Chapter I: Part 1

THE
USES OF WATER
—IN—
=Health and Disease.=
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE BATH, ITS HISTORY AND USES.

BY J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.

PUBLISHED AT
THE OFFICE OF THE HEALTH REFORMER,
BATTLE CREEK, MICH.

1876.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876,
BY J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

Since the announcement of the alleged discovery of Priessnitz, about fifty years ago, there has been no scarcity of books upon “Hydropathy,” “Water Cure,” and kindred topics. With rare exceptions, these works have been, in reality, little better than advertising mediums for some individual or institution. As might be expected in works prepared for such purposes, they have contained numerous and flagrant exaggerations of the effects of water as a remedial agent, often representing it as a specific for certain maladies and a sure preventive of others. These extravagant accounts, together with various absurd teachings relating to methods of application, have rendered just the popular verdict indicated by the fact that the dingy shelves of nearly every second-hand book store in New York and Philadelphia, as well as other large cities, are laden with these musty old volumes which rest beneath the accumulated dust of years.

The objects of this work may be briefly summarized as follows:—

1. To present a careful and candid account of the nature of water and its physiological effects.

2. To explain the effects of water when used as a remedy for disease, and to demonstrate its value as a remedial agent.

3. To show that the employment of water in the treatment of disease has been practiced by the most eminent physicians of all ages, and is not a modern discovery.

4. To expose those absurd and erroneous practices which have brought the use of water as a remedy into disrepute, and have thus deterred scientific physicians from adopting it.

5. To provide a convenient manual of the various methods of applying water.

The reader will observe that water is not presented as a panacea. Its use is not advocated as a specialty. It is only recommended as one of the many potent agencies which may be successfully employed in the treatment of the numerous ills to which humanity is subject—a remedy which has been abused by quacks and tyros and disgraced by fanatics, but which still urges a just claim to the attention and consideration of all candid persons.

J. H. K.

BATTLE CREEK, MICH., SEPT., 1876.

]

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
=PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER=, 9
Chemical Composition, 9
Physical Properties, 10
Pure Water, 11
Hard Water, 12
Mineral Water, 12
Magnetic Water, 13
=HYGIENIC RELATIONS OF WATER=, 15
Structure of the Skin, 15
The True Skin, 15
The Cuticle, or Epidermis, 16
The Sweat Glands, 17
The Mucous Membranes, 17
Functions of the Skin, 18
Functions of the Mucous Membranes, 20
The Hygienic Value of Water, 21
Thirst, 22
Regulation of Temperature by Evaporation, 24
Depuration, 25
Cleanliness, 25
How to Make the Skin Healthy, 27
Bathing Protects against Colds, 28
Aristocratic Vermin, 29
Prevention of Disease, 31
Modern Neglect of the Bath, 32
Bathing a Natural Instinct, 33
=PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF WATER=, 35
Water as a Diluent, 35
Effects of Solvent Properties of Water, 36
Vital Changes Increased by Water, 36
Effects Resulting from the Modification of Temperature, 38
The Cold Bath, 38
Effect of Cold upon the Pulse, 40
Effect of Cold upon Bodily Temperature, 40
Rationale of Effects of the Cold Bath, 41
The Hot Bath, 43
Rationale of Effects of the Hot Bath, 44
The Warm Bath, 46
Sympathetic Effects of Baths, 47
Modes of Administration of the Bath, 48
=HISTORY OF WATER CURE=, 49
The Bath in Egypt, 49
Bathing among the Jews, 50
Persian Baths, 50
The Bath among the Greeks, 50
Roman Baths, 51
Testimony of Arabian Physicians, 53
Modern Bathing Customs, 53
Modern Medical Use of Water, 55
=REMEDIAL PROPERTIES=, 59
Refrigerant Effects of Water, 59
Sedative Effects of Water, 60
Tonic Effects of Water, 60
Anodyne Effects of Water, 60
Antispasmodic Effects of Water, 61
Astringent Effects of Water, 61
Laxative Effects of Water, 61
Emetic Effects of Water, 61
Eliminative Effects of Water, 61
Alterative Effects of Water, 61
Derivative Effects of Water, 62
Testimony of Eminent Physicians, 62–70
=ERRORS IN WATER CURE=, 71
Cold Water Doctors, 71
Heroic Treatment, 72
Crisis, 74
Hydropathic Quacks, 75
Ignorance among Hydropathists, 75
A Popular Error, 76
Absurd Claims, 77
Neglect of Other Remedies, 78
Rational Hydropathy, 78
=APPLICATIONS OF WATER=, 79
Equalization of Circulation, 79
Regulation of Temperature, 80
Removal of Pain, 81
To Excite Activity, 81
Removal of Obstructions, 82
Dilution of the Blood, 82
Influence on the Nervous System, 82
Temperature of Baths, 83
How to Determine the Temperature of a Bath without a
Thermometer, 85
Rules for Bathing, 87–94
General Baths, 94
Swimming, 95
Plunge Bath, 95
Sponge Bath, 96
Rubbing Wet-Sheet, 98
Wet-Sheet Pack, 101
Shower Pack, 105
Dry Sheet Pack, 107
Full Bath, 107
Half Bath, 109
Shallow Bath, 109
Standing Shallow, 110
Affusion, 111
Pail Douche, 111
Cataract Douche, 112
Hose Douche, 113
Shower Bath, 113
Spray Bath, 114
Local Baths, 115
Sitz Bath, 116
Leg Bath, 118
Foot Bath, 118
Half Pack, 119
Chest Pack, 120
Leg Pack, 120
Chest Wrapper, 121
Wet Girdle, 122
Ascending Douche, 123
Drop Bath, 123
Arm Bath, 124
Head Bath, 124
Eye Bath, 125
Ear Bath, 127
Nose Bath, 127
Compresses, 128
Fomentations, 131
Refrigerant Applications, 133
Miscellaneous Baths, 136
Vapor Bath, 136
Russian Bath, 138
Hot-Air Bath, 139
Turkish Bath, 140
Electric Bath, 141
Electro-Vapor Bath, 143
Dry Rubbing-Sheet, 143
Dry Hand-Rubbing, 144
Air Bath, 144
Sun Bath, 145
Sea-Bathing, 146
Medicated Baths, 147
Oil Bath, 147
Novel Baths, 149
Mud Bath, 149
Earth Bath, 149
Enema, 149
Water Emetic, 151
Dry Hot Applications, 151
Water-Drinking, 153
How to Make a Filter, 154

IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.

Water is one of the most abundant elements in nature. As rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans, it covers three-fourths of the earth’s surface. It even enters largely into the formation of the solid rocks. The clearest and purest air contains it in large quantities as an invisible gas; while in clouds, fogs, and mists, it appears in the form of minute drops.

Water also forms a very considerable part of all vegetable productions, and constitutes about _three-fourths_ of the human body, as well as other animal tissues. The blood and the brain are each about four-fifths water, while the fluid secretions and excretions contain more than nine-tenths of their weight of this limpid fluid.

=Chemical Composition.=—The chemist designates water as hydrogen oxide, and represents it by the chemical formula, H_{2}O, which signifies that it is composed of the two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportion of two volumes of the former to one of the latter. Both of these gases are colorless, transparent, tasteless, and odorless. Hydrogen is the lightest gas known; oxygen is the great supporter of combustion and animal life and heat. Water is produced by the burning, or oxidation, of hydrogen, a process attended with very little light, but most intense heat. The two gases are explosive when mixed.

=Physical Properties.=—Water exists in three states; viz., as a solid, in the form of ice; as a liquid, its most common form; and as a vapor, in the form of steam. When in the last condition, the gaseous, it is invisible. That to which the term steam is very commonly applied, is not steam, but water in a state of fine division, or mist.

Below 32° F., pure water exists in the form of ice. Between 32° and 212°, it is a liquid. At 212°, it is converted into vapor. Water also slowly evaporates at all temperatures below 212°, being absorbed and held in solution by the air.

Water possesses the greatest specific heat of any substance. By specific heat is meant the actual amount of heat required to elevate its temperature a given number of degrees. For example, it requires ten times as much heat to raise a pound of water 1° in temperature as to elevate a pound of copper 1° in temperature. To raise the temperature of a pound of lead 1°, requires only one-thirtieth as much heat as to produce the same effect upon a pound of water. Water absorbs more heat by elevation of temperature than any other substance. In passing from the solid to the liquid state, it absorbs a vast amount of heat without any elevation of temperature. The same thing occurs in the conversion of water into steam or vapor by evaporation. In the evaporation of one pound of water, as much heat is absorbed, or rendered latent, as would suffice to raise nearly a thousand pounds of water one degree in temperature. This heat is abstracted from surrounding objects; and, hence, evaporation is one of the most powerful means of producing cold. The effect is the same, no matter what the temperature at which evaporation occurs.

Water is not the best conductor of heat, but it conducts much more readily than air, and readily communicates its heat to bodies with which it comes in contact, also abstracting heat when of a lower temperature, when changing from a solid to a liquid state, or from the liquid to the gaseous condition.

One of the most useful properties of water is its power to dissolve numerous substances, its solvent properties being nearly universal. To this property it owes its value as a cleansing agent.

=Pure Water.=—Absolutely pure water is not found in nature. Rain water is the nearest approach to it; but even this gathers impurities of various sorts as it falls through the air, and often becomes very unwholesome by the absorption of foul gases and the collection of dust in this way. For any use connected with the human body, the purest water is always preferable to any other. Filtered rain water and distilled water are the purest forms of water attainable.

=Hard Water.=—Water is said to be hard when it will not produce a good lather with soap, but forms curds instead. Hardness is due to the presence of earthy salts in the water; salts of lime—chalk and gypsum—are the most common. Ten grains per gallon of any of these salts is sufficient to render water hard and unfit for use, though some waters furnished to cities for general use contain from 70 to 160 grains per gallon of solid matter. Hard water is unfit for cleansing purposes because its mineral ingredients form insoluble compounds with fatty substances. When mixed with soap, the lime or other mineral takes the place of the soda or potash in the soap, and forms an insoluble curd, instead of a lather.

=Mineral Water.=—Water containing in solution salts of iron, magnesia, or other metallic elements, as well as sulphur, arsenic, iodine, or any compound of these or other elements which are capable of imparting a nauseous or saline taste, an unpleasant odor, or medicinal properties, has been much employed for the cure of all sorts of chronic ailments. Such waters are totally unfit for general use for drinking or cooking purposes, and certainly possess no particular advantages as cleansing agents. Whether they are useful as medicines is a medical question which we do not purpose to consider here; but one would naturally suppose that water which is unfit to cleanse the outside of the body could not be of very great utility as an internal application.

