Page 705 - PERSIAN 4 1899_1905

RE8IDRNCY AND MASKAT POLITI CAL AGENCY FOR THE YEAR lOOA-lWJf. 161

palpitation, chronic dyspepsia, insomnia, etc., which are also common both
among the male and female population of this plaoe.
11. Rhetitnatic affection*, chiefly of the chronic variety, are common both
among the seafaring population of the town and among the Bedouins of the
desert, duo to the exposed life which both of them lead. Venereal diseases
and the toxins generated by intestinal fermentation are also responsible for
a great many cases of muscular and hone pains, commonly described as
rheumatic. Acute rheumatism is very rare.
12. Intestinal worms are very common, due chiefly to the uncleanly
habits of the people and tho uncleanly nature of their food and drink, whereby
the ova of these animals are conveyed into the alimentary canal.
13. Affection* of the ekin.—The parasitic affections, such as ringworm of
the body and scalp, scabies and pediculosis are very common, ringworm of the
scalp, especially among children, giving rise to alopecia. Diners suffer from
pruritus and papular eruptions owing to constant contact of 6alt water with
their bodies.
14. Venereal diseases are also fairly common, the chief forms met with
being gonorrhaea and syphilis. Soft chancre followed by suppurating bubo is
uncommon.
15. Epidemics.—Only one fatal case of cholera came under my notice in
November last; although enquiries were made no reports about further
authentic cases could be had. The disease did not prevail in an epidemic
form; probably only afew sporadic cases occurred.
A n epidemic of measles broke out in February last and continued through
March. The epidemic was pretty severe and generally accompanied with
serious respiratory or intestinal complications. It accounted for a large number
of deaths—especially among children—chiefly from bronchopneumonia or
noma.
16- Sanitation—The sanitary condition of the town is on the whole
satisfactory, and in many respects better than that of other places in the Persian
Gulf. There are no conservancy arrangements, but owing to the dryness of the
climate and the proximity of the sea the occurrence of noxious effects from the
decomposition of filih and refuse is to a great extent prevented.
The people being very slightly advanced in the scale of civilisation have
scant ideas of modesty, and use either the seashore, or the open plain, or the
roofs of their houses or the sides of the lanes for latrine. In any case, however,
the filth is either washed away by the sea twice a day or rapidly dried by the
sun and thereby rendered innocuous, and so this system is far better from a
sanitary point of view than the system of well privies which is in vogue in
Bush ire and other places. Some people, however, are now beginning to con­
struct latrines in their houses, hut the excreta are generally allowed to fall into
buckets which are cleaned out daily in the sea. Some nice wooden latrines
have also been erected lately on the seashore by the. Sheikh and some of the
leading merchants, in which the filth falls into the sea and is washed away by
it, while at the same time the individuals are screened from publio view.
House refuse and dead animals are either thrown into the sea or in the
roads. In the latter case they are allowed to rot where they lie and give rise to
offensive smells. The sullage water of houses on the seaside is allowed to run
into the sea—of those in the interior is either allowed to run on into the lanes or
into pits dug in the courtyard. In either of these latter cases noxious smells are
created, but as the soil is sandy and porous the water gets dried up soon.
17. Climate.—The climate of the place is dry and healthy. The last ©old.
weather was exceptionally severe as in most othor places, and several cases of
death from sheer oold were reported both from sea and from land. The soil is
sandy and porous with underlying rock. In the eastern and western parts of
the town water is met with at a depth of from 10 to 16 foet, but in the Central
part which is on a rather higher level, it is met with at a depth of about 20 feet
water of wells is very saltish and unfit for use, henoe very few people
I dig wells in their houses. Water for ubc is brought from wells supplied by