108 FROM THE COUNTRY OF THE CICONES, 
*^?u^' ^^^tertained us, by giving an account of the 
" " y -' manner in which the medical profession is 
exercised among the Turks. " When a rich 
TurkJ' said he, " is very ill, he sends for a 
physician; and however dangerous his dis- 
order may be, a negociation commences 
between the doctor and his patient, as to the 
price of the cure. The price is of course 
augmented in proportion to the alarm excited 
by the malady. A bargain is then concluded 
upon the following conditions ; — that half the 
stipulated sum be paid down immediately, 
and the whole sum if the patient recover. 
The physician then goes boldly to work, pre- 
scribing whatever he pleases. If his patient 
die, he has already secured a very ample 
fee ; and if he recover, the case is still better." 
It was formerly said in England, that a large 
wig and a gold-headed cane were sufficient 
to constitute a physician ; but it is literally 
true of Turkey, that a calpac and a pelisse 
are the only requisites for the exercise of 
the medical profession. An English officer, 
who arrived in Constantinople during our first 
visit to that city, was accompanied by an 
Italian servant, who gave him warning the 
morning after their arrival. The officer, being 
loathe to part from a trusty domestic, asked 
