14 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



At Besherri I tried vaccination, but I found that the' 

 inhabitants were not affected by the operation, the vaccine 

 matter producing no pustules, and I was told that none 

 of them caught the small-pox, because their cows have 

 sometimes the cow-pox, the origin of which is caused by 

 the change of climate. The inhabitants of the higher 

 regions pass the winter, together with their cattle, in the 

 plains of Sgorta, not far from Tripoli, Hence I infer that the 

 inhabitants of Besherri, through being in continual contact 

 with their cattle, as cows, &c,, become infected with the 

 disease, and are thus preserved from human contagion. A 

 quite distinct disease, occurring frequently on the Lebanon, 

 is the so-called habbet-ul-kei, which is a sort of gangrenous 

 ulcer, but very different from the endemic sore at Aleppo 

 and Bagdad, called Butone d' Aleppo, an ulcer which seems- 

 to have a preference for the cheeks of fair young ladies,-, 

 lasting twelve months, and leaving an ugly scar, but not 

 dangerous. The habbet-ul-kei, on the contrary, appears 

 as a small pustule, is very acute, and endangers life ; it 

 occurs in the interior as well as on the exterior parts of 

 the body, for which reason it is often difficult to be recog- 

 nized ; but as soon as it is recognized, the healing of it may 

 instantly be effected with the cautery, be it internal or 

 external That is the reason why, on the Lebanon, so 

 many children are seen on whose forehead the cauterium 

 actuale was applied as a preventive. If this ulcer appears 

 on the surface, for instance on the face, where an inflamed 

 pimple arises, which is at the beginning of a red or bluish 

 color, and afterwards becomes black, like a carbuncle, then 

 life is in danger, if not attended to betimes, z e., by burning 

 and destroying it withJa red-hot iron ; for that reason it is 

 called habbet-ul-kei, that is to say — " ulcer to be burned." It 

 is said, that the bursting of the pimple being heard at the 

 moment of the operation, is a good omen of the success 

 of the cure. 



In the Agosta, in the province of Kesroan, there occur- 

 red a case, which rendered me really ashamed of our imper- 

 fect medical knowledge. 