=Magnetic Water.=—Within the last few years, the scientific world has been startled with the alleged discovery of “magnetic wells” and “magnetic springs” in various parts of the country. The claim has been made and stoutly defended by interested parties that the water furnished from these sources is magnetic in character, and possesses wonderful healing virtues on that account. The truth in the matter, when viewed in the light of science, seems to be that the water of these much-lauded wells is no more magnetic than any other water; the magnetic phenomena are all explicable by well-known laws of physics, without attaching to the water any magnetic properties. A close examination shows that the iron pipe through which the water passes is the only magnetic object. The supposition that the pipe derives its magnetism from the water is both unnecessary and illogical. In the first place, any iron pipe or rod placed vertical in the ground—or, better, placed parallel to the earth’s axis—will spontaneously become magnetic. The production of magnetism is greatly favored by the friction of flowing water, and by jarring, as beating with a hammer. In the second place, the water possesses no magnetism to impart. In view of these facts, the conclusion is inevitable that so-called magnetic water has no existence except in the minds of certain persons whose credulity greatly exceeds their scientific knowledge.

“Magnetic” wells and springs are ingenious humbugs. Thousands of people are duped by them. Hundreds are benefited by getting well washed, and by enjoying recreation and pleasant social surroundings. The curative effects are attributed to the imaginary magnetism, while other more tangible agents are the real means of cure.

HYGIENIC RELATIONS OF WATER.

In order to be able to appreciate the value of water as a means of preserving health, it is necessary to understand something of the structure and functions of those portions of the body to which it is directly applied; viz., the skin, externally, and the mucous membrane, in the interior of the body.

STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN.

The skin is composed of two principal layers; a thin outer layer, called the epidermis, cuticle, or scarf skin, and a deeper structure, the true skin, or dermis. We will describe the latter first.

=The True Skin.=—This structure covers the entire surface of the body. It varies in thickness according to its location, being thickest upon the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands, the back, and the outer portions of the thighs. Its basis is a dense network of elastic fibers, among which are intricately mingled minute blood-vessels, nerve fibers, and lymphatic or absorbent vessels. These are most numerous near the upper surface, and are arranged in loops upon little elevations called papillæ. In the palms of the hands and upon the soles of the feet these papillæ are disposed in rows with so much regularity as to give to those parts a minutely furrowed appearance.

The skin also contains little sacs, or follicles, in which the hairs originate. In its deeper portions are found two kinds of glands; sebaceous glands for the secretion of sebaceous or fatty matter to lubricate the skin, and the perspiratory or sweat glands, the latter of which will receive a more definite description shortly.

=The Cuticle, or Epidermis.=—At the upper portion of the true skin, new cells are being constantly formed, which become old in a short time and are pressed outward by the formation beneath them of other new cells. The old cells become shriveled and flattened as they grow older, and by a continuation of the process described, numerous layers of cells are formed upon the surface of the true skin, the lowest of which is composed of newly formed cells, while the uppermost one is made up of dessicated cells having more the appearance of horny scales than of cells. These several layers constitute the epidermis, or outer skin. It is totally devoid of sensibility, and has no blood-vessels. It is, in fact, dead, and is useful only as a protection to living parts beneath.

Scattered among the cells of the epidermis are colored cells, which give to the skin its proper color. In the Caucasian race, these cells are few; in the negro, they are abundant; while in the albino, they are wholly absent.

=The Sweat Glands.=—A close examination of the little ridges found upon the palms of the hands, by the aid of a small magnifying glass, will reveal what appear to be fine transverse lines crossing the ridges at short intervals. A still closer inspection shows that the apparent lines are really minute openings, guarded by delicate valves. These are the mouths of the perspiratory ducts, which convey to the surface the product of the sweat glands. The gland itself is merely a coiled tube, already described as situated deep down in the true skin, and is surrounded with a network of blood-vessels. The duct is simply a continuation of the same tube upward through the cuticle to the surface. It passes out upon the surface of the skin obliquely, thus leaving a small portion of the cuticle overlapping its orifice, forming a sort of valve.

The number of these delicate glands is enormous. It has been carefully estimated to be about 2,300,000 in a single individual. The length of each is about one-fifteenth of an inch, making their aggregate length about two and one-half miles.

=The Mucous Membranes.=—All cavities in the body which communicate with the surface by openings are lined with a membrane which is called mucous, from the character of its secretion. The mucous membranes are continuous with the skin at the natural openings of the body, and very closely resemble it in structure, being formed of several layers, like the skin, and having a superficial portion made up of layers formed by the deeper tissues. Mucous membrane forms the lining of the air-passages and lungs, of the whole alimentary canal, and of the urinal and genital organs. Its extent in the lungs alone has been estimated by scientists at 1400 square feet, or more than seventeen times the whole extent of the skin.

=Functions of the Skin.=—The skin performs a number of very important offices for the body. Perhaps the most important is that of excretion. Each of its millions of sweat glands is actively and constantly engaged in separating from the blood impurities which would destroy life if retained. These foul products are poured out through a corresponding number of minute sewers, and deposited upon the surface of the body to the amount of several ounces each day, or several pounds, if the whole perspiration be included in the estimate, as is commonly done.

The skin is also an organ of respiration; it absorbs oxygen, and exhales carbonic acid gas, with other poisonous gases. The amount of respiratory labor performed by the skin is about one-sixtieth of that done by the lungs. In some of the lower animals, the whole work of respiration is performed by the skin. In the common frog, the respiratory action of the skin and of the lungs is about equal.

