The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-17
From the Chicago Chronicle.

Y TcH the C11CaS0 chronicle.
 AN ITH the exception of the Shah
 ~ and the eunuchs no men but a
 w few doctors are permitted to en- ter that sanctuary, the harem of the Shah, 'harem' being an Arab word which means sacred. The special doctor of the favorite, who shall be called Solyman to preserve his ncignito, has lifted the corner of the jealous veil which envelops this feminine city The secluded life, and the lack of education make the women of the Anderoun very difficult pa- tients. Dr. Solyman complains bitterly of their childish naivete and superstition, which obliged him to depend more on dip- lomatic talent than medical science.
 Dr. Solyman, in spite of his appoint ment as official doctor of the harem, was not consulted by any of the royal wives. to his services.
 However on hot spring afternoon, when he was retained to attend a slave of the favorite, whose grave state neces- stated his constant presence, some one came to tell him that the princess who was having her siesta, had started out of her sleep screaming, being prey to terrible pains. As there was no other doctor within call he was asked to come and attend her.
 The favorite was in the zirzamln. the underground chamber, with a low-vaulted ceiling, paved with white marble and with richly tiled walls, which is the fla vorite refuge of Persian women In sum mer. Sunk in the center was fountain with jet of water which distributed a refreshing coolness. crowd of women surrounded the princess. She was lying on a thin mattress spread on the marble in one of the arched recesses between the two doorways, facing each other to create 8 continual draft. These are the charac- teristics of the zirzanin.
 On the arrival of pr. Solyman the woin- cn drew their veils over their faces and the eunuch rushed to the gate and stopped him while a curtain was erected in front of the recess to allow the doctor to approach the princess without seeing her, When the doctor was at her side he to his questions, but the patient at last gave him to understand in sentences broken by lamentations that after her lunch she had fallen asleep, as usual, and that she had seen herself in her sleep surrounded by bad djnns. who had pierced her chest with invisible darts which gave her horrible pains.
 Upon that. to the astonishment of the people present, pr. Solyman turned to the eunuch and asked, without paying any attention to the djnns, what the princess had eaten for lunch When he learned that her menu consisted Of ice ''mastkyar" Cucumber and curds), he un- derstood that nothing was the matter ex- cept indigestion. However. being a con- ventional man, he wanted to draw an ex- act diagnosis of the case. She consent cd to let him feel her pulse and an arm emerged from the curtain He felt the pulse. but when he desired to see the tongue he had to enter on lengthy barley before the curtain opened far enough to let the princess, closely yelled. show him the tip of her tongue.
 Dr. Solyman wrote his prescription. and the mother of the Princess. very super sttious person. performed the 'estek- hareh,- seized her beads at chance place and then began to tell them off to the end as we count cherry stones on a plate. But at the same moment the regu- lar doctor of the Princess. who had been sent for. arrived. Everybody turned from Dr. Solyman and his prescription as if he had never been there.
 Whsa the regular doctor had prescribed in his turn. the '.esterhareh' was per- formed again. and this time the result was unfavorable. Heaven had declared sitseh. 'Dr. .solymau triumphed. His pre- scription produced such good and