194 



BOWEL COMPLAINTS. 



meat was required. The anti- diarrhoea or anti- 

 cholera pill of opium, chalk, and catechu has 

 been fatal wherever English medicine has ex- 

 tended; witness the Crimean campaign, where 

 the bolus killed many more than did the bullet. 

 A complication, rarely sufficiently considered, is 

 the hepatic derangement, from which almost all 

 strangers must suffer after a long residence in 

 the Tropics. At Zanzibar some Europeans were 

 compelled to give up breakfasting, to the mani- 

 fest loss of bulk, stamina, and muscular strength 

 — vomiting after the early meal, especially when 

 eaten with a good appetite, was the cause. Yet 

 it was a mere momentary nausea, and when the 

 mouth had been washed no inconvenience was 

 felt. 



Catarrh and bronchitis are common in Feb- 

 ruary and in the colder months of July and 

 August. Of endemic pulmonary diseases, pneu- 

 monia, asthma, and consumption — the latter 

 aggravated by the humid atmosphere — are fre- 

 quent amongst the higher classes, especially the 

 Arab women debilitated bv over-seclusion. The 

 incidental maladies are tropical rheumatisms, 

 colics, haemorrhoids, and rare attacks of ophthal- 

 mia, simple, acute, and purulent. Haemorrhoids 

 are very common both on the Island and the 