Another important office of the cutaneous tissue is absorption. The absorption of oxygen has been already referred to; but it absorbs liquids as well as gases, and to a much greater extent. By immersion in a warm bath for some time, the weight of the body may be very considerably increased. Dr. Watson, an English physician of note, reports the case of a boy whose weight increased nine pounds in twenty-four hours solely by cutaneous absorption of moisture from the air. This extraordinary action was occasioned by disease. Seamen, when deprived of fresh water, quench their thirst by wetting their clothing with sea-water, the aqueous portion of which is absorbed by the skin. The lymphatic vessels are believed to be the principal agents in absorption.

Another remarkable function of the skin is the regulation of temperature. By its density and non-conducting property it prevents the escape of necessary heat to a considerable degree. But when the amount of heat generated in the body becomes excessive, either from abnormal vital activities, or by exposure to external heat, the skin relieves the suffering tissues by favoring the escape of heat. This desirable end is attained through the evaporation of the moisture poured out upon the surface by the perspiratory glands.

It has been estimated that the evaporation of water from the cutaneous surface and the mucous membrane of the lungs occasions the loss each minute of sufficient heat to raise a pint of water 100° F. in temperature. This is certainly a powerful cooling process.

Lastly, we mention as a further function of the skin, and one which is not the least in importance, its utility as a sensitive surface. It is a well-established physiological fact that the mind is only a reflection of impressions received from without, or at least that its character is largely determined by the nature of the impressions made upon its organs of sensibility. The skin is the organ of touch, and the various modifications of tactile sensibility. It is the most extensive organ of sensibility in the body, and is very closely connected with all the great nerve centers, so that it is perhaps the most efficient means through which to affect the general nervous system. Its intimate sympathy with internal organs is shown in a great number of diseases in which this organ evidently suffers on account of disability of some other one.

=Functions of the Mucous Membranes.=—The functions of the mucous membranes are strictly analogous to those of the skin. Like the latter organ, a mucous membrane excretes and absorbs. It eliminates foul matters, and absorbs useful substances in a fluid state.

The importance of the functions of the skin is shown by the fact that a person quickly dies when its action is interrupted. A coat of varnish or caoutchouc, applied over the whole skin, will kill a man almost as quickly as a fatal dose of strychnia. In experiments upon animals, horses, dogs, and other animals have been killed by obstructing the action of the skin by some similar means. A little boy was once killed by covering him with gold leaf to make him represent an angel at a great celebration.

The offensive odor of the perspiration, and the characteristic smell of the sweat-soiled underclothing of a tobacco user, are facts which well attest the value of the cutaneous functions in removing impurities from the body.

We are now prepared to consider, understandingly,—

=The Hygienic Value of Water.=—If we except pure air, it may safely be said that no other element in nature sustains so important relations to the living system as does pure water. An individual will live much longer on water alone, than if deprived of drink. Water constitutes a large proportion of all our food, varying, in grains and vegetables, from fifteen to more than ninety per cent. If the water thus contained in solid food were wholly removed, an individual would doubtless be enabled to subsist longer on water only than on solid food so treated. Though water undergoes no change in the body, and hence takes no part in the development of force, it is absolutely essential to the performance of the vital functions, being necessary to enable the various organs to perform their offices in the maintenance of the vital activities.

The circulatory system is especially dependent upon this element. Water is the menstruum which floats the blood corpuscles and the varied nutritive and excrementitious elements which form the blood. By its aid, the nutrient particles destined to enter into the structure of the body are conveyed to the most minute and remote fiber of the intricate human mechanism where repair or growth is demanded. No other element in nature is so well suited to this exact purpose as water. It is so limpid and mobile that it can circulate through the most delicate capillaries without friction, and can even find its way, by osmosis, into parts inaccessible by openings.

=Thirst.=—Water is continually passing away from the body. The dry air entering the lungs by respiration absorbs it from the moist surface of the pulmonary membranes. A large portion is lost by evaporation from the skin, upon which it is poured out by millions of little sewers, the perspiratory ducts, for the purpose of washing away impurities from the system. The kidneys remove a considerable quantity, with poisonous excrementitious elements in solution. Through still other channels water is removed, aggregating, in all, the amount of five pints in twenty-four hours in the average individual. This loss must be made good, in order to preserve the requisite fluidity of the blood; and nature expresses the demand for water by thirst.

Some people rarely drink liquid of any kind. Others consume several pints in a day. The nature of an individual’s occupation will in a measure determine the amount of drink required. Stokers, glass-blowers, and others whose vocation necessitates profuse perspiration, require more water than others. It will be noticed, moreover, that the character of the diet has much to do with the demand for drink. Those who subsist mostly upon fruits and grains, and other vegetable productions, avoiding the use of stimulating and irritating condiments, require little or no addition to the juices contained in their food. Those who pursue an opposite course in dietetics, using largely animal food, salt, pepper, spices, and other condiments, and perhaps taking a little wine or something stronger for their stomach’s sake, are under the necessity of taking considerable quantities of fluid in addition to that provided by their food.

Water is the only substance which will quench thirst. Beverages which contain other substances are useful as drinks just in proportion to the amount of water which they contain, and are unwholesome just in proportion as the added elements are injurious.

