1889-90.] a District in the Himalayas. 305 



woody plant. In Thibet, juniper is used to burn as incense 

 in the temples ; and it is planted round every temi^le in 

 Thibet, in the same way as Cedrus deodara is planted round 

 every temple in Gurhwal. 



I shall now speak, very shortly, of a few of the common 

 diseases I met with in Gurhwal, more especially of the 

 plague. 



Diseases. 



The common diseases of Gurhwal differ much from those of 

 Britain. Phthisis and cancer are comparatively rare. On the 

 other hand, goitre, calculus, ague, rheumatism, leprosy, cholera, 

 and plague are common. Goitre one of course expects in a 

 mountainous country. Juvenal long ago wrote : " Quis tumi- 

 dum guttur miratur in Alpibus." The only one of the other 

 diseases I will notice is plague — a disease which, in the middle 

 ages, appeared in Europe, — at Florence in 1348, and at London 

 in 1563-64, and which was common in Egypt last century. 

 In recent times, it is met with, so far as I know, only in the 

 Himalayas, in the mountainous province of Yunan in China, 

 and in Mesopotamia. In Gurhwal, scarcely a year passes 

 without an outbreak ; but in some years these are much more 

 severe than in others. The first sign of its appearance is, 

 that all the rats and mice in a house are found lying dead. 

 If the inhabitants do not immediately quit the house, many 

 of them are struck down, a day or two after, with burning 

 fever, and great prostration of strength ; but without diarrhoea, 

 pain, or rash on the skin. The majority of those attacked die 

 before the third day of their illness. Those who do not die 

 begin, after the third day, to feel pains in the groin, the arm- 

 pit, or under the ear. A large boil or carbuncle forms at the 

 painful place, and soon bursts, after which the patient gener- 

 ally recovers pretty quickly. The native name of the disease 

 is gold Tog, which means " ball disease " — the boil being com- 

 pared to a ball or gola. According to the universal belief, a 

 person who has recovered from this disease is absolutely safe 

 from a second attack. This is most important, for the dis- 

 ease is very infectious, and people dread to nurse, or even 

 remain near, a sick relative. The only people who can safely 



