INDIA’S MYSTERY RIVER
The belief of the Hindus that the waters of the Ganges have special lifegiving properties has received confirmation from science. The superstitious pilgrim sipping the waters of the holy river seems to have been justified. Experiments by scientists have shown that Ganges water contains bacteria which are able to attack—and kill—the germs of a number of diseases. The School of Tropical Medicine in Calcutta has been investigating these helpful bacteria, and it is hoped that cultures of them may be obtained which will be of use in fighting disease. Indian ideas of sanitation, though improving, are not those of the West, and the Ganges is not always particularly inviting in appearance. Scientists, indeed, have often been puzzled by the fact that its waters seemed comparatively innocuous when, judged by ordinary standards, they should be highly dangerous. But the bacteria, which appear to provide the key to this mystery, are so small that they have not been discovered before.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 188, 11 August 1931, Page 8
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161INDIA’S MYSTERY RIVER Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 188, 11 August 1931, Page 8
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