According to British bacteriologist Ernest Hanbury Hankin the rivers Ganga and Jamuna were found to have natural healing properties!
Of course when anyone else would have said this they would have been summarily rejected! But when a ‘Gora’ ‘angrez’ says it then the words get heavy!
Now now! Do not start jumping yet!
This was way back in 1896!
Ernest first observed in 1896 that the Ganges (Ganga) and Jumna rivers in India possessed a mysterious, heat-labile substance that killed cholera bacteria, linking this antibacterial property to local beliefs about the river’s healing powers!
He noted the water’s natural ability to destroy bacteria and noticed significantly fewer gastrointestinal infections, particularly cholera, in villages along the Ganges, despite common belief in the river’s sacred, self-purifying properties!
He of course scientifically confirmed that water from the Ganges and Jumna actively killed Vibrio cholerae (cholera bacteria).
His chief crucial finding was that this antibacterial activity was heat-labile (destroyed by boiling in open containers) but could pass through fine filters, suggesting a very small, non-bacterial agent!
This was not magic! But scientific! Enter a phenomenon later understood as the action of bacteriophages, which attack and lyse bacteria, leading to modern phage therapy!
Hankin’s work provided early evidence for bacteriophages, though he didn’t name them.
Years later, scientists like Félix d’Hérelle built on these findings, isolating and naming the “bacteriophage” (bacteria eater) and developing phage therapy, which is seeing renewed interest today due to antibiotic resistance!
In essence, Ernest Hankin’s pioneering bacteriological work on the Ganges river waters provided some of the first scientific clues to the existence and properties of bacteriophages, linking ancient beliefs with modern microbiology!
Which goes to prove that the ‘Magic’ of today is simply the undiscovered ‘science’ of tomorrow!
Of course it was magical watching Arun Govil as Bhagwan Ram in the serial Ramayan!
For now take some warm bacteria free water and sleep!
Shubh ratri!
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