Today's British Medical Journal carries a short item that seems
apropos. Even if its specific relevance to this thread is
unclear, it recalls our previous discussion of the paper "Effect
of Holy Water on Growth of Radish Plants". This item may suggest
one reason for the failure of that research.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BMJ 2001;322:190 ( 27 January )
News
Holy water not always a blessing
Doug Payne, Dublin
It may be holy, but it might not be very healthy. For the second
time in four years competitors in the Irish Young Scientist
contest have been examining holy water and their findings suggest
that some fonts are filthy.
Three 14 year old girls from County Kildare were the latest to
examine fonts at local churches after one of them developed a
rash on her forehead after blessing herself with holy water. Tiny
green worms about half a centimetre long turned up in one font
they tested while large quantities of dirt showed up in others.
Although the project, one of 470 by nearly 2000 students, was
originally intended to compare outdoor with indoor fonts, the
young researchers found dirt in both. The eggs for the tiny green
worms posed the greatest threat to health, but the girls were
unable to suggest a solution. At the very least, they concluded,
"there should be someone there to clean the water and to take out
anything that is big enough to be seen."
In a 1998 entry from County Clare in the annual science fair,
three girls grew bacterial cultures from holy water. They found
coliforms, staphylococcus, yeasts, and moulds.
Two years ago some churches in Dublin removed fonts from church
vestibules after the discovery that drug addicts were washing or
rinsing their syringes in the fonts.
-Stephen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
