Dr. Pauline Root, of India, gives this example of the tenacity of the
Hindus to their rules of caste:
The Brahman custom which prescribes for every man and woman
the ceremonial bath every day also prescribes that during
any illness the bath shall be omitted. A woman who is ill is
banished to a little room and left to take care of herself
unless a hired person is sent to be her nurse. I had under my
care a young girl of high caste who was ill with an illness
which had already carried off the mother and two sisters. The
father was ready to make almost any concessions to me if I would
only come and save his daughter’s life. I insisted that she be
brought out into one of the main rooms of the home, and that she
be given a cot to sleep upon. When she grew better she wanted me
with her most of the time to sit beside her and hold her hand. I
really thought she was succumbing before love. Finally, I told
her that she was convalescent enough to have her ceremonial
bath. The next morning her father met me with a munificent gift.
I saw the girl arrayed in her beautiful dresses, but a great
distance had been put between us, and when I held out my hand
she refused it, saying, “Please don’t touch me; I have taken my
bath.”
(322)
=Catalepsy=--See PATHOLOGICAL CONDITION.
=Catching Souls=--See FISHERS OF MEN.