The banner-enterprise. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1883-18??, 1883-10-27
THE HOLY WATER OF THE
MOHAHMEDANH.

MOHAMMEDANS.
The London Lancet of August llth
contains letter from DIR. 4. Frandland,
the well-known English expert in water
analysis, giving an account of the results
Of his examination of the specimens from
Hagar's well. in Mecca, the water Of
which is regarded as especially holy, large
quantities being annually sent to all Mus.
sulman countries. The following is an
extract
The water is slightly turbid, and has
saline taste; 100000 parts of it contain
in solution the very large proportion Of
S2S. "a parts Of solid matter, of which
considerable amount is organic and of
animal origin. The water also contains
an enormous quantity of nitrate, the usu-
al product of the decomposition of animal
excreta The previous animal contain
ination calculated from the proportion Of
nitrogen as nitrate, and nitrites shows
that the liquid supplying this well con-
talns in a given volume six times as
much animal matter as is found in the
same volume of strong London sewage.
This conclusion is confirmed by the pres
cncc of a very large proportion Of com.
mon salt, one OF the chief constituents of
urine. The suspended matter In the wa
ter consists chiefly of dead bacteria.
In answer to my inquiries as to the
surroundings of the well, and the authen.
ticity of of the sample, Mr.. Sohrab writes
me as follows: | reply to your note re-
garding the water from Hagar's well
brought home by me. beg to state that
it is authentic 1t was brought to me
last January from Mecca by a Moham-
medan gentleman in whose good faith |
have implicit confidence. | may also state
that several Mussulmans at Jeddah, who
had frequently tasted the water at the
we'll itself, aud to whom | showed what |
had, assured me it was genuine. There
is no difficulty whatever for a person at
Jeddah to get any quantity OF the water,
as the well OF Mecca Is free to all, and
any one can carry away as much as he
pleases. am not at all surprised at the
water being heavily charged with excre-
mentitious matter, and the reason, as
will now show, is evident. The city Of
Mecca, lying in basin, contains per-
manent population of 10000 souls, and
annually during the Hadj (pilgrimage)
from 100000 to 10000 pilgrims, who
become residents for periods varying from
one week to three months, crowd into 1t.
This vast influx of strangers finds accom~
mediation where it can; the well-to do
rent rooms, the poor live in the streets.
The houses in Mecca are generally built
in flats to accommodate pilgrims; each
fiat is provided with one or two badly
constructed latrines, and there are from
six to twelve of these in each house. The
latrines empty themselves into pits dug
outside the houses. When these get filled
they are emptled into other pits, which
are made in the streets or any other con-
venient spot and then covered over with
earth. For the poor latrines on the same
principle are made in and outside the
town, and the same method of emptying
them is employed. This system Of bury
ing foul matter in every direction has
been pursued for centuries; it is not,
therefore, surprising that the ground in
and around Mecca is surcharged with ex-
crementltious matter, which rains (these
are frequent in Mecca carry by filtration
in the well. Hagar s we'll is not spring,
but its water is supplied by filtration
that is, by rain water passing down
through an overlying mass Of foul matter.
But there is yet another cause for the
pollution of Hagars WELL this is the
thousands of pilgrims, diseased or sound,
who daily wash beside it, the water they
use naturally finding its way back into the
well.
Such being the surroundings of this
holy well, and the composition OF its wa
ter, there can be no doubt that here is a
most potent source of cholera poison !;
for the evidence is most conclusive that
cholera is propagated by specific poison
contained in the alvine discharge of per-
sons suffering from the disease. Hagar' s
well, therefore, must, according to MIR
Iohrab's description, constitute an efh-
cient collector of the poison, and 1t would
scarcely be possible to devise a more ef-
fective means for the diffusion Of this
poison throughout Mohammedan coun'
tries.
L presume that it would be quite I'M.
possible to get this well closed; but in
the interest Of the health of Europe and
Asia efforts ought to be made to guard
the water from this abominablo and dan
gerous pollution. In the whole course OF
my experience | have never met with a
sample Of drinking water making even a
distant approach to the degree of polu-
ton exhibited by the waters of Hagar S
we'll.
The trustees of the Garfield National