1 15
2 and have enjoyed also a quiet night.” I requested her to send
3 for the ustad (master) Ibrahim, which she accordingly did. I
4 asked him how he could know that the inflammation of the eyes
5 was caused by the hdbbet-ul-kei ? He answered me, that it could
6 be recognised by the following circumstances : —
7 1. Bleeding and all other treatments remain useless.
8 2. The patient has offensive breath, the spittle is tough and
9 stringy.
10 3. There is a local burning pain, tormenting the patient day
11 and night, which (according to his assertion) is the surest
12 symptom of the kei (burning).
13 Beside this, Ibrahim understood but little of other diseases ;
14 nevertheless, no one should apply to him the Latin proverb,
15 Ne autor ultra crepidam (Let not the shoemaker go beyond
16 his last.)
17 The cauterium actuate was applied also to this lady, on the
18 forehead, her hair having been previously cut very short. There
19 is no doubt, that the effect of the red-hot iron is more violent
20 and efficacious than that of a blister, and cannot be replaced by
21 the latter, wherefore the Arabs apply it to men and animals, very
22 often at the present day, as in ancient times ; our contemporary
23 medical men in Europe make but little use of it, probably
24 because they are afraid of the violent pains inseparable from such
25 operation, but this only produces the healing effect.
26 At Tripoli (Syria) I met with a very disagreeable incident by
27 my improvidence, from which I learned some experience, and for
28 that reason I will give the reader some account of it. Being an
29 enthusiastic sportsman from my earliest age, I pursued some
30 ducks in a marshy ground, where I remained for a couple of
31 hours. It was in the winter season, on a lonely and desert place,
32 about five miles from the town, and not far from the sea-coast.
33 I was quite alone, and so intent on the pursuit, that I observed,
34 only a short time before sunset, that it was high time to return to
35 my abode. I left the marsh, sat down on its border to dress myself;
36 but to my astonishment my feet were motionless, stiff, and para-
37 lysed, so that it was impossible, without assistance, to get on