engineering 2nd Edition Ebook PDF Version
Preface xix
vii
viii / / Contents
4. Filtration 135
4.1 Instructional Objectives 136
4.2 Filtration Principles 137
4.2.1 Conventional Filtration 137
Example 4.1. Batch Filtration 138
4.2.2 Crossflow Filtration 143
Example 4.2. Concentration Polarization in
Ultrafiltration 146
Example 4.3. Comparison of Mass Transfer
Coefficient Calculated by Boundary
Layer Theory Versus by Shear-Induced
Diffusion Theory 150
4.3 Filter Media and Equipment 152
4.3.1 Conventional Filtration 152
4.3.2 Crossflow Filtration 156
4.4 Membrane Fouling 160
4.5 Scale-up and Design of Filtration Systems 162
4.5.1 Conventional Filtration 163
Example 4.4. Rotary Vacuum Filtration 164
Example 4.5. Washing of a Rotary Vacuum Filter Cake 166
4.5.2 Crossflow Filtration 171
Example 4.6. Diafiltration Mode in Crossflow Filtration 173
4.6 Summary 176
Nomenclature 178
Problems 179
References 184
5. Sedimentation 185
5.1 Instructional Objectives 185
5.2 Sedimentation Principles 186
5.2.1 Equation of Motion 186
5.2.2 Sensitivities 187
5.3 Methods for Analysis of Sedimentation 189
5.3.1 Equilibrium Sedimentation 190
5.3.2 Sedimentation Coefficient 191
Contents // xi
6. Extraction 219
6.1 Instructional Objectives 219
6.2 Extraction Principles 220
6.2.1 Phase Separation and Partitioning Equilibria 220
6.2.2 Countercurrent Stage Calculations 226
Example 6.1. Separation of a Bioproduct and an
Impurity by Countercurrent Extraction 230
Example 6.2. Effect of Solvent Rate in Countercurrent
Staged Extraction of an Antibiotic 230
6.3 Scale-up and Design of Extractors 232
6.3.1 Reciprocating-Plate Extraction Columns 233
Example 6.3. Scale-up of a Reciprocating-Plate
Extraction Column 235
xii / / Contents
8. Precipitation 327
8.1 Instructional Objectives 327
8.2 Protein Solubility 328
8.2.1 Structure and Size 328
8.2.2 Charge 329
xiv / / Contents
9. Crystallization 362
9.1 Instructional Objectives 363
9.2 Crystallization Principles 363
9.2.1 Crystals 363
9.2.2 Nucleation 364
9.2.3 Crystal Growth 366
9.2.4 Crystallization Kinetics from Batch Experiments 367
9.3 Batch Crystallizers 368
9.3.1 Analysis of Dilution Batch Crystallization 369
Example 9.1. Batch Crystallization with Constant Rate
of Change of Diluent Concentration 371
9.4 Process Crystallization of Proteins 373
Contents // xv
xix
xx / / Preface
The important unit operations are thoroughly covered in separate chapters that
follow (Chapters 3-12), with the order of the chapters being similar to the order in
which the operations are used in a typical bioseparations process. The approach in
each of the chapters on unit operations is to start with a qualitative description indi-
cating the importance and general application of the unit operation, then to describe
the scientific foundation of the operation, develop the necessary mathematical the-
ory, and finally describe the applications of the theory in engineering practice with
an emphasis on design and scale-up.
In deciding on the subject matter in each of the chapters on unit operations, we
have been guided by a desire to emphasize those aspects of unit operations most
important as applied to bioseparations at the commercial scale. For example, we have
not discussed all methods of industrial drying, just those that are the most important
in general for drying bioproducts.
A comprehensive treatment of bioseparations process design (Chapter 12) fol-
lows the unit operations chapters and focuses on how to integrate the individual unit
operations in developing a process design that is the “best” among several plausible
alternatives. The use of a process simulator (SuperPro Designer) is illustrated to
analyze and evaluate the production of three biological products—citric acid, recom-
binant human insulin, and monoclonal antibodies. All the problems in this chapter
are intended as open-ended assignments, which can be worked either with or without
a biochemical process simulator. The use of a bioprocess simulator, however, will
greatly facilitate the process analysis, including generating flowsheets, carrying out
material balances, and analyzing costs. It is recommended that students have 6 to 8
weeks to complete their problems.
