The Only Description Of Leprosy Known In Al-Hijaz
Is That Called "Al-Baras":
It appears in white patches on the skin,
seldom attacks any but the poorer classes, and is considered incurable.
Wounds are treated by Marham, or ointments, especially by the
"Balesan," or Balm of Meccah; a cloth is tied round the limb, and
[P.390]not removed till the wound heals, which amongst this people of
simple life, generally takes place by first intention. Ulcers are
common in Al-Hijaz, as indeed all over Arabia. We read of them in
ancient times. In A.D. 504, the poet and warrior, Amr al-Kays, died of
this dreadful disease, and it is related that when Mohammed Abu Si
Mohammed, in A.H. 132, conquered Al-Yaman with an army from Al-Hijaz,
he found the people suffering from sloughing and mortifying sores, so
terrible to look upon that he ordered the sufferers to be burnt alive.
Fortunately for the patients, the conqueror died suddenly before his
inhuman mandate was executed. These sores here, as in Al-Yaman,[FN#19]
are worst when upon the shin bones; they eat deep into the leg, and the
patient dies of fever and gangrene. They are treated on first
appearance by the actual cautery, and, when practicable, by cutting off
the joint; the drugs popularly applied are Tutiya (tutty) and
verdigris. There is no cure but rest, a generous diet, and change of
air.
By the above short account it will be seen that the Arabs are no longer
the most skilful physicians in the world. They have, however, one great
advantage in their practice, and they are sensible enough to make free
use of it. As the children of almost all the respectable citizens are
brought up in the Desert, the camp becomes to them a native village. In
cases of severe wounds or chronic diseases, the patient is ordered off
to the Black Tents, where he lives as a Badawi, drinking camels' milk
(a diet for the first three or four days highly cathartic), and doing
nothing. This has been the practice from time immemorial in Arabia,
whereas Europe is only beginning to systematise the adhibition of air,
exercise, and simple living. And even now we are obliged to veil it
under the garb of charlatanry-to call it a "milk-cure" in Switzerland,
[p.391]a "water-cure" in Silesia, a "grape-cure" in France, a
"hunger-cure" in Germany, and other sensible names which act as dust in
the public eyes.
Al-Madinah consists of three parts,-a town, a fort, and a suburb little
smaller than the body of the place. The town itself is about one-third
larger than Suez, or nearly half the size of Meccah. It is a walled
enclosure forming an irregular oval with four gates. The Bab al-Shami,
or " Syrian Gate," in the North-West side of the enceinte, leads
towards Jabal Ohod, Hamzah's burial-place, and the mountains. In the
Eastern wall, the Bab al-Jum'ah, or Friday Gate, opens upon the Nijd
road and the cemetery, Al-Bakia.
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