COMMUNICATIONS, 93 
■ y ~^ 
Nature and cuftom have formed their conftitutions to fuch 
high degrees of heat, that any approach to the common tempe- 
rament of Europe entirely deftroys their comfort ; for Mr. Lucas 
often obferved, in his journey to Mefurata, that when the fcorch' 
ing heat of the noon-day beams had compelled him to feek the 
lhade, his fellow-travellers, efpecially if the wind was in the 
North, laid themfelves down, upon the fand in the open fun, in 
order to receive a double portion of his warmth; and when, as 
their cuftom was, they enquired after his health, they, almoft 
always, concluded with the exprefTion, " Heack m andkkherdj \ 
we hope you are not cold. 
The Difeafes that are moll: frequent in Fezzan are thofe of the 
inflammatory, and thofe of the putrid kind. 
The fmall-pox is common among the inhabitants; violent 
head-achs attack them in the Summer; and they are often 
affli(fled with rheumatic pains. 
Their old women are their principal phyficians. For pains 
in the head they prefcribe cupping and bleeding ; for pains in 
the limbs they fend dieir patients to bathe in the hot lakes, which 
produce 
