Stations in Egypt. 33 secured openings into the homes of the pupils, and the Bible is read to many of the mothers.

4. Tae Nite Mepicat ITINERANCY.

The figures which have been given* concerning the medical work are exclusive of the 5,872 visits registered in connexion with the Nile Medical Itinerancy, which was established by Dr. Harpur in 1908. The larger part of the population of Egypt resides in villages, and while rather over one million people are found in ten of the most important centres, nearly eight times that number reside in small towns and villages. Every year brings to the medical mission at Cairo representatives from many different places, and Dr. Harpur felt that with the introductions thus afforded him he would be able to influence many who would not go to Cairo. Accordingly he procured a houseboat to serve as a residence, and mooring that at different places, at e:ch of which he stays for some weeks or longer, he carries on an itinerant medical mission. An idea of the openings with which he meets may be gained from the following extract from a letter written by him in 1904 about his work near Beltan, a village about twenty miles from Cairo. He wrote of the dispensary which he opened in a little house hired for the purpose in a neighbouring village :— ‘The total number of attendances for thirty-one dispensary days was 1,187, and ninety-seven small operations were done. Nearly every patient is accompanied by one friend, and sometimes more, and it has been gratifying to notice brothers bringing their sisters, and uncles bringing their nieces, showing the power of family ties among these simple village people. From an evangelistic point of view, the number of “ friends”’ has the advantage of bringing a large number within the sound of the Gospel. One morning, for instance, I counted seventynine in the courtyard at the time of the address, and we had forty-six patients that day. The “friends” always want to crowd in with the patient to hear what the doctor’s opinion is, and this we find a decided disadvantage in a room that is not too large. As a rule we have not entered any names and addresses, but on that particular morning I noted the villages from which the forty-six patients came, and found that fourteen were represented.’

* Pace 20,