434 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
are frequently met with. Epidemics of cholera have often 
visited Egypt, but plague, which used to be endemic here, 
has not reappeared since 1844. Ophthalmia is extensively 
prevalent all over Egypt. It is said that about a fourth 
of the whole population of Egypt is affected by the 
Anchylostomum duodenale, which causes the Egyptian 
chlorosis. Round worms are also very common, and 
guinea-worms, introduced from the south, are not infre- 
quently seen. There is also a specific affection of the 
urinary passages caused by the Bilharzia hematobia, the 
embryos of which infest the drinking water. Small-pox is 
epidemic; measles and scarlet fever are frequently seen, and 
so are hepatitis and tropical abscess of the liver. Phthisis 
is very rare, except among the Negro population, in which it 
is frequently met with. Rheumatism, on the other hand, is 
frequent, especially at Cairo. Scrofula affects the natives, 
leprosy is endemic, and. syphilis very common. On the 
whole, the country I am describing is remarkably free from 
malaria, although the disease is present in the autumn. The 
greatest number of cases occurs at Suez, where the sub-soil 
water is very high. Suakim and Massowa are also said to 
be malarious, but, owing to the character of the fevers in 
these two places, it is doubtful if we are not dealing with 
dengue, or may be with an endemic form of influenza. 
4, Abyssinia.—Abyssinia, which is situated between 7° 30’ 
and 15° 30’ N. lat., and between 35° and 40° E. long., has a 
mean altitude of about 7000 feet. It is an extensive table- 
land, from which mountains rise to a height of nearly 15,000 
feet. The highlands are mostly covered with pasture or culti- 
vation, forests being rare. The climate of the plains varies 
with altitude, a very large district being healthy and tem- 
perate, suited even to European colonisation. The mean 
annual temperature of the lowest part of Abyssinia is about 
86° F., and the rainy season begins in December and ends 
usually in March. In the highlands the mean annual tem- 
perature varies from 67° to 55° F., according to altitude. 
The rainy season is from June to September, the rainfall 
being about 40 inches. 
Diarrhea, dysentery, and rheumatism are very prevalent 
