It was presented to them in the villages during severe incidents until a doctor could be summoned. These medicines are given to the villagers free of charge, and it strengthens the connection between the staff of the center hospitals and the villages. It is not intended to allow the villagers to practice medicine, but I hope they will be capable of performing simple duties efficiently, and that they will especially pay attention to following the instructions of the ophthalmology hospital doctors in cases of trachoma.

Efforts are being made to teach similar things to midwives in the villages. I hope that these measures and the general desire for girls' education, which the provincial councils can achieve, will lead to an improvement in the condition of the women of this country. Furthermore, the Ladies' Guild dispensaries and the "Society for the Protection of Children," and the similar society in Minya, are doing great work that should serve as a model for future endeavors.

One of the biggest causes of the spread of various diseases is the pools or swamps that are abundant around the villages, and they truly affect the infant mortality rate. The court orders their eradication, and I am pleased to say that the provincial councils have begun to address this matter, and I hope they will do their utmost to eliminate these sources of contagion.

46 - Plague Unfortunately, the plague returned with increased severity, reaching a total of 1656 reported cases in 1911, compared to 1238 in 1910. The mortality rate to cases was slightly over 60 percent, compared to slightly less than 50 percent in 1910. The increase resulted from the severity of local outbreaks rather than widespread dissemination, as the number of affected localities did not exceed 152, compared to 157 in the previous year. The number of cases of bubonic plague was 178, a slight decrease from 1910. All cases were confined to Upper Egypt, as in the previous year. The total number of plague cases in Upper Egypt in 1911 was 1134, of which 1013 were in the Aswan and Qena governorates. The number of cases in these governorates was 202 in 1910. This increase was due to the severe outbreak of bubonic plague and gangrene in Kom Ombo and the outbreak of bubonic plague in Qus. It is well known that Kom Ombo consists of desert land that was recently reclaimed, and a portion of it was improved by bringing in people from the lower classes in the neighboring centers to work there. This reason