LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 217 



monastic life. Keligious rites are performed by- 

 priests dressed in purple and brilliant yellow ; for 

 the uninitiated, their part consists in unrolling inter- 

 minable bands on which prayers are inscribed, and 

 in executing a religious music which seemed a mixture 

 of a camel's grunt, a dog's howling, and an infinitely 

 sad plaint. Of the pure cult of Buddha, nothing 

 seems to remain but an empty form. However, 

 there is a convent in the steppes — Tshori — a sort of 

 religious academy, where an effort is being made, 

 to restore the cult to the original level of Buddhist 

 doctrines. 



Whilst gathering observations on tuberculosis, we 

 traversed the steppes in a north-easterly direction as 

 far as Sarepta. This town seemed like a civilised 

 centre after the steppes, where the conditions of life 

 were somewhat hard in spite of the cordial reception 

 accorded us everywhere. The food, consisting solely 

 in tinned goods and mutton, had caused intestinal 

 trouble in nearly all the members of the expedition ; 

 on the other hand, we were greatly incommoded by 

 the heat, lack of water, and abundance of insects of 

 all kinds. 



In spite of all, Metchnikoff had hitherto borne the 

 journey fairly well. However, since we left Moscow 

 he had had frequent cardiac intermittence, accom- 

 panied sometimes by sharp pains along the sternum. 

 But the stay at Sarepta especially tried his health ; 

 the heat reached 35° C. (95° F.) in the shade and 52° C. 

 (about 125° F.) in the sun ; in the evening the windows 

 could not be opened because of the mosquitoes. 

 Metchnikoff, who had shown so much endurance, 

 now became weak, drowsy, and nervous ; he attri- 

 buted his condition to the excessive heat. Yet he 