SuperPro Designer is our strong preference for a biochemical process simula-
tor that can handle batch as well as continuous processes. A functional evaluation
version of SuperPro Designer can be accessed at the website www.intelligen.com.
A site license (one time fee) of SuperPro Designer can be obtained at a discount for
courses at universities adopting Bioseparations Science and Engineering (Intelligen,
Inc., Scotch Plains, New Jersey).
In the second edition of this text, several topics have received added emphasis.
In keeping with the current increased importance of biotechnology products that are
proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, considerable new coverage of chromatog-
raphy has been added. Compared to the first edition, the following topics were added
or major changes were made:
Illustrative example problems are included within the text throughout Chapters 1
to 12. The purpose of these examples is often to show how to apply previously pre-
sented theory, or in some cases to extend the theory to other situations. One way
that these examples can be effectively used in the classroom is as follows: The stu-
dent reads through the solution of the problem and then (1) formulates a question
that someone might have about the problem’s solution and discusses this question
and possible answers to the question with another student or students in the course,
or (2) discusses a key point in the solution with another student or students in the
course. Then, the instructor asks one or more students about the questions or key
points that have been raised.
Problems developed for this book are given at the ends of Chapters 1 to 12, now
totaling 130 for the second edition. These problems are intended to help the student
both understand and be able to apply the material presented. Several of the problems
are deliberately underspecified or of an open-ended nature. The problems can be
assigned as out-of-class homework, or can be worked in class by students working in
groups (of two, three, or four, depending on the complexity of the problem). Groups
in class respond to the task in the following way: (1) each student formulates his or
her answer, (2) students share their answer with their partner or partners, (3) students
listen carefully to partner’s or partners’ answers, and (4) groups create a new answer
that is superior to each member’s initial formulation through the process of associa-
tion, building on each other’s thoughts, and synthesizing.
The practicum (Chapter 13) describes a set of bioseparations experiments that
has been thoroughly tested by students (University of Colorado). A few selected
experiments, or all of them, could be used in a course on bioseparations.
Additional information supporting this textbook and bioseparations in general can
be found at the website http://www.biosep.ou.edu. Material at this website includes
(1) a link to the bioprocess simulation software used in the bioprocess design and
economics chapter; (2) new problems and examples, which are added periodically;
(3) links to useful databases (such as for proteins); and (4) links to manufacturers of
bioseparations equipment and supplies.
We are grateful for the contributions that many people made, either directly
or indirectly, to this book. University of Oklahoma undergraduate students Emily
Burdett and Kevin Dyer contributed new problems in the chapter on liquid chroma-
tography and adsorption. Jean Hunter gave us encouragement and feedback in her
review of the prospectus of the second edition. Jean-Bernard Gros read the final draft
of the second edition and gave use valuable feedback. We again thank those who
contributed in various ways to the first edition, including Ed Cussler, Robert Davis,
xxii / / Preface
Eric Dunlop, Larry Erickson, Antonio Garcia, Jean-Bernard Gros, Dale Gyure,
Juan Hong, Harold Monbouquette, Harold Null, Todd Przybycien, Subhas Sikdar,
Geoffrey Slaff, and Richard Willson. We appreciate the feedback we have received
over several years from students taking courses and the teaching assistants in these
courses at the Universities of Colorado and Oklahoma where material on biosepara-
tions was presented.
We are also grateful for being selected by the American Society for Engineering
Education in 2006 to receive the Meriam/Wiley Distinguished Author Award for the
first edition of Bioseparations Science and Engineering, an award given for writing
the outstanding engineering textbook in the previous four years.
Finally, we are thankful for the patience and support from our families during the
writing of this book.
Roger G. Harrison
Paul Todd
Scott R. Rudge
Demetri Petrides
BIOSEPARATIONS SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING
/ / / 1 / / / INTRODUCTION TO
BIOPRODUCTS AND
BIOSEPARATIONS
1
2 / / B ioseparations S cience and E n gineering
10
Erythropoietin
9 α-Interferon
8
7
Vinblastine
Log10 price ($/kg)
5 Taxol
4 Digitalis
3 Pectinase
2
Penicillin
1
Ethanol
0
–4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Log10 annual production (T/yr)
FIGURE 1.1 World production levels and prices of bioproducts, showing the inverse relationship
between price and production. (Data from sources in the early 1990s time frame.)
