SOME MEDICAL IMPRESSIONS OF ABYSSINIA

Abstract

Before going into the proper matter of this paper it might not be out of place to say a few things about Abyssinia generally. That area of greater Ethiopia conquered by the Italians in their 1935 Campaign comprises roughly 350 000 square miles and can be considered the Jewel of Northern Africa - bounded as it is on one side by the flat desert-like country of Italian Somaliland and on the other by the bleak, desolate and inhospitable mountains of Eritrea. Small wonder therefore that the Italians for years had an eye on Abyssinia which for hundreds of miles on end consists of green mountains and rolling valleys covered with grass, generally presenting scenery which in some spots surpasses Switzerland and the Grand Canyon of Colorado. Keywords: Ethiopia; 1935; Jewel of Northern Africa; Italian Somaliland; Haile Selassie; Ambulatoria Italian surgeons; Professor; Professor Ribandi; Italian military hospital