122 On the State of Medicine in 



lar remedies, oily inunctions and sweating baths. Worms, and 

 the diseases they produce, are very common among the Turkish 

 children. A popular remedy is a powder formed of the kernels 

 of wild apricots, a fruit which grows in great abundance in Asia 

 Minor. A decoction of the seeds of the Ricinus, which Dr Op- 

 penheira says is indigenous in Turkey, is also used in worm com- 

 plaints. Tape-worm is very common, and every town has its 

 quacks, who vend specifics for its expulsion ; and, in truth, as 

 Dr Oppenheim testifies, they often succeed. It is from the 

 Turks that we have lately learned the properties of the Brajera 

 anthelmmtica. Acute hydrocephalus is almost universally mis- 

 taken for worms, and is by no means unfrequent. At Janina 

 Dr Oppenheim performed the operation of paracentesis in the 

 case of a boy a year and a half old, who laboured under chronic 

 hydrocephalus. The operation excited the astonishment of the 

 whole harem, and was repeated six times at intervals. The 

 head diminished in size remarkably, and the child recovered— a 

 very rare but not unexampled occurrence. Hooping-cough is 

 very common and very fatal, particularly when it coincides with 

 dentition ; scarification of the gums is very frequently resorted 

 to when dentition is difficult and painful. Scrofula, rachitis, 

 bowel complaints, tabes mesenterica, and disproportionally pro- 

 tuberant bellies, are much less common among Turkish children 

 than in other countries of Europe, a circumstance which Dr Op- 

 penheim attributes to their using a more nourishing diet, con- 

 sisting chiefly of rice, and to the freer ventilation which the 

 mildness of their climate permits them to enjoy in their houses. 

 Sedentary habits, an immoderate use of strong coffee, and an 

 over indulgence in sensual gratifications, render the males, among 

 the higher classes of Turks, very liable to hypochondriasis, 

 while among the females of the harem, hysteria reigns with des- 

 potic sway. 



" The chief causes of hysteria are a sedentary life and con- 

 finement, restraints with respect to sexual intercourse, the too 

 frequent use of warm baths, the interference of unskilful mid- 

 wives during parturition, and the too common habit of taking 

 medicine to procure abortion. Barrenness is the greatest mis- 

 fortune that can befall a Turkish wife, as it entails contempt on 

 the part of acquaintances and neglect on the part of husbands, 



