170 
In Gujarat and Kathiawar chank powder is prescribed 
as a specific in the following diseases :—Jaundice, 
phthisis, coughs, shooting pain in the side, general 
debility and, very commonly, in affections of the eyes. 
With regard to the practice of prescribing it in the 
case of asthma, cough and consumption, a medical friend 
points out that while of no value in asthma, this 
treatment has reason for its employment in phthisical 
cases—the introduction of quantities of lime into the 
system facilitating the deposit of lime salts around tuber- 
cular centres, encapsulating them and rendering them 
innocuous. 
In rickets the use of lime taken internally is also 
indicated emphatically, the disease being characterised 
by an insufficient deposit of lime in the bones. He also 
points out that in the case of hamorrhoids, the use of 
lime administered internally may assist a cure by increas- 
ing the coagulative property of the patient’s blood. 
It appears therefore that the employment of chank- 
shell powder by native practitioners is not without reason 
in regard to certain diseases, and while it may be 
objected that a non-organic form of carbonate of lime 
should prove equally beneficial, it has to be remembered 
that the carbonate of lime of shells is laid down within a 
delicate framework of animal membrane, and this mi- 
nutely divided form may possibly render it more easy of 
assimilation in the body and therefore more efficacious. 
The religious associations surrounding the chank have 
also their value in inspiring the confidence of patients in 
the value of this medicine, faith that may help largely 
towards a cure. 
The wearing of chank rings, the rubbing of the 
affected parts with them and the laving of them with 
water which has been in contact with these rings, are 
forms of treatment on a different footing. They are 
to be considered purely as charms, without direct thera- 
peutic value. They bear the same relation to the 
internal employment of powdered shell as does the 
quack exploitation of electricity by means of belts and 
bands containing discs of metal to the legitimate use of 
current electricity in the hands of qualified medical practi- 
tioners. If the former have any value it is by reason 
of faith alone, 
