On the State of Medicine in 



evening, for in Turkey, among the great there is no lying in 

 9tate, among the poor no waking. The believer in the Koran 

 h^tehs to inter the body of his relative, with as little delay as 

 possible, for every moment that the body after death remains 

 above ground, is spent by the soul in agony. The corpse is 

 wrapped in a cerecloth, and committed, without a coffin, to the 

 grave. The grave is about two feet deep^ and is covered over 

 with boards, on which the earth is heaped ; the head of the body 

 is turned towards Mecca. This practice of burying so quickly, 

 must, in many cases, occasion persons to be buried alive, for it 

 is followed by the whole population of the country, Jews and 

 Christians, as well as Mahammedans. The day of his chief 

 wife's death was marked by no unusual occurrence in the house 

 of the Pascha. The inmates conversed, followed their occupa- 

 tions, and ate their meals just as if nothing happened : one al- 

 teration was indeed observable ; during the lady's illness, every 

 one had spoken of her state, and evinced the greatest sympathy 

 for her sufferings, now, not a syllable was uttered about her. 

 It was the same in the harem, where Dr Oppenheim, who had 

 now learned the use of the expression, " she is dead, you shall 

 live,"" found the other two wives of the Pascha very well pleased 

 at what had happened, for they said that their departed friend, 

 who, as the eldest, held the reins of authority in the household, 

 had not led them a very comfortable life of it. These ladies 

 made Dr Oppenheim a present of garments embroidered in the 

 harem, and the Pascha, well contented with his services, sent a 

 guard of honour to accompany him two days' journey from his 

 residence. 



Apothecaries there are none in Turkey, and no shops for the 

 sale of medicine, except at Constantinople, and one or two 

 other large towns. Indeed, in a country where the physician 

 is seldom able to write, such shops would be useless. Every 

 physician, consequently, mixes the medicine for his own pa- 

 tients, and is surrounded in his office by a chaotic confusion of 

 gallipots, pill-boxes, drugs, &c. The labels are most curious, 

 and present a truly polyglot assortment of Greek, Latin, He- 

 brew, Italian, &c. The correctness of the orthography and 

 grammar of these labels, may be judged of by one specimen^ 

 " unguenti diversi,''^ which adorned a box in one of the best 



