'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎441] (526/905)

CHAP. XVIII.] PECULIAR DISEASE.
441
quent than in the preceding tract, continuing, with frost at Range of the
intervals, particularly in the night, till towards the end of thermometer •
December, and the temperature is sometimes 8° below zero;
whilst, owing to the deficiency of shade and verdure, the ther
mometer frequently exceeds 100° 1 during the summer months. 2
It is at the latter period of the year that the country round
Aleppo is exposed to earthquakes and to hurricanes, which
come from the desert; the former, called Sanum, when not
violent, are supposed to be connected with those terrific blasts.
The calamity of August, 1822, was preceded by a violent wind,
and its subsequent passage from east to west, throughout an
extent northward to Kaiseriyeh and southward to Cairo, as
marked by its effects at Adankh, Ain-tab, Rum Kal'ah, Bir,
Damascus, and other places, was ascertained to be almost
instantaneous. 3
The air being pure and dry, intermittent fevers and other The Aleppo
diseases are less frequent than in the preceding region; and,
as the inhabitants attain a good age, this part of the country
may be considered decidedly healthy; although the people in
the uplands, especially near the capital, are subject to a pecu
liarly unpleasant disease called the Aleppo button, which
seldom fails to leave a disagreeable scar on the face. As at
Baghdad, the hard boil in question is attributed to the effects
of the water; it is, however, more general here than there,
and a resident of Aleppo rarely escapes the disease.
The third climate comprises the higher tracts which extend climate near
from Bir by Am-tab to Kilis; and again from the latter the mountalns •
along the foot of the Taurus and slopes of the Amanus. In
this region, in which the upper chalk and limestone formations
prevail, the soil is light and stony, but owing to the spring
1 At Port William, on the 4th and 5th of August, 1835, it was 107° and
108°; and the medium temperature at noon, in August and September, 1835,
was 89° under a shed, 88^° under an awning, and 79F in a substantial stone
building.
8 At Aleppo, which is nearly 900 feet above the level of Port William, the
thermometer was 85° on the 21st of September, 1747, and 86° the same day of
1748. Col. Capper's Observations on the Passage to India, $:c., p. 227.
London, 1784. _ . ^ ai
8 MS. Observations on the Earthquake, by Mr. Vincent Germain, of Aleppo.
VOL. I. 3 ^