=Regulation of Temperature.=—The evaporation of water from the surface of the human body is one of the most admirable adaptations of means to ends exhibited in animal life. All of the vital activities in constant operation in the body occasion the production of heat. Sometimes the amount of heat is greater than is needed, and so great as would destroy the vitality of certain tissues if it were not speedily conducted away. By evaporation of water from the skin, this is accomplished. When external heat is great, perspiration is more active than when it is less, and thus the temperature of the body is maintained at about 100° F. under all circumstances. By this wonderful provision of nature, man is enabled to exist under the great extremes of heat and cold presented in the frigid regions at the poles and the torrid climate of the equator. By the aid of clothing, human beings have survived a continued temperature of 60° to 100° below zero; and, by the protective influence of evaporation, an average of 100° above zero has been endured in tropical climes. For short periods, so great a degree of heat as 350° F., or even 600° has been borne with impunity in exceptional instances. In these cases the extreme heat which would otherwise reduce the body to a cinder in a few moments is rapidly conducted away by evaporation without occasioning any damage.

=Depuration.=—Every thought, every movement, the most delicate vital action, occasions the destruction of a portion of the living tissues, which is thus converted into dead matter, and becomes poisonous. Many kinds of poisonous substances are produced within the body in this way. Some of them are very deadly, and must be hurried out of the system with great rapidity, as _urea_ and _cholesterine_. Here the marvelous utility of water is again displayed. It dissolves these poisons wherever it comes in contact with them, and then as it is brought by the current of the circulation to the proper organs—the kidneys, liver, skin, lungs, and other emunctories—it is expelled from the body, still holding in solution the animal poisons which are so rapidly fatal if retained.

=Cleanliness.=—The skin is one of the most important depurating organs of the whole body. From each of its millions of pores constantly flows a stream laden with the poisonous products of disintegration. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind these non-volatile poisons, which are deposited as a thin film over the whole surface of the skin. As each day passes, the process continues, and the film thickens. If the skin is moderately active, three or four days suffice to form a layer which may be compared to a thin coating of varnish or sizing. The accumulation continues to increase, unless removed, and soon undergoes further processes of decomposition. It putrefies, rots, in fact, and develops an odor characteristic and quite too familiar, though anything but pleasant, being at once foul, fetid, putrid, pungent, uncleanly, and unpardonable.

But the offense to the nose is not the extent of the evil. The unclean accumulation chokes the mouths of the million little sewers which should be engaged in eliminating these poisons, and thus obstructs their work. Being retained in contact with the skin, some portions are reabsorbed, together with the results of advancing decay, thus repoisoning the system, and necessitating their elimination a second time.

Here water serves a most useful end if properly applied. It is unexcelled as a detergent, and by frequent application to the skin will keep it wholly free from the foul matters described. The necessity for frequent ablutions is well shown by the fact that nearly two pounds of a poison-laden solution, the perspiration, is daily spread upon the surface of the body. It is not an uncommon occurrence to meet with people who have never taken a general bath in their lives. Imagine, if possible, the condition of a man’s skin, at the age of seventy or eighty years, which has never once felt the cleansing effects of a thorough bath!

One of the most serious effects of this accumulation of filth is the clogging of the perspiratory ducts. Their valve-like orifices become obstructed very easily, and depuration is then impossible. It is not wonderful that so many people have torpid skins. The remedy is obvious, and always available.

=How to Make the Skin Healthy.=—A man who has a perfectly healthy skin is nearly certain to be healthy in other respects. In no way can the health of the skin be preserved but by frequent bathing. A daily or tri-weekly bath, accompanied by friction, will keep the skin clean, supple, and vigorous. There is no reason why the whole surface of the body should not be washed as well as the face and hands. The addition of a little soap is necessary to remove the oily secretion deposited upon the skin.

A lady of fashion, in enumerating the means for preserving beauty, says: “Cleanliness, my last recipe (and which is applicable to all ages), is of most powerful efficacy. It maintains the limbs in their pliancy, the skin in its softness, the complexion in its luster, the eyes in their brightness, the teeth in their purity, and the constitution in its fairest vigor. To promote cleanliness, I can recommend nothing preferable to bathing. The frequent use of tepid baths is not more grateful to the sense than it is salutary to the health and to beauty.... By such means, the women of the East render their skins softer than that of the tenderest babe in this climate.” “I strongly recommend to every lady to make a bath as indispensable an article in her house as a looking-glass.”

When the foul matters which ought to be eliminated by the skin and quickly removed from the body are allowed to remain unremoved, the skin becomes clogged and inactive, soon loses its natural luster and color, becoming dead, dark, and unattractive. When bathing is so much neglected, it is no marvel that paints, powders, lotions, and cosmetics of all sorts, are in such great demand. A daily bath, at the proper temperature, is the most agreeable and efficient of all cosmetics.

=Bathing Protects against Colds.=—It is an erroneous notion that bathing renders a person more liable to “take cold, by opening the pores.” Colds are produced by disturbance of the circulation, and not by opening or closing the pores of the skin. Frequent bathing increases the activity of the circulation in the skin, so that a person is far less subject to chilliness and to taking cold. An individual who takes a daily bath has almost perfect immunity from colds, and is little susceptible to changes of temperature. Colds are sometimes taken after bathing, but this results from some neglect of the proper precautions necessary to prevent such an occurrence, which are carefully stated elsewhere in this work.

