THE RISE OF THE NEW ARAB NATION 



389 



Photograph by Frederick Simpich 



A SPECIMEN OF ARAB FORTIFICATIONS : ONE OF THE GATES TO THE CITY OF BAGDAD, 

 WALLED UP AFTER THE FALL OF THE CALIPH WHO BUILT IT 



Western civilization owes a large debt to the Arab. It was under the caliphs that schools 

 of therapeutics were established in Bagdad, and such terms as alcohol, alembic, and alkali, as 

 well as apothecary symbols, testify to the Arab's contribution to the science of medicine. 



Paris, are sneaked out to Bahrein by 

 Levantine traders and sold even to Arab 

 dealers. 



Among the sentimental and romantic 

 Arabs a peculiar legend is current as to 

 the origin of pearls. They say that the 

 gems are formed from mermaids' tears, 

 which fall into the oyster while the shell 

 is open. 



Other superstitious beliefs prevail con- 

 cerning these gems of the ocean deeps. 

 For instance, it is a common practice 

 (only among the rich, needless to say) to 

 powder a pearl and swallow it either as 

 a tonic for failing vigor or to ward off 

 impending disease or ill luck : or a maiden 

 may rub her eyes with a pearl, and there- 

 after, by merely gazing at a man. she 

 may make him her slave ! Black pearls, 

 however, must be avoided, for Arabs 



see in them some sinister manifestation 

 of the powers of darkness. "Wealthy 

 Arabs have chains of pearls, or "prayer 

 beads," such as are carried by pious 

 Moslems. 



Just who owns the Bahrein Island 

 group is not plain. An Arab sheik rules 

 over it, and has a treaty with the British 

 allowing the latter to maintain a consular 

 agent there. In return for Britain's aid 

 in protecting him from pirates, the sheik 

 consults the British before granting 

 pearling concessions to outsiders. For a 

 long time Persia claimed Bahrein : later 

 Turkey asserted her ownership, and 

 other powers, barring possibly Great 

 Britain, tacitly recognized the Sublime 

 Porte's claim. 



A considerable colony of American 

 missionaries, of the American Arabian 



