44 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



woman on one of the steamers that ply 

 along the Bosphorus, and to find on 

 speaking to her that she is familiar with 

 English, French, and German, and per- 

 haps Italian. 



Mohammedan women have a rich in- 

 heritance in the realm of letters. Since 

 the days of Mohammed the Conqueror, 

 woman have from time to time belonged 

 to the literary circles of Mohammedan 

 society. Mohammedans have their own 

 Sappho, a poetess who lived in the fif- 

 teenth century, and who says: 



"Since they say that woman lacketh wit alway, 

 Needs must they excuse whatever word she 

 say. 



Better far one woman, if she worthy be, 

 Than a thousand men, if all unworthy they." 



Her name was Mihri, and she was the 

 author of a volume of poetry which com- 

 pares well with the work of her contem- 

 poraries. 



During the last twenty-five years there 

 have been many women writers in Con- 

 stantinople. Niguar Hanum has pro- 

 duced several volumes of poetry which 

 have contributed greatly to the develop- 

 ment of Turkish lyric poetry. Alieh 

 Hanum has written on philosophy, 

 ethics, and the Mohammedan religion. 

 Many other women have written along 

 different lines — essays, romances, and 

 newspaper articles. 



The literature of the Turkish nation 

 is concealed from the rest of the world 

 by the difficulties of the Turkish lan- 

 guage. The language in itself would 

 not be difficult, but it is unfortunately 

 written in the Arabic characters. Arabic 

 possesses no vowel system, and books 

 and papers published in the characters 

 are fully as difficult as the English lan- 

 guage would be published in shorthand. 

 In fact, in reading Arabic a person must 

 have a fair idea of what it is about be- 

 fore he can make anything out of it. If, 

 among the present reforms introduced 

 into Turkey by the Society of Union and 

 Progress, the Latin alphabet could be 

 substituted for the Arabic, Turkish lan- 

 guage and literature would become more 

 accessible to the rest of the world. 



TURKISH MIDWIVES 



The strict laws regarding harem life 

 have obliged Mohammedan women to 

 learn something of medicine. Not long 

 ago a European doctor was passing a 

 house with latticed windows, when he 

 heard violent, heart-rending screams 

 from within. He stopped, spoke to the 

 porter, and asked him what the trouble 

 was. The porter replied, "My mistress 

 is very ill." 



"Go and tell your master," said the 

 doctor, "that I am a physician and I 

 will come in immediately to help her." 



The porter disappeared, but soon re- 

 turned, saying, "My master says he 

 would rather the mistress would die than 

 see a man doctor." 



This is an extreme case, as men doc- 

 tors have been admitted for several years- 

 into many Turkish houses. Yet there 

 are thousands of homes in the Moham- 

 medan world where a man doctor would 

 not be allowed to enter under any con- 

 sideration. 



As a result, there has developed a 

 more or less medieval system of mid- 

 wifery. The midwife is called a half- 

 doctor. Fifty years ago this class was 

 made up of ignorant women who prac- 

 ticed charms, dealt in strange drugs, and 

 produced much suffering in the harems. 

 Turkey, however, has made progress in 

 the science of medicine, and in this prog- 

 ress women have shared. The so-called 

 half-doctor has become somewhat better 

 educated from year to year, until a place 

 has been given to her in the program 

 of the new Mohammedan Medical Col- 

 lege erected at Haidar Pasha, in Con- 

 stantinople. The catalogue of this in- 

 stitution announces weekly lectures for 

 women, and Mohammedan women who 

 have finished the course of study assist 

 in the demonstrations at these lectures. 

 Laws have been made requiring all who 

 practice as half-doctors to have regular 

 diplomas from the government. Women 

 in this capacity have for several years 

 constituted a regular profession, whose 

 members obtain an annual income of 

 from one to two thousand dollars. On 



