Page 129

27f 39

B a rb a ry ; people affected with it are common in the province o f Haha, where oil argannick is much used, which, when not prop er ly prepared, is said to heat the blood.* T he lepers o f Haha are seen in parties o f ten or twenty together, and approach trave llers to beg charity. In the city of Marocco there is a separate quarter, outside o f the walls, inhabited b y lepers only. In passing through this place, I observed that its inhabitants were not generally disfigured in personal appearance; the women, w’hen young, are extremely handsome; some few have a liv id , spotted, or cracked skin : they are sometimes flushed in the face, and at others p a le : when the y appear abroad, they assist their complexion with (el akker) rouge, and (el kahol) lead ore, with which latter the y blacken their eye-lashes and eye brows, and puncture the chin from the tip to the middle o f the lower lip ; but this practice, which they think increases their beauty, rathe r disfigures them. Leprosy being considered epidemical, those who are affected w ith it are obliged to wear a badge o f distinction whenever they leave their habitations, so that a straw hat, with a v e ry w id e brim, tied on in a particular manner, is the signal for persons not to approach the wearer; the lepers are seen in various parts o f Barbary, sitting on the ground with a wooden bowl before them, b e g g in g ; and in this way they collect sometimes a considerable sum for such a co u n try : they intermarry with each other ; and although the whole system is said to be contaminated, yet they seldom discover any external marks o f disease, except those before-mentioned, and generally a pau city or total want o f eye-brows. On any change o f weather, and particularly * S e e p a g e 1 3 8 . i f the sky be overcast, and the air damp, they w ill be seen sitting round a fire, warming their bones, as the y term it, for they ache all o ve r till th e weather resumes its wonted salubrity, j Elephantiasis and thjdracelt.— Persons affected with the e le phantiasis, dropsy, a.nd hydrocele, are frequently met with, particularly about Tangier, the water o f which is said to occasion the latter; and those who are recently affected with it, affirm, that it leaves them on removing from the p lace .* During my stay once at Tangier, afier tra ve lling through the country, I observed one o f my servants labouring under the disorder ; on speaking to him about it, and regretting that there was no p h y sician to afford him relief, he laughed, and made light o f it, saying he hoped I wou ld not stay long in Tangier, as it was occasioned by the water o f the place, and would leave h im as soon as we departed ; which was actually the case, for two days after our departure it had almost entirely subsided. T h e e le phantiasis has been thought a species o f leprosy, for it desiccates the epidermis o f the legs, which swell and appear rugous. [E lM a r ta r ) Bile — This is a v e ry general disease, as well as all those which proceed from a too copious secretion o f bile. T h e Jews, and the Mohammedans who are not scrupulous, use brandy made from raisins or figs to remove the bilious sensation, which operates as an anodyne. Senna, rhubarb, and suc- cotrine aloes, mixed with honey, are administered with temporary success. . < ~ < 1 [ B u S a f f r a ) Jaundice.— Men, as well as horses, ha vin g the jaundice, are punctured with a hot iron, through the skin, * I mention this, from its being the popular, and g e n e r a l l y received opinion of the natives only; the case of my servant would, indeed, seem to favour such an opinion, but his cure was probably owing to other causes.


27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above