medan fellah[=i]n, who, of course, are of the same stock,
but mixed with Arab blood. The Copts in the towns, who have always been
engaged in sedentary occupations, as scribes and handicraftsmen, have a
more delicate frame and complexion, and may have mingled with Syrian and
Armenian Christians.

According to the 1907 census, there were 667,036 orthodox Copts in
Egypt, or less than 1/14th of the total population, this being the
same proportion as in 1830, when, according to Lane, they numbered about
150,000. The number of churches and monasteries at the same time had
risen from 146 to 450, not including Protestant chapels nor Coptic
Catholic churches. At the 1907 census the total number of Christians in
Egypt described as Copts was 706,322; among them there were 24,710
Protestants and 14,576 Roman Catholics.

Monogamy is strict among the Copts, and divorce is granted only for
adultery. Circumcision of both sexes is common before baptism. In regard
to dress, at present only the clergy retain the old distinctive costume
and black turban. The rest of the Copts dress exactly like their Moslem
brethren, from whom they can be distinguished only by the cross which
many of them still have tattooed just below the palm of the right hand.
Since the British occupation of the country there has been a tendency
amongst the Coptic women to give up the veil, which they had borrowed
from the Mahommedans; this is especially noticeable at places like
Assiut, where, thanks to the efforts of American missionaries, female
education has made much progress.

In trades and professions, so long as the Copts had no foreign
competition to contend against, they maintained their supremacy over the
rest of the population. They filled government offices; in towns and
villages they monopolized trades and professions requiring care and
skill. They were the accountants, the architects, the goldsmiths, the
carpenters, the land-surveyors, the bonesetters, &c. But, with the
extension of railways and agricultural roads and the increased
facilities of communication and prosperity, there has been a great
influx of Italian, Greek, Armenian and other Levantine workmen, who,
with their better tools, are undoubtedly superior to the Copts, and have
proved most formidable rivals. Furthermore, the importation of cheap
European wares of every description is slowly killing all native
industry. Lastly, since the British, as the dominant race, have filled
most posts of