Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 240

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dants
CLEANLINESS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
of the men who escaped the Flood. When they
began
to eat animal food, and noticed that the flesh of some beasts
was not as wholesome or palatable as that of others, their
opinions with regard to this tradition were strengthened
and, beginning by giving up what they found was dele-
terious to their health, they finally persuaded themselves
that they could not even touch the unclean thing without
;
being defiled.
These ideas about defilement were common to several
They, like the Hindus, had recourse
They also had
to water and fire as means of purification.
At the time when the Hindus began
their sacred rivers.
to regard the waters of the Ganges, the Indus, and Godavari
other ancient nations.
as peculiarly sacred, and to attribute to them those cleansing
properties which could purify both soul and body, the in-
habitants of Colchis and other peoples living near the
Phasis credited the waters of that river with the same
virtues, while those of the Nile were considered equally
efficacious amongst the Egyptians.
Cleanliness is a most important factor in preserving
The luxury of clothes in those primitive
public health.
times was reduced to just what was necessary to cover the
body, or to protect it from atmospheric changes and
garments were rarely changed. The habits of the people
therefore naturally tended to counteract the unhealthy
consequences which would ensue from their prolonged use,
by the frequent washing of these garments in pure water.
Everything in nature had deteriorated after the Flood.
There were many more diseases, and in searching for the
causes of them people thought that the unwholesome
nature of certain kinds of food might be partly answer-
able for it.
Therefore the use of such food was forbidden.
They also realized that some of these diseases were con-
tagious
therefore the persons who were attacked by them
were isolated. The science of medicine was at that time
in its infancy, but it was soon seen that the greater number
of these maladies were caused by the unhealthy condition
or poverty of the blood, owing to excessive perspiration
and the salutary effects of a bath being fully recognized,
a bath was finally considered as a sovereign remedy for all
;
;
;
complaints.