=Aristocratic Vermin.=—Doubtless, not a few of those very refined and fastidious people who spend many hours in the application of all sorts of lotions and other compounds to the face and hands, for the purpose of beautifying those portions of the skin exposed to view—while neglecting as persistently those parts of the skin protected from observation—would be very much surprised to learn the true condition of the unwashed portions of their cutaneous covering. They instinctively shrink with disgust from the sight of a vermin-covered beggar, in whose cuticle burrows the _acarus scabiei_ (itch-mite), while troops of larger insects are racing through his tangled locks and nibbling at his scaly scalp. It is quite possible that many a fair “unwashed” would faint with fright if apprized of the fact that her own precious covering is the home of whole herds of horrid looking parasites which so nearly resemble the itch-mite as to be at least very near relatives, perhaps half-brothers or cousins. The name of this inhabitant of skins unwashed is as formidable as the aspect of the creature, though it does not require a microscope to display its proportions, as does the latter; scientists call it _demodex folliculorum_.

The _demodex_ makes himself at home in the sebaceous follicles, where he dwells with his family. Here the female lays her eggs and rears her numerous progeny, undisturbed by the frictions of any flesh-brush, and only suffering a very transient deluge at very long intervals, if such a casualty ever happens. In studying the structure of these little parasites, we have found several tenants occupying a single follicle, pursuing their domestic operations quite unmolested by any external disturbance.

The _demodex_ has been transplanted from the human subject to the dog; and it is found that the new colony thrives very remarkably, and soon produces a disease apparently identical with that known as “mange.”

We have not space to describe in detail these savage little brutes, with their eight legs, armed with sharp claws, bristling heads, sharp lancets for puncturing and burrowing into the skin, and their powerful suckers for drawing the blood of their victims. We only care to impress upon the mind of the reader the fact that neglect of bathing and friction of the skin is sure to encourage the presence of millions of these parasites, and that the only remedy is scrupulous cleanliness of the whole person. Like their relatives, the itch-mite, they do not thrive under hydropathic treatment, and are very averse to soap and water. The best way to get rid of them is to drown them out. They do not produce the irritation which characterizes the presence of the itch insect, so that this evidence of their presence is wanting. But they are sure to be present in a torpid, unhealthy, unwashed skin, no matter how delicate or fastidious its possessor.

=Prevention of Disease.=—Neglecting to keep the skin active and vigorous by frequent ablutions is one of the most prolific causes of nearly all varieties of skin diseases, which are too often aggravated by gross dietetic habits. The relation between the cutaneous function and that of the kidneys is so intimate that neglect of the kind mentioned, resulting as it must in obstruction of function, is a very common cause of most dangerous disorders of the renal organs. Inactivity of the skin is also very commonly associated with dyspepsia, with rheumatism, gout, hysteria, and other nervous derangements. It is also a not uncommon cause of bronchial and pulmonary affections. It is quite evident, then, that the proper and most efficient means of preventing these diseases is to maintain the functional vigor of the skin by the proper application of water.

The value of water as a prophylactic, or preventive, of disease, was recognized by the ancients, and the bath was employed by them to an extent which has never been equaled in modern times. The great Hebrew lawgiver, Moses, enjoined upon his followers the most scrupulous cleanliness, making bathing a part of their religious duties. His example was followed by the ingenious founder of Mohammedanism, who required his disciples to bathe before each of their five daily prayers. Among the Greeks, and especially the temperate Spartans, the bath was regarded as one of the most essential means of securing physical health. Daily ablutions were practiced by them, every person participating in the bath, from the newborn babe to the oldest inhabitant. The Romans cultivated bathing to a remarkable extent, making it a luxury rather than the dreaded penance which many moderns seem to regard it.

=Modern Neglect of the Bath.=—The most celebrated physicians, from Hippocrates down to Galen, Celsus, Boerhaave, and a host of more modern physicians, have agreed in eulogizing the bath as an invaluable means for preserving the health. Notwithstanding this fact, it seems that as civilization and enlightenment have advanced, the importance of the bath has been increasingly disregarded. The magnificent public baths of the Romans were neglected as that empire declined, until they were finally destroyed. Michelet, a historian of some note, tells us that for a thousand years during the Dark Ages the bath was unknown in Europe. This fact alone is in his opinion sufficient to account for the terrible plagues and pestilences of that period. A modern writer declares that in Spain the religious instincts of the people have become so perverted that it is considered sacrilege for a woman to bathe more than once in her life, which is upon the eve of her marriage. In more enlightened countries, it is to be hoped that the condition of the feminine cuticle is not quite so bad as this; but another writer, an Englishman, asserts that a large proportion of his countrymen “never submitted themselves to an entire personal ablution in their lives, and many an octogenarian has sunk into his grave with the accumulated dirt of eighty years upon his skin.” American customs in this respect are not much better than the English; but it is gratifying to know that a very perceptible improvement is becoming evident in both countries. Our intercourse with Oriental nations and barbarians has taught us wholesome lessons in the care of the person. There is scarcely a savage tribe to be found in the deepest jungles of tropical Africa the members of which do not pay more attention to the preservation of a clean and healthy skin than the average American or Englishman.

=Bathing a Natural Instinct.=—All nature attests the importance of the bath. The rain is a natural shower bath in which all vegetation participates, and gains refreshment. Its invigorating influence is seen in the brighter appearance, more erect bearing, and fresher colors, of all plants after a gentle rain. The flowers manifest their gratitude by exhaling in greater abundance their fragrant odors. Dumb animals do not neglect their morning bath. Who has not seen the robin skimming along the surface of the lake or stream, dipping its wings in the cool waters, and laving its plumage with the crystal drops which its flapping pinions send glittering into the air? No school boy who has ever seen the elephant drink will forget how the huge beast improved the opportunity to treat himself to a shower bath, and perhaps the spectators as well, for he is very generous in his use of water.

