19 JUNE 1964, Page 11

Clean Hands

I return briefly to the subject of 'personal hygiene.' So many correspondents have written to me to say that my advice to rinse the hands whenever possible after defecation is hopelessly inadequate. With respect I knew that: but so are the facilities provided. Cleanliness is also the art of the possible. The Daily Mail is running an admirable campaign to obtain some sort of minimum standards. If we can first secure a cold tap in every public lavatory and educate people to rinse their hands, it will be a great advance. Then perhaps we can think of the full routine of soap, scrubbing brush and even a shower which my correspondents rightly call for.