TABLE 1.1 Summary of U.S. Biotechnology Product Sales Forecasts (Millions of 2000 Dollars) by
Key Market Sectors: 2008–2050a
a
Data from reference 2.
Owing to intense competition, cost, price, and value are very closely related,
except in the case of completely new products that are thoroughly protected by
patents, difficult to copy, and of added value to the end user. Products with these
characteristics—“biotechnology products”—have typically been developed at con-
siderable cost (over $800 million for R&D alone in the case of pharmaceutical prod-
ucts requiring clinical trials [1]) and marketed at prices that allow for the recovery
of the development, production, and marketing costs. Their total contribution to the
bioproduct market is also in the tens of billions of dollars annually (see Table 1.1)
[2]. Such products must recover their development costs within a few years of initial
sales, owing to potential competing products, expiration of patents, and economic
pressures. Eventually such products move “down” the curve of Figure 1.1, but they
Introduction to Bioproducts and Bioseparations // 3
stay on the curve. In the future, movement down the curve will require increased
scale and reduced cost of production. Therefore, while existing processes meet many
of the requirements of the current market, innovation will eventually be required for
the economic large-scale production of biotechnology products. Thus, the following
chapters are a practical guide to biochemical separations as currently practiced and
as might be practiced in the future.
a
Single pieces of genetic DNA can have end-to-end lengths up to millimeters, depending on
method of isolation; the diameter of the DNA double-stranded α helix is 2.5 nm.
Sugars
Naturally occurring sugars are found as monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysac-
charides. One of the world’s highest tonnage bioproducts is one of these, sucrose, a
disaccharide, whose structure is shown in Figure 1.3. In the food industry, sucrose
has been refined from sugarcane for centuries by using an aqueous solution and
crystallization process. Mono- and disaccharides are also used in the biochemical
Introduction to Bioproducts and Bioseparations // 5
Heterotrophs
Organic compounds
CO2
Intermediates
NH3 , NO3 , organic N
Glucose 1-phosphate
Glucose 6-phosphate
Ribose 5-phosphate
Erythrose 4-phosphate
Polysaccharides Carbohydrates Phosphoenolpyruvate Amino acids Proteins
Pyruvate
3-Phosphoglycerate
Lipids Fatty acids Nucleotides Nucleic
a-Ketoglutarate
Succinyl-CoA acids
Other cofactors Oxaloacetate Vitamins
Dihydroxyacetone
phosphate
Acetyl-CoA
FIGURE 1.2 Overview of the biosynthetic pathways in heterotrophs, organisms that use organic
compounds as carbon sources, showing the key central metabolic intermediates.
6
CH2OH
1
H 5
O H HOCH2 O H
4
H 1(α) 2(β ) 5
OH H H HO
O
HO 3 2 3 4 CH2OH
6
H OH OH H
Glucose Fructose
FIGURE 1.3 Sucrose, or table sugar, is a disaccharide composed of the monosaccharides glucose
and fructose.
process industry as solutes for the control of osmotic pressure and, most importantly,
as carbon sources for the growth of organisms in fermenters. Glucose, a monosac-
charide (Figure 1.3), is the most common fermentation nutrient, and lactose (milk
sugar) and maltose are popular commercial disaccharides.
Sugars can also be obtained as products in bioprocesses. For example, the enzyme
glucose isomerase can convert glucose to fructose, which is much sweeter than glu-
cose. This latter process is being used commercially to produce large amounts of
high-fructose corn syrups, which are used as sweeteners in soft drinks.
organic alcohols, acids, and ketones is by using the acetic acid bacteria to perform
partial oxidation. For example, the acetic acid product produced by Acetobacter bac-
teria with ethanol as a substrate is vinegar.
Vitamins
The name for vitamins was originally derived from “vital amines,” but we have
known for decades that not all vitamins are amines, and some are not even vital.
Generally, animals do not synthesize vitamins, but generalizations have exceptions.
