Tropical hygiene for Anglo-Indians and Indians / by Sir Pardey Lukis and R.J. Blackham.

  • Lukis, Pardey (Charles Pardey), Sir, 1857-1917.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Tropical hygiene for Anglo-Indians and Indians / by Sir Pardey Lukis and R.J. Blackham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    thing they did was to take an axe and knock a hole in the cask, so that the whole of the whisky ran out. The reason of this was, they did not dare to have the whisky there, for if it was there, they felt quite sure that they would drink it, and if they drank it, they were likely to die. Lauder Brunton tells a story with reference to the use of alcohol in high altitudes:—A party of engineers were surveying in the Sierra Nevada. They camped at a great height above sea-level, where the air was very cold, and they were miser- able. Some of them drank a little whisky, and felt less uncomfortable : some of them drank a lot of whisky, and went to bed feeling very jolly and comfortable indeed. But in the morning the men who had not taken any whisky got up a- right: those who had taken a little whisky got up feeling very unhappy: the men who had taken a lot of whisky did not get up at all : they were simply frozen to death. They had warmed the surface of their bodies at the expense of their internal or- gans. Some time ago the late Sir Joseph Fayrer was out deer-stalking in the North of Scotland. He offered his flask to the keeper. The keeper said : “No, Sir Joseph, I will not take any to-day, it is too cold.” And yet, if he had drunk the whisky, he would have felt for the time being, very much warmer than before. Cantlie wrote :—“ The natives of warm climates, both by their religion and their habits, shun al- cohol.” But he was apparently unaware that in India this statement requires considerable modi- fication. In hot, moist climates, English beer can rarely be taken with impunity ; but light wines, white or red, champagne and good whisky well diluted and taken either with meals or after excessive