The times., 1898-07-29
GUNGA DINs FAILING.
ne Is Faithful, But His Water-Bot-
las tie is Dirty.
(From The Hospital

(From The Hospital.) " ~
the principles Of hygiene are no doubt
the same, whether in the East or in the
West, but the details and the character
of the difficulties to- be overcome differ
greatly according to the country, and
especially according %to the people with
whom we have TO deal. This is striking
ly brought home- to ~us by the fact that
only now are We attempting in the East
10 deal with matter which, to West
ern views, would seem to touch the very
foundations of sanitary science, namely
the old and worldwide practice of car
rying water in skins. The problem of
wa:er supply in the West hinges prin-
cipally ON the purity of the source from
which the water is derived and we are
apt to take for granted that when we
once have got the water its distribu-
lion is merely a matter of taps and pipes
In India, however. it is otherwise, for
there they are only Just beginning to es-
cape from ancient methods. Even where
pipe water has been laid by municipali-
ties, II is often carried to the houses in
mussacks-the old leathern bottles which
were in use before history began-so
distribution are quite as important as
hose arising from impurity of source.
In some of the stations in India the
government is getting rid of this old
dirty method, so far as the troops are
concerned, by laying pipes into the kitch-
ems in the cantonments, and we may fair
ly hope that this measure will have the
effect Of lessening the typhoid fever
which is such a curse to our troops in
India We however be TOO
sanguine, for the habits of the natives
are such as sometimes to defy the efforts
Of the sanitarian. Still, the native does
after all tend to do what comes the easi-
est and if the water is brought actually
into the kitchen pipes il is to be pre-
sumed that ne Will use ii, although the
average sweeper will generally somehow
find a way for deiling even the purest
and the cleanest things. In regard TO
mussacks, and their influence in spread
ing disease, our readers will remember
the observations made few years ago
by Mr. Hankin as to their liability to be-
come infected with cholera bacilh, and
10 so on imparting their infection 10 sue
| cessive charges of water.
The bheestie. although employed for the
special purpose of bringing water from
Il reputedly pure source, will never carry
il further than he can help, and thus II
| happens that unless he is well looked af-
ter he will now and again fill his mus
sack at the nearest tank, however pollut-
ed it may be, and once the mussack is
| infected, and the bacill have taken root
in its Shiny interior, 1t will infect all he
water that is put into 1t, however pure
the source may be from which ii comes.
Hence the elimination of the mussack is
a great step toward the prevention OF the
water-borne diseases from which India
suffers. Again, however we say we must
| not be too sanguine, for 1t is not the mus
sack Itself that does the harm, but the
| native who misuses il, and the native Is
| always with us-good faithful fellow. in
| his way. but stepped TO the eyes in preiu-
dice, and bad TO move along sanitary
! lines. The native cook, with his pecu-
liarly dirty ways, is responsible for much,
and the fact that the cleaning of the
I cookhouse is left TO a sweeper is an
swerable, perhaps, for more, so that
while the introduction Of the pure tap
water into the Kitchens is a great thing.
the difficulties arising from native habits
| still remain. In the article on Water
Borne Diseases In the Twentieth Cen
tury Practice of Medicine" the following
remarks appear in regard 10 cholera:
The phrase 'water-borne.' then, as ap-
| piled to cholera does not refer merely to
the infection Of great water supplies CIV
ing rise to vast eplde1nlcs, but mas 10 90
with cups ard plates and cooking uten-
sis, and the water in which they are
washed: Tith salads and vegetables. and
the water they are irrigated with in the
garden and rnsed with in the kitchen;
and with the personal cleanliness OF all
who are concerned in the preparation,
storing and distribution Of food or drink.
In this sense nearly all cholera, al one
part or another of its course from man
to man is water-borne.'
What applies to cholera applies equally
10 typhoid fever. But when we use the
term in this wide sense We see clearly
that the role of hygiene in regard 10
water supply, far from ending at the
tap. is then only just beginning. The
abolition Of the mussack would be step
in the right direction, but even that is
still far off, while the education of the
native involves multitude of steps,
each Of which is more difficult than the
laying Of many pipes INTO scores of kitch-
ems.