“Vaccine lymph there was in abundance, but neither Christian, Moslem, nor Pagan had yet consented to make trial of its virtues. Glasses hermetically sealed, betwixt which the perishable fluid had been deposited, were exhibited, and its use expounded. ‘No, no!’ quoth the King, as he delivered the acquisition to his master of the horse, with a strict injunction to have it carefully stitched in leather, ‘this is _talakh medanit_, very potent medicine indeed; and henceforth I must wear it as a talisman against the evil that beset my forefathers.’ “‘You must now give me the medicine which draws the vicious waters from the leg,’ resumed his Majesty, ‘and which is better than earth from Mount Lebanon; the medicine which disarms venomous snakes, and that which turns the grey hairs black; the medicine to destroy the worm in the ear of the Queen which is ever burrowing deeper; and, above all, the medicine of the seven colours, which so sharpens the intellect as to enable him who swallows enough of it to acquire every sort of knowledge without the slightest trouble. Furthermore, you will be careful to give my people _none of this_.’”[245] Plowden, writing of the _defterers_, said: “They are often more learned than the priests, and equally take advantage of the general ignorance. Their principal gain is by writing amulets and charms against every disease, almost against death. . . . They also profess medicine, and as they do not much analyze the effects of their drugs, many an unfortunate falls a victim to some poisonous plant administered as a love philtre. Most of them are hangers-on of the different churches; they are generally cunning, debauched, and mischief-makers.”[246] Mr. Wylde, speaking of the Abyssinian clergy of the present time, says, “They know that the days are gone by when every one came to them for some charm or a little holy water to cure a complaint; the very practical nineteenth-century doctor is to be found, and not only the congregation has deserted to the modern school of medicine, but the priest himself will trust in the new treatment in preference to running the risk in getting cured by faith or unfiltered holy water.”[247]