XXIX

HEALTH  PRECAUTIONS
Travel  in  Latin  America  can  be  made
comparatively  safe,  from  a  medical  point  of
view,  by  the  strict  observance  of  a  few  common
sense  precautions.  Perhaps  the  first  thing  to
be  considered  is  the  question  of  water.  With
but  one  or  two  exceptions,  drinking  water  is
notoriously  bad  in  all  of  these  countries,  being ­
  polluted  and  almost  certain,  if  drunk,  to
develop,  sooner  or  later,  either  typhoid  or
some  other  intestinal  disorder.  Credence
should  not  be  placed  in  the  well-intentioned
statement  of  the  native  that  the  water  is  good.
Like  their  ancestors,  through  the  continual
drinking  of  the  local  water,  they  have  become
self-immunized  to  any  form  of  contagion  from
its  use.  Because  the  water  comes  from  snowclad
  mountains  does  not  insure  its  purity,
either.  Most  mountain  streams,  long  before
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