thus it is important to secure, such heads of the
people as friends. My success as à physician had
gained me many friends, as I studiously avoided the
acceptance of any present in return for my services,
which I wished them to receive as simple acts of
kindness ; thus I had placed the Sheik Hassan bèi
Kadèr under an obligation, by curing him of â fever;
and as he chanced to combine in his own person
thè titles óf both sheik and faky, I had acquired
a great ascendancy in the village, as my medicines
had proved more' efficacious ; than the talismans.
“ Physician, cure thyself,” applied to the Faky, who
found three grains of my tartar emetic more" powerful
than a whole chapter of the Koran.
■ We frequently had médical discussions, and thé
contents of my large medicine-chest were examined
with wonder by a curious crowd ; the simple " effect
of mixing a'seidlitz pòwdér was a source of astonish-
rneUt ; but a few drops of sulphuric acid upon a
piece of strong cotton cloth, which it destroyed
immediately, was a miracle that invested the medicine
chest with a specific character for all diseases.-
The' Arab style of doctoring is rather rough. If a
hoïse or other animal has inflammation, they hobble
the legs and throw it upon the ground, ' after which
operation a number of men kick it in the belly
until it is relieved—(by death). Should a man be
attacked with fever, his friends prescribe a system
of diet, in addition to the Koran of the"Faky: he
is made to drink, as hot as he can swallow it,
about a quart of melted sheep’s fat or butter.
Young dogs, as a cure for distemper, are thrown from
the roof of a house to the ground—a height of about
ten feet. One night we were sitting at’ dinner, when
we suddenly heard à great noise, -and the air was
illumined by the _ blaze 'of a hut on fire. In the
midst of the tumult I heard the unmistakable cries
of dogs-, and thinking that they were unable to escape
from the fire, I ’ran, towards the spot. . As I approached,
first one and then another dog ' ran
'Screaming from the flames, until a regular pack, of
about twenty scorched animals, appeared in quick
succession, all half mad with fright and fire. I was
informed that r hydrophobia was very prevalent in
the country, and that the certain preventive from
that frightful malady was to make all the dogs of
■the village pass" through the fire. Accordingly an
old hut had been filled with straw and fired ; aftér
vrhich, I each dog was brought by its owner and
thrown into the flames. Upon another occasion I
heard a great yelling and commotion, and I found
Mahomet’s ‘ “ mothér’s brother’s , ’cousin’s sister’s
mother’s son,” Achrnet, struggling" on the ground, and
nearly overpowered by a number of Arabs, who were
determined to operate upon a large boil in his groin,
which they had condemned to be squeezed, although
it was not in a state that admitted of such treatment.
The patient was biting and kicking liberally on all
sides in self-defence, and his obstinate surgeons could
hardly be persuaded to desist.