Covered and swaddled with clothes, in our darkness we do not see that if the corrupt and dirty matter from daily insensible perspiration, or from sensible sweating, is not carefully cleared from the skin by washing, it must increase and attach itself to the skin, close the pores, and obstruct the excretion so in- dispensable to health, and must inevit- ably, from such evil tendency, at last produce disease. We relax and debili- tate the skin, by dressing so warmly during the day, and sleeping on feather beds at night, or by washing ourselves with warm water. The Cold Bath. — Do not bathe soon after walking. During the bathing immerse the head several times in cold water. Keep in motion during the time. Priessnitz advises his patients to avoid the second sensation of cold, which is a sort of fever, by leaving the bath before it is felt, that they may avoid a too powerful re-action, provoked by a great subtraction of heat. Take a glass or two of water immediately after the bath. The Douche Bath is very effica- cious in extracting the morbid humours from all the parts they have seized upon for years. In long continual complaints the douche is a most powerful remedial agent. It removes the weakness of the skin, and strengthens it. It renders the body hardy, and fortifies it to endure all changes of the air. It powerfully ex- cites the muscular and nervous systems. The Douche Bath is a stream of falling water as thick as the wrist, and permit- ted to fall on the diseased parts of the body, which it benefits and strengthens. The water should fall from 12 to 18 feet. The Eye Bath is a glass instru- ment made to fit the eye, so as to apply cold water, the eye being opened at the same time. The Finger Bath is used for Whitlows, &c. Place the finger in a glass of water, four times a-day for a quarter of an hour each time ; and the elbow in water twice a-day, and put on a heating bandage above the elbow, to draw the inflammation from the hand. The Foot Bath is used when the doctor would order warm baths. Thus headaches, toothaches, eye-inflamma- tion, and a flow of blood to the head, are always relieved by the foot-bath, with the addition of wet bandages on the parts affected. But the foot-tub should not contain more than from two to four inches depth of water, just enough to cover the fool, not the ancles ; for toothache an inch is enough, and the time from 15 to 30 minutes. For sprains the water must be up to the ancles. The water to be changed as soon as it feels warm. Afterwards apply friction, or walk out, to restore the warmth. Dr. Graham says, "1 can recommend the foot-bath, with con- fidence, in determination of blood to the head, in headache, in affecuons of the eyes, and in habitual coldness of the feet.” The Head Bath is a vessel with a few inches of water for bathing the back part of the head, to cure its rheu- matic pains, common headaches, rheu- matic inflammation of the eyes, deafness, loss 0! appedte, delirium tremens, giddi- ness of the head, and to prevent apo- plexy. It often causes bad morbific matter to exude from behind the ears. The Sitz or Sitting Bath is a small shallow tub iS inches in diameter, with water 3 or 4 inches deep, in which the patient sits, with his feet on the ground, for 15 minutes or more, twice COLD WATER CURE 131 COLD WATER CURE.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Covered and swaddled with clothes, in our darkness we do not see that if the corrupt and dirty matter from daily insensible perspiration, or from sensible sweating, is not carefully cleared from the skin by washing, it must increase and attach itself to the skin, close the pores, and obstruct the excretion so indispensable to health, and must inevitably, from such evil tendency, at last produce disease. We relax and debilitate the skin, by dressing so warmly during the day, and sleeping on feather beds at night, or by washing ourselves with warm water. The Cold Bath. — Do not bathe soon after walking. During the bathing immerse the head several times in cold water. Keep in motion during the time. Priessnitz advises his patients to avoid the second sensation of cold, which is a sort of fever, by leaving the bath before it is felt, that they may avoid a too powerful re-action, provoked by a great subtraction of heat. Take a glass or two of water immediately after the bath. The Douche Bath is very efficacious in extracting the morbid humours from all the parts they have seized upon for years. In long continual complaints the douche is a most powerful remedial agent. It removes the weakness of the skin, and strengthens it. It renders the body hardy, and fortifies it to endure all changes of the air. It powerfully excites the muscular and nervous systems. The Douche Bath is a stream of falling water as thick as the wrist, and permitted to fall on the diseased parts of the body, which it benefits and strengthens. The water should fall from 12 to 18 feet. The Eye Bath is a glass instrument made to fit the eye, so as to apply cold water, the eye being opened at the same time. The Finger Bath is used for Whitlows, &c. Place the finger in a glass of water, four times a-day for a quarter of an hour each time ; and the elbow in water twice a-day, and put on a heating bandage above the elbow, to draw the inflammation from the hand. The Foot Bath is used when the doctor would order warm baths. Thus headaches, toothaches, eye-inflammation, and a flow of blood to the head, are always relieved by the foot-bath, with the addition of wet bandages on the parts affected. But the foot-tub should not contain more than from two to four inches depth of water, just enough to cover the foot, not the ancles ; for toothache an inch is enough, and the time from 15 to 30 minutes. For sprains the water must be up to the ancles. The water to be changed as soon as it feels warm. Afterwards apply friction, or walk out, to restore the warmth. Dr. Graham says, "1 can recommend the foot-bath, with confidence, in determination of blood to the head, in headache, in affecuons of the eyes, and in habitual coldness of the feet.” The Head Bath is a vessel with a few inches of water for bathing the back part of the head, to cure its rheumatic pains, common headaches, rheumatic inflammation of the eyes, deafness, loss 0! appedte, delirium tremens, giddiness of the head, and to prevent apoplexy. It often causes bad morbific matter to exude from behind the ears. The Sitz or Sitting Bath is a small shallow tub iS inches in diameter, with water 3 or 4 inches deep, in which the patient sits, with his feet on the ground, for 15 minutes or more, twice COLD WATER CURE 131 COLD WATER CURE.

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