Such “dressers” as I could get hold of I put through an examination at the hospital, to try and find out what they knew, and endeavoured to teach them some elementary facts in anatomy and one or two common sense rules in surgery, but only one of them would even pretend to learn, and he was a humbug. They all knew better than I did how to treat wounds and ulcers, and set broken limbs, and they received any suggestions of mine in offended silence. I showed up one or two, pointing out the disastrous results of their treatment, but it did no good. I only had an extra enemy or two to consider, for they were very venomous. [Sidenote: The Barber Surgeons.] Besides the comparatively modern “dressers,” there is another body of men in Kabul who practise the noble art of surgery, namely, the “barbers.” The line they specially take up is that of bleeding and tooth drawing. They have very rough forceps for the latter operation, and when, as not infrequently happened, they snapped the crown of a tooth off instead of extracting it, they passed the patient on to me. It is annoying for a surgeon to have to extract broken but firmly-fixed fangs from an injured and bleeding jaw. It is not a pretty operation at all. For fevers, dyspepsia, gout, headache, or any feeling of malaise, the barbers bled their patients--but besides these, which may be called the _irregular_ bleedings, there are regular bleedings every spring and autumn. These are generally done out of doors by the road side. The barber, squatting down by the side of his patient, makes his incision at the bend of the elbow: fortunately, not into the vein immediately over the great artery of the arm, the one usually bled from in England, but into one adjoining. The patient holds out his arm and allows the blood to drip on to the ground till he thinks enough has run away. There is not the slightest attempt made to measure the quantity of blood lost. The only precaution taken is to avoid drinking any water for twenty-four hours afterwards, lest it should mix with the rest of the blood in the vein and make it thin; or if they do drink any they hold the wounded arm above their heads to prevent the water running into it! Wet cupping, too, is performed by the barbers and dressers, and is a very popular means among the townsfolk of getting rid of their blood. It is a common thing to see an Afghan scarred all over the shoulders and loins. Cupping is employed generally as a remedy for muscular rheumatism. The custom was introduced some years ago by the Hindustani hospital assistants, who, after having had in India some slight training in the European system of medicine, found their way into Afghanistan under the guise of “doctors.” The majority of these were unqualified men, and were quite unfit to be anything but hospital assistants. Let loose upon the people they have worked as much havoc among the sick as a similar number of the hakims could have done. [Sidenote: Eye Doctors and Hakims.]