Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/61

Rh Said: "Il povero Bellmondo,e nell altro mondo." Here also I had an opportunity of observing the course of the plague, I did not, however, remain long in this place, but returned to Syria. Unfortunately, the vessel I embarked in was an old Danish one, leaky in every corner, so that the crew were obliged to pump day and night. After my return from Alexandria, 1 fixed my abode on the eastern side of the Lebanon, and began to practise in a little town named Sahli, beautifully situated in the proximity of the valley of Balbeck, where the famous ruins of the temple of the sun (Heliopolis), notwithstanding the attacks of time, rise from the ground like rocks, and are admired by travellers, as one of the most remarkable monuments of antiquity. As I was living in the neighbourhood, I accompanied the two Prussian naturalists,Drs.Hemprich and Ehrenberg, at that time on their way towards Balbeck. The latter is the celebrated naturalist at present in Berlin. From Sahli I went to Damascus ( which I had formerly passed through), in order to pursue there the practice of my profession. At that period there was living in the Capuchin convent, a monk, named Padre Tomaso, who used to perform vaccination ; and besides that, professed the medical art. But the following amusing story may serve as an illustration of the system he adopted. A goldsmith of middle age, a Catholic, came to me one day, asking for an Aphrodisiacum ; he confessed he had impaired his bodily strength by improper indulgences, to such a degree that he could not perform his conjugal duty; and he added, that he was in a very distressing situation, for his nuptials were to be celebrated on the following Sunday. I expressed my willingness to comply with his wishes, but finding probably the price of my medicine too high, he left me, and repaired to Padre Tomaso, hoping to get his medicine gratis. On Monday, after the wedding, at the break of day, Father Tomaso entered my room quite embarrassed, and asked me for my advice, as the goldsmith was constipated, and in great pain, in consequence of the large doses of Cantharides which he had