136 State qfMedkme in Turkey, 



Dr Oppenheim had several opportunities of witnessing the 

 performance of circumcision in Turkey ; in a surgical point of 

 view it offers nothing of interest, and therefore, at present, it is 

 sufficient to remark, that it is not performed until the sixth year, 

 and the day of circumcision is celebrated by great feasts, and by 

 presents from every member of the family. Dr Oppenheim's 

 account of the pomp and ceremony observed on such occasions 

 in the families of the great is very amusing. It may be well to 

 mention, that the inner layer of the prepuce is not cut so short 

 as the outer, and consequently it still affords a covering to part 

 of the glans. In many, so small a piece of the fore-skin is cut 

 off, that it is not easy to say, when the person grows up, whether 

 he has or has not been circumcised, — an assertion illustrated by 

 the fact, that Dr Oppenheim was twice obliged to perform the 

 operation for phymosis on Moslems. 



Ophthalmia is very common in Egypt, but not in other parts 

 of Turkey. The native surgeons are of opinion, that the cata- 

 ract is produced by some foreign body, which falls from the 

 head into the eye : they are very expert in performing the ope- 

 ration of depression with a needle, which they insert through 

 the cornea. Dr Oppenheim created great astonishment by the 

 effects of an electrical machine, which he occasionally used in 

 cases of amaurosis. 



The blind are provided for to a considerable extent in Tur- 

 key, being the only persons allowed to ascend the minarets or 

 towers of the mosques, for the purpose of proclaiming the times 

 of prayer, five times a day. As these towers command an ex- 

 tensive view of the tops of houses, where the women often air 

 themselves and bathe, none but the blind are permitted to per- 

 form this office. 



The Dumb great Javourites. — The dumb are favourites with 

 the great, and are constantly employed as valets to wait on them, 

 in the most confidential manner ; this partiality is founded on 

 the belief that they can tell no tales. But Dr Oppenheim testi- 

 fies, that they do not always possess this good quality; for in 

 the campaign against the Albanians, most important intelligence 

 was received, through the means of a dumb spy who waited on 

 one of the revolted chiefs. Robert J. Graves. 