For example, humans and guinea pigs do not synthesize vitamin C (ascorbic acid),
while nearly all other mammals do. Vitamin C has many more functions than origi-
nally thought. While it is required as a catalyst to support the hydroxylation of pro-
line in collagen, which gives collagen its strength and low solubility, its presence at
high concentrations supports antioxidant functions and the sulfation of cholesterol.
Biological antioxidants are thought to prolong life and promote health, so vitamin C
and its fat-soluble counterparts, vitamins A and E, have become popular consumer
products. Both natural and synthetic forms are produced and marketed.
The B vitamins are water soluble and are metabolic precursors of cofactors
involved in enzymatically catalyzed reactions. For example, vitamin B6, pyridoxine,
becomes phosphorylated inside the cell and serves as a nitrogen atom shuttle in
transamination reactions, which convert keto acids into amino acids and vice versa.
Niacin becomes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), the cell’s principal redox
compound and carrier of hydrogen atoms. The water-soluble vitamins are not phos-
phorylated because cell membranes cannot transmit organic phosphates; instead, the
cell phosphorylates them after they enter. After phosphorylation (and in some cases
additional modifications) they become cofactors, or “coenzymes.” Folic acid, also
water soluble and named for its origin from leaves, is required in minute quantities
for hydrogen atom transfer in very special chemical reactions, such as methyl group
transfer in the synthesis of the important amino acid methionine and the important
DNA base thymine. Folic acid is present in plant tissues in extremely low quantities
and was among the earliest challenges in bioprocessing in terms of purifying usable
amounts of a product initially present at minuscule concentrations. Folic acid is now
synthesized in bacterial or fungal fermentations and is sold as a common ingredient
in daily vitamin tablets.
Vitamin A, a carotenoid, becomes the energy transducer of the pigment proteins
of the retina. Vitamin D, perhaps more appropriately called hormone D, is a steroid
that regulates the passage of calcium ions in and out of cells. Vitamins A and D are
derived from carrots and milk, respectively, and are sold after extraction and purifi-
cation (or after laboratory synthesis) as over-the-counter consumer products.
Vitamins are an excellent example of a present-day market tension: natural ver-
sus synthetic. Most vitamins can be synthesized in organic chemical reactions, but
some argue that unnatural solvents and reagents used in these syntheses could be
present as impurities, possibly harming the consumer. Extraction from plants and
fermentation produces vitamins naturally—at higher cost. This issue is important in
Introduction to Bioproducts and Bioseparations // 7
Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins; understanding their chemistry is criti-
cal to an understanding of the stability of protein bioproducts. The general structure
of an α-amino acid is given in Figure 1.4, where it is seen that every such amino acid
has a side chain, or “R group,” a negatively charged carboxyl group, and a proton-
ated (positively charged) amino group bonded to a carbon atom, which is called the α
carbon because it is adjacent to the carboxyl group. At neutral pH, all amino acids are
zwitterionic; that is, they carry positive and negative charges simultaneously.
Table 1.3 lists the amino acids, the three-letter and one-letter abbreviations of
each, and their respective side chain structures. This table is grouped according to
side chain class. The single-letter code allows easy representation of the primary
structure of proteins. It can be seen that all the α-amino acids except glycine contain
asymmetric carbon atoms, indicating that amino acids, like sugars, should be opti-
cally active. With almost no exceptions, the amino acids synthesized by living things
are levorotatory and not racemic, so proteins can be studied on the basis of optical
rotary dispersion (ORD); each protein, made of a different combination of amino
acids, will have a unique ORD spectrum.
When amino acids are polymerized to form proteins, their carboxyl carbons are
linked to their neighbors’ amino nitrogens in a classical amide linkage called the
peptide bond. This occurs through a dehydration condensation, and equilibrium laws
dictate that this reaction is highly unlikely in aqueous solutions. However, living
cells solve this problem with a catalytic unit known as a ribosome. This reaction and
a resulting peptide backbone are depicted in Figure 1.5.
Specific properties of amino acid side groups can be exploited in purification
methods. A protein rich in acidic or basic amino acids on its surface can be adsorbed
by ion exchange or separated by electrophoresis. Many aliphatic side chains can
result in preferential adsorption onto or extraction into nonpolar separation media.
