Churches at which offerings are made are numerous in the neighbourhood, and one of these, Mar Sergius,[111] is particularly famous in the land. This saint protects travellers provided that they offer a black lamb to him before setting out; but his special _métier_ is the curing of the "possessed," or _shidâni_--a name used both of lunatics and epilepts. The treatment in this case is that, after solemn prayer and benediction, the patient is consigned to a certain cell in the foundations of the church, which was once no doubt the abode of an ascetic. It is of "beehive" structure, and a regular "little ease" in pattern; for the inmate can neither sit, stand, nor lie in any comfort. There the sick person remains for a full night, or sometimes for twenty-four hours; and the fact is at all events past question, that a very fair proportion of those who submit to the discipline come out cured. It is of course a case of faith-healing, natural enough in people who have never been taught the modern heresy that the age of "miracles" is past; though we own that profane Europeans have suggested that as a solitary night in that vermin-swarming den might well drive a sane man mad, it is therefore conceivable that it might drive a mad person sane! Inscriptions in the church, by the way, indicate that under certain circumstances it is allowable to sleep in the _bait shidâni_ by proxy. We have read there the statement that "I, John, the son of Jacob, have slept here in the cell, on behalf of my sister Khua, who was unable to come. Grant, O Lord Almighty, that by the power of the prayers of Thy servant Mar Sergius, it may be profitable to her." Mussulmans are as ready to avail themselves of the curative powers of the shrine as are Christians; and we have known a party of Heriki make liberal offerings to the church, and attend a Christian service in the same, to testify their gratitude for the recovery of an epileptic girl. Many Mussulmans seem to hold that Christianity, whether of an ancient or modern type, has marvellous power against disease; and their belief received what they regarded as a signal confirmation when the cholera visited Urmi in 1905. Mussulmans took, of course, no precautions against it; for how could merely boiling the water frustrate the Will of Allah? The marvel is that the whole of their quarters of the town were not depopulated, when one considers the conditions under which they live. It was not unusual, for instance, to see dead bodies washed before burial in the conduit of drinking water! One can only assume a relative immunity, acquired originally, but transmitted by inheritance, to this and similar filth diseases; and the point may be worth study, as throwing light on the question whether acquired characteristics can pass by inheritance.