In winter the comparatively mild climate permits life in the open air, so the country is to a large extent free from the severe inflammatory affections so fatal in colder climates. The high mountains are, moreover, an excellent sanatorium for those enervated by the climatic conditions of the lower and damper parts of the country.
The most widely spread endemic diseases are malaria and trachoma. The former is naturally especially prevalent in all places where water stagnates, or where there are faulty or unclean cisterns. Trachoma is largely due to want of personal cleanliness, and is often accompanied by loss of sight. The so-called " Jericho and "Aleppo boil" are confined mainly to the districts of Jericho, Homs, and Hama, and to the old town of Aleppo. Among epidemic diseases are meningitis, Malta fever, cholera, and at rare intervals dengue fever. Syphilis is exceedingly widespread, even in the villages.
The health conditions in the Jewish colonies generally are comparatively good.
(5) Race and Language
Race
Syria has always been a land much exposed to invasion and conquest, and it therefore contains a large number of foreign elements, derived from both ancient and modern times. The Turks and Kurds are modern examples of these foreign elements. Distinct from this is the replenishment of the population from the tribes of the Arabian Desert, which maintains the specific racial character of the Syrian people. The transition between the nomad Beduin and the Syrian fellahin, or peasants, may be seen all along the eastern border, but the extremes are distinct. The Syrian people have a civilisation and history that marks them off sharply from the Arabs. Both peoples speak Arabic, and both profess Islam: but as some of the Syrians are Shias,