If man’s instincts were not rendered obtuse by the perverted habits of civilization, he would value the bath as highly and employ it as freely as his more humble fellow-creatures, whose instinctive impulses have remained more true to nature, because they have not possessed that degree of intelligence which would make it possible for them to become so grossly perverted as have the members of the human race. Man goes astray from nature not because he is deficient in instinct, but because he stifles the promptings of his better nature for the purpose of gratifying his propensities.

PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS.

Some of the relations of water to the living system have been considered in the preceding section. In the present connection we shall consider chiefly those effects resulting from the application of water to the human body in various ways which give to it its value as a remedial agent, though its therapeutical applications will be deferred to succeeding sections.

The effects of water upon the human system are the results of the operation of its physical properties in conjunction with the vital forces. As with all other agents, its effects may be either local, or general, according to the mode of application. Different effects are also produced according as the administration is internal or external. Many other modifying circumstances, as age, sex, and physical condition, affect the results in a greater or lesser degree.

Water affects the system through three different means; viz.:—

1. As a diluent;

2. By its solvent properties;

3. By modifying the general or local temperature of the body.

=1. Water as a Diluent.=—Water is received into the system by absorption, either through a mucous membrane, or through the skin. It usually enters through the medium of the stomach and intestinal canal. When received into the blood, it of course increases its volume, and produces an increased fullness of the circulatory vessels, which are never distended to their fullest extent, and hence allow room for change in the volume of their contents. The blood is necessarily rendered more fluid, and if previously in any degree viscid, its circulation is quickened by its dilution.

=2. The Effects of the Solvent Properties of Water.=—With the exception of air, water is the most transient of all the elements received into the body. It is eliminated by the skin, the lungs, the kidneys, and the intestines. By its solvent action, it dissolves the various poisonous products of the disintegration of the tissues. The volume of the blood being increased, more water comes in contact with the debris contained in any part, and, in consequence, the same undesirable products are more perfectly removed. The increased amount of excrementitious matter in solution is brought in contact with the various depurating organs, producing, notably, the following results:—

a. _An increase of the urinary excretion._ It is an important fact that this increase does not consist in the addition of water merely, or dilution, but that there is also an increased amount of _urea_, the chief excrementitious principle removed from the blood by the kidneys.

b. _An increase in the cutaneous excretion._ Water-drinking is one of the most efficient means of producing copious perspiration, which, as with the urinary excretion, is not a mere elimination of water, but is a real depurating process.

c. _Increased action of the intestinal mucous membrane._ Elimination from the mucous membrane of the intestinal track, which is an important organ of excretion, is also increased by drinking freely of pure water. The result of this increased action is not only to remove from the blood some of its foulest constituents, but to render more fluid the contents of the intestines, and thus tend to obviate that almost universal accompaniment of sedentary habits, constipation.

The removal of clogging matters from the system in this manner allows greater freedom of vital action, so that the activities of the body are quickened, and both waste and repair, disintegration and assimilation, are accelerated.

The use of water thus hastens all the vital processes by increasing the change of tissue. This result is of course chiefly obtained by employing it as a drink. The experiments of Liebig fully confirm this view. He expressly mentions the free use of water as one of the means of accelerating vital change. Prof. John B. Biddle, M. D., in his “Materia Medica,” states that “it promotes both the metamorphosis and construction of tissue,” from which fact he attributes to it valuable curative properties, as an alterative, when the removal of a morbid taint is desired, as in certain venereal diseases.

=3. Effects resulting from the Modification of Temperature.=—Perhaps the most important, certainly the most common, effects of water upon the living organism are those which result from its modifications of the temperature of the body in its various modes of application. These effects vary greatly according to the temperature, and the duration of the application. General and local applications also differ in their results.

It should be remarked that all of the effects of water are really the results of the vital resistance of the system in its attempts to remove abnormal or unusual conditions, or to accommodate itself to new circumstances.

Baths are divided into six classes, according to their temperature, as follows:—

1. Cold, 33° to 60° F.
2. Cool, 60° „ 70°
3. Temperate, 70° „ 85°
4. Tepid, 85° „ 92°
5. Warm, 92° „ 98°
6. Hot, 98° „ 112°

For the sake of simplicity, we will consider the effects of water applications under three heads; viz., cold, warm, and hot.

_The Cold Bath._—Under this head we will consider applications of all temperatures below 85° F. Cold or cool water, applied to any portion of the body, causes instant contraction of the small arteries of the part, through its influence upon the sympathetic or vasomotor system of nerves. So long as the application of the unusual temperature is continued, the vascular contraction is maintained, and the part seems nearly bloodless. If the cold is below 33° F., and is long continued, destruction of the tissues, by freezing, will result.

If a moderately cool or cold temperature is maintained for some time, the blood-vessels of the part are more or less permanently contracted, and the blood supply thus lessened. If, on the other hand, the application is very brief, the contraction of the vessels is only momentary, and is followed by a proportionate degree of relaxation, and a corresponding increase in the supply of blood to the part.

A very cold bath applied to any considerable portion of the body, and continued more than a very brief time, produces headache, dullness, sometimes nausea and vomiting, loss of sensibility, and other unpleasant and painful symptoms.

It is thus seen that the effects of cold are quite different—exactly opposite, in fact—as the application is a prolonged, or a brief one. The long application produces effects in some degree permanently sedative, while the brief application is followed by a momentary condition which may be termed shock, and which is usually followed very quickly by a reaction analogous to stimulation when produced in any other manner.

