AND LOWER EGYPT. 283 



sometimes into a species of leprosy, hideous even 

 from the forlornncss of their condition, those mi- 

 serable animals inspire as much compassion, as 

 they excite contempt and indignation against the 

 barbarians among whom they live. 



It is undoubtedly astonishing, that amidst a life 

 of misery and suffering, many of those dogs should 

 not be subject to attacks of the hydrophobia. But 

 this malady, rare in the northern parts of Turkey, 

 is still more so in the southern provinces of that 

 empire, and is totally unknown under the burning 

 sky of Egypt. I never saw a single instance of it; 

 and the natives whom I have consulted on the 

 subject, had not so much as an idea of the disease. 

 It would appear, nevertheless, that madness has 

 not always been a stranger in this country, since, 

 according to the hieroglyphics of Orus-Apollo *, 

 quoted by M. Pauw, the persons employed in em- 

 balming the sacred dogs, when those animals had 

 died of the hydrophobia, contracted a particular 

 malady -j~. The same author remarks, it is true, 

 that accidents of this sort were not very common. 

 It may likewise be possible, that the passage from 

 Orus-Apollo might admit of another interpreta- 

 tion. Be this as it may, it is very certain that at 



'■' Book i. chap. 381. 



f Philosophical Researches respecting the Egyptians and 

 Chinese, vol. ii. p. 112. 



present 



