Description:The Christian Arabs living in Palestine and Syria look upon insanity as nothing less than demoniacal possession. Their treatment consists in confining the insane in vaults and caverns, where they are given nothing but bread and water to eat and are often beaten and branded. No method is considered too severe to exorcise the demon. The orthodox Jews also look upon insanity as demoniacal possession and resort to incantations and ignorant methods of exorcism. The Mohammedans attribute abnormal mental conditions to a species of divine manifestations and treat the patient with consideration and respect. Many madmen are left to roam at large and become noisy mendicants.