_Effect of Cold upon the Pulse._—The experiments of Drs. Currie, Bell, and others, show conclusively that the cold bath has the uniform effect of diminishing the frequency of the heart’s action from ten to twenty beats in a minute below the usual standard. Upon the first application of cold, there is a slight increase in the rate of pulsation; but this soon subsides, and is succeeded by a marked diminution. The ultimate effect is the same, whether the application is made at its maximum degree of severity or not; but if the application is first warm, being gradually reduced in temperature, the result is reached without the occurrence of the unpleasant shock, or feeling of chilliness, which attends the sudden application of cold, especially in persons of delicate nervous sensibilities. The amount and after duration of the diminished rate of pulsation depends upon the temperature and duration of the bath. In health, it does not commonly extend beyond a few hours at most.

_Effect of Cold upon Temperature._—It was also shown by the same experimenters that the temperature of the body is reduced proportionately with the action of the heart. The natural temperature, as shown by a thermometer placed in the axilla, is 98° F. During and after a cold bath, the thermometer applied to the same part, indicates from one-half a degree to five or six, or even more, degrees, diminution of temperature. In some cases the temperature continues to fall after the bath. The real temperature is lessened even though the skin may glow, and may seem to possess increased warmth. Cold and heat are, within certain limits, wholly relative terms to the nerves of sensibility. What is warm at one time may be cold at another, though the temperature remains the same. The same temperature may be warm to one hand and cool to the other. Temperature can only be _accurately_ determined by the thermometer.

_Rationale of Effects of the Cold Bath._—The manner in which the cold bath produces the sedative effects noted, is apparently simple. When applied locally, to a single organ or part, it diminishes the circulation in the part by occasioning contraction of the muscular coats of the _arterioles_, or small arteries. Their caliber being thus lessened, they of course allow the passage of less blood, and the circulation in the part is diminished. There are, then, three causes for the decrease of heat; viz.,—

1. A portion of the heat of any part is brought to it by the blood; the supply of blood being lessened, the heat is diminished;

2. Heat is produced by vital or chemical changes which occur in the capillaries or their immediate vicinity. These depend chiefly upon the supply of oxygen, which, again, is largely regulated by the blood supply; and it being lessened with the blood, the amount of heat _produced_ is diminished.

3. The water in contact with the part, being of a lower temperature, abstracts heat from it as it would from any other body of a higher temperature than itself.

When the application of cold water is more general, being made to the whole body, or to a considerable portion of it, the same effects are produced on a larger scale. A large proportion of the small arteries of the body, being brought under the influence of cold, are made to contract, thus directly lessening the circulation, and so diminishing, also, the production of heat. Through the sympathetic system, the same effect produced upon the small arteries is produced also upon the heart, lessening the rapidity of its contractions. Again, it has been satisfactorily shown that the action of the heart is largely controlled by the action of the small arteries; so that we have abundant explanation of the decrease in the rate of pulsation. Finally, we have a cold fluid in contact with a large portion of the body, abstracting heat by conduction, as well as lessening its production.

Thus we see that water, when applied at a proper temperature, is one of the most powerful means of depressing the vital activities of the body, diminishing circulation and animal heat as will no other agent. The several modes for applying it are considered in another portion of this work.

_The Hot Bath._—We shall include under this head applications of a temperature above 98° F., the mean temperature of the body. As with the cold bath, the effects differ greatly according as the application is brief or prolonged. Local and general applications also differ in their effects.

A brief local application causes an increase in the circulation of a part which very closely resembles, perhaps is identical with, active congestion. The small arteries are distended, and the vital activities and heat of the part are increased. The several effects seem to be little different from those resulting from the application of a mild sinapism. The action of the vital instincts is defensive in both cases.

When applied to special organs, special effects are produced. For instance, a hot fomentation applied to the head for a few minutes will usually produce drowsiness by diversion of a portion of the blood supply of the brain to the skull and scalp. Prolonged applications produce a more or less permanent relaxation of the blood-vessels, and consequent congestion.

A hot bath applied to the whole body, or a large portion of it, produces an acceleration of the pulse and an increase of animal heat proportionate to the temperature of the bath. A bath at 106° to 108° F. will increase the pulse from the normal standard to one hundred or one hundred and twenty beats in a minute, in a short time. A bath four or five degrees hotter has been known to increase the pulse to more than one hundred and fifty beats in a minute.

When a hot bath is prolonged, the face becomes flushed, and the whole skin very red; the head aches; sight is sometimes dimmed; ringing in the ears, faintness, a stinging pain in the skin, and intense desire to urinate are symptoms which are often present. Copious perspiration and intense congestion of the skin are constant effects. The cutaneous congestion, from relaxation of the blood-vessels, is apt to continue to exist after the bath, if it is greatly prolonged, to the serious injury of the subject.

The effects of the vapor bath are essentially the same as those described, though a somewhat higher degree of heat is tolerated without injury. In the hot-air bath, a still higher heat is borne with impunity.

_Rationale of Effects of the Hot Bath._—It scarcely need be repeated that all of the effects noticed, as well as those of all other baths, are chiefly the results of modifications of vital action occasioned by the agent employed. The application of heat to the body occasions relaxation of the muscular coats of the small arteries, and increased action of those vessels. No doubt this is for the purpose of bringing moisture to the surface to protect the tissues against the unnatural heat. As is the case with cold baths, the causes which modify the heat are three; viz.,—