This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
Beirut, despite its isolation, offers peculiar advantages for the study of dermatology. It is on "the bridge of the world"—a connecting link to the continents of Europe, Asia proper and Africa. Its coastal summers are tropical in their heat and humidity; the high mountain ranges, with a delightful climate, are close to the humid coast; and a dry plateau occupies the interior, thus giving a wide variety of climate in a small area. Again, there is a great mingling of peoples and races and customs. Further, the American University of Beirut's School of Medicine has long been recognized as a center of medical teaching in the Near East, and its dermatologic polyclinic has been the first, and for years the only one, in this part of the world. The Kasr al Ainy government medical school at Cairo and the French Jesuit Medical School at Beirut have no dermatologic department or