[FN#17] Any "Companion to the Medicine Chest" will give, to those that
require such information, the names of drugs and instruments necessary
for a journey; but it must be borne in mind that hot countries require
double quantities of tonics, and half the allowance of cathartics
necessary in cold climates. Sonnini, however, is right when he says of
the Egyptian fellahs, that their stomachs, accustomed to digest bread
badly baked, acrid and raw vegetables, and other green and unwholesome
nourishment, require doses fit only for horses. Advisable precautions
are, in the first place, to avoid, if travelling as a native, any signs
of European manufacture in knives, scissors, weights, scales and other
such articles. Secondly, glass bottles are useless: the drugs should be
stowed away in tin or wooden boxes, such as the natives of the country
use, and when a phial is required, it must be fitted into an etui of
some kind. By this means, ground glass stoppers and plentiful cotton
stuffing, the most volatile essences may be carried about without great
waste. After six months of the driest heat, in Egypt and Arabia, not
more than about one-fourth of my Prussic acid and chloroform had
evaporated. And, thirdly, if you travel in the East, a few bottles of
tincture of cantharides-highly useful as a rubefacient, excitant, et
cetera-must never be omitted. I made the mistake of buying my drugs in
England, and had the useless trouble of looking after them during the
journey. Both at Alexandria and Cairo they are to be found in
abundance, cheaper than in London, and good enough for all practical
purposes.