expense, b y those who a p p ly for it. The cemetery is a piece o f ground uninclosed, attached to some sanctuary, outside of the town, for the Mohammedans do not allow the dead to be buried among the habitations o f the livin g, or in towns ; they h ig h ly venerate the burying-places, and, whenever they pass them, p ray for the deceased. Diseases.— T h e inhabitants o f this country, besides the plague already described, are subject to many loathsome and distressing diseases. Many o f the cities and towns o f Marocco are visited y e a r ly b y malignant epidemies, which the natives call fruit-fevers; th e y originate from their indulgence in fruit, which abounds throughout this fertile garden o f the world.o o T h e fruits deemed most febrile are musk-melons, apricots, and all unripe stone fruits. Alpinus, de Medicina Egyptiorum, says, “ Autumno gras- santur febres pestilentiales multas quae subdole invadunt, et saepe medicum et aegrum decipiunt.” Jedrie (Small-pox).— Inoculation for this disease appears to h a v e been known in this country long before we were acquainted with it in Europe. T h e Arabs o f the Desert make the incision for inoculation with a sharp flint. Horses and cattle are very much subject to the je d r ie : this disease is much dreaded b y the natives ; the patient is advised to breathe in the open air. T he fatality o f this disease may proceed, in a great measure, from the thickness o f the skin o f th e Arabs, always exposed to the sun and air, which, preventing the effort which nature makes to throw the morbid matter to the surface, tends to throw it back -into the circulation o f the blood. Mjinen and Baldness.— Children are frequently affected with b a ldne ss; and the fallin g sickness is a common disease; the •women are particularly subject to i t ; th e y call it mjinen, i. e. possessed with a spirit. Headache, Bowel Complaints, and Rheumatism.— T h e headache is common, but it is only temporary, arising generally from a suddenst oppuge o f perspiration, and goes o ff again on using exercise, which, in this hot climate, immediately causes p erspiration. The stomach is often relaxed with the heat, and b e comes extremely painful, this they improperly call (Ujah el Kulleb) the heart ache. T h e y are frequently complaining o f gripings, and universal weakness, which are probably caused b y the water they continually d r in k ; they complain also o f (Ujah el Adem) the bone-ache, rheumatism, which is often occasioned by their being accustomed to sit on the ground without shoes. (Bu Telleese) JVyclalopia.— This ophthalmic disease is little known in the northern provinces ; but in Suse and Sahara it prevails. A defect o f vision comes on at dusk, but without p a in ; the patient is deprived o f sight, so that he cannot see distinctly, even with the assistance o f candles. During my residence at Agadeer, in the qua lity o f agent for the ci-devant States General o f the United Provinces, a cousin o f mine was dreadfu lly afflicted with this troublesome disease, losing his sight at evening, and continuing in that state till the rising sun. A Deleirn Arab, a famous physician, communicated to me a sovereign remedy, w hich being extremely simple, I had not sufficient faith in his prescription to g iv e it a trial, till reflecting that the simplicity o f the remedy was such as to preclude the possib ility o f its being injurious : it was therefore app lied in w a rd ly ; and twelve hours afterwards, to my astonishment, the boy’s eyes were perfe ctly well, and continued so during twenty-one days,
27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above