SAM IELI is the Turkish name of a wind which the Arabs call samoom, or simoom, which in Egypt is called kltamsin, and in Sene gambia and Guinea /damnation. It occurs in most countries which are situated at no great distance from sandy deserts, and it blows always from that quarter in which the desert is situated. Thus, in Sene gambia and Guinea it blows from the north-east; in the Delta of the Nile from the south-south-west and south-west; on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Suez from the north-east ; in Syria from the south-east ; at Mecca from the east; at Bagdad from the west ; at Basra from the north-west ; and at Surat from the north. These winds are extremely hot, and a considerable quantity of fine sand is generally suspended in the air, which has been collected by the winds in rushing over the desert. They affect the human body very powerfully, producing great feebleness, and sometimes even death. They usually consist of a quick
succession of hot and cold puffs of wind; and the difference of the temperature between these puffs, which is stated to amount to more than twenty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, is probably one of the reasons of their effect on animal bodies being so great. It is also thought that the hot puffs bring a pestilential air, as a putrid and sulphurcous smell is perceived when they blow. Formerly it was asserted that the hurtful effects of the wind could be avoided by a person throwing himself on the ground with the mouth downward ; but modern writers say that the Arabs disapprove of such a proceeding, and perhaps justly, if it is true that the hot air is heavier than the atmosphere. To diminish the effects of the wind, the Arabs cover their faces with the WO d, a handkerchief which they wear on their heads.