The free–SH (sulfhydryl) group of cysteine can be used to bind proteins to immo-
bilized mercury. Histidine forms coordination complexes with metals, a fact that is
being heavily exploited in protein purification by adsorption methods, as we shall
see in Chapter 7.
+
NH2 NH3
R C C O R C C O
H OH H O–
FIGURE 1.4 α-Amino acid structure showing zwitterionic equilibrium at neutral pH.
TABLE 1.3 List of α-Amino Acids Indicating R Group (Side Chain) Structure, Abbreviations, pK of R
Group,a and Class: For General Structure, See Figure 1.4
CH2
Tryptophan Try, W
N
H
a
See reference 4. pK is the pH at which the R group is half dissociated.
H C C O H C C O H C C N C C O H2O
R1 OH R2 OH R1 O R2 OH
FIGURE 1.5 The formation of a peptide bond (amide linkage) between two amino acids and the
resulting peptide backbone of proteins that results from polymerization.
Introduction to Bioproducts and Bioseparations // 9
Lipids
The natural fats consist of fatty acids, lipids, steroids, and steroid precursors. This
family of bioproducts is highly extractable into nonpolar solvents. Fatty acids are
synthesized by cells by building up two-carbon fragments contributed by a precursor
compound known as acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), the cell’s principal mecha-
nism of acetyl group transfer. Fatty acids are usually esterified to glycerol to form
di- and triglycerides, and diglycerides are usually esterified to a phosphate group
(hence “phospholipids”), which may in turn be esterified to ethanolamine or choline,
rendering the phosphate “head” zwitterionic or amphoteric (having both charges).
Fatty acids and phospholipids are amphiphilic, having a strongly polar “head” and
a strongly nonpolar tail. Such molecules form layers at liquid-liquid interfaces, and
just such layers form the membranes that surround living cells and are also found
inside eukaryotic cells (fungi, algae, protozoa, and animal and plant cells).
Steroids are heterocyclical compounds, and the most common is cholesterol.
Many steroids have hormone activity, partly because they are able to penetrate the
nonpolar cell membrane and get inside cells, where they bind and modify the activity
of an intracellular protein. It is no surprise that steroids are important bioproducts.
Similarly, a family of very potent lipids can profoundly affect the activities of animal
cells, namely prostaglandins and leukotrienes; these are also significant commercial
bioproducts. Figure 1.6 gives typical structures of four classes of compounds: fatty
acid, phospholipid, steroid, and prostaglandin.
Commercial Uses
Many primary metabolites are important commercially; some important examples are
given in Table 1.4. The products listed in Table 1.4 are sold in the fermentation, food, and
biochemical research marketplaces, and several fine-chemical houses have adopted the
sale of primary metabolites as a specialty or as a product line in a warehouse of general
chemicals. The biochemical research market demands high variety and low volume. This
market is served by a small number of large repackaging or distribution firms who pur-
chase from specialty producers, some of whom also sell directly to customers.
Exemplified by ethanol at the bottom of Figure 1.1, these low molecular weight
compounds are the easiest products to purify, mainly owing to their thermal stability.
Not surprisingly, they are produced in highest quantity and are used in the beverage,
food, feed, solvent, and specialty chemicals industries. Some of the alcohols are
traditionally purified using distillation. This is true of none of the other substances
discussed in the paragraphs that follow. The highest volume fermentation products
in this category include ethanol, acetic acid, butyric acid, lactic acid, citric acid, glu-
tamic acid, tryptophan, and glycine. Two examples are given in Figure 1.7.
O
(lonic) polar, hydrophilic “head” Nonpolar, hydrophobic “tail”
Amphipathic structure
Phosphatidylcholine
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H O
H C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C O H
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H
Strongly nonpolar hydrocarbon chain of Polar terminal
17 C—C nonpolar bonds + 35 C—H nonpolar bonds group
Stearic acid
OH
H3C
HO H OH
H
COOH
HO O H
Estradiol PGE2
TABLE 1.4 Some Examples of Primary Metabolites That Are Marketed and Their Uses
H2N CH COOH
CH2COOH CH2
HO C COOH CH2
CH2COOH COOH
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.7 Structures of (a) citric acid and (b) glutamic acid (an amino acid).
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.