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diff --git a/37326.txt b/37326.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ccb41b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/37326.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1686 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Turkish and Other Baths, by Gordon Stables + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Turkish and Other Baths + A Guide to Good Health and Longevity + +Author: Gordon Stables + +Illustrator: Messrs Allen + +Release Date: September 6, 2011 [EBook #37326] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURKISH AND OTHER BATHS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Turkish and Other Baths +A Guide to Good Health and Longevity +By Gordon Stables +Illustrations by Messrs Allen +Published by Dean and Son, London. + +Turkish and Other Baths, by Gordon Stables. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +________________________________________________________________________ +TURKISH AND OTHER BATHS, BY GORDON STABLES. + +PREFACE. + +No apology surely is needed for a work like this, and its preface need +be but brief. Small is the book, in size little more than a pamphlet; +yet mayhap it contains hints that will not be thrown away on any reader, +and may be invaluable to many who wish to secure health, long life and +happiness. + +The Author. + +Christmas Morning, 1882. + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE SKIN--ITS USES AND GREAT IMPORTANCE IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. + +Apart from any consideration of the bath as a remedial measure, in cases +of disease, its importance as an agent for preserving the health, and +granting to those who use it judiciously a reasonable hope of long life, +cannot easily be over-estimated. But in order to understand properly +the beneficial action of baths on the system, we must have some little +knowledge of the physiology of the skin. Without such knowledge, all +arguments that we could adduce in favour of the constant use of the bath +in some shape or form, would be of the _post hoc propter hoc_ kind, and +therefore of little value. + +What, then, we may ask, are the uses of the skin, for what ends has +Nature designed it, and what is its _modus operandi_? Briefly stated, +the uses of the skin are as follows:--Firstly, it covers and protects +from violence the surface of the whole body, and the various tender and +sensitive parts that lie immediately beneath it; secondly, it is the +organ of touch; thirdly, it is the great regulator of the heat of the +body; fourthly, it performs the duties of a great emunctory, and by +means of its millions of sudoriferous, or sweat glands, each with its +efferent duct; it carries off and out of the body a vast quantity of +effete matter, which, if retained in the blood, would poison it, and +therefore unfit it for the healthful performance of its functions; +fifthly, the skin acts as an absorbent; and, sixthly, it is to some +extent an organ of respiration. + +The use of the skin as a protective covering to the body is apparent to +every one, and we cannot help admiring its great and perfect +adaptability for the purpose. On the soles of the feet, and palms of +the hands, it is thicker than in other places, being thereon subjected +to more wear and tear; on the trunk of the body, and on the arms it is +soft and smooth, and it is everywhere wonderfully elastic and pliable. +Moreover, it is lined throughout with a base work of fat, which gives +extra support and security to the muscles, and, wherever in the body +protection from the results of pressure is needed, we find that this fat +is deposited in actual cushions, as under the heels, under the balls of +the toes, on the hips, etc. + +And here we may remark that, whenever the elasticity of the skin is +impaired, as it is in the bodies of those who do not accustom themselves +to the bath and perfect ablution, loathsome diseases are apt to be the +result, which not only interfere with the actions of the skin itself, +but lower the vitality of the whole system. + +The use of the skin as an organ of touch is equally apparent. Being +supplied with a most intricate network of blood vessels and nerves, the +skin is all over a most sensitive organ, and thus serves to warn us in +time of the approach of anything likely to be detrimental to our health. +If we sit in a draught, the skin of the body chills almost at once; it +begins to creep, as it were, warning us that it is time to move, time to +seek shelter, or protect ourselves by an extra garment. Some portions +of the skin are far more sensitive than others; that of the eyelids, for +instance, which is agitated by the slightest breath of air, or by a +touch communicated to it by the least pressure on the eyelashes. + +By means of, or through, the medium of its vast number of sweat glands, +the skin regulates the amount of heat in our bodies. This is a function +which is much more important than most people might at first imagine. +The temperature of the body in health is about 99 degrees Fahrenheit, if +it rises much above this--even a few degrees, indeed--or if it falls +much below it, severe illness is indicated, danger is apparent, danger +even to life itself. An equable temperature of the body it is therefore +evident is alone compatible with perfect health, but if it were not for +the perspiratory system, when any extra strain is put upon the body, as +by hard work, or hard exercise, heat would accumulate in the system, and +the temperature of the body would be raised, to our discomfort, +detriment, and danger. But the pores of the skin are our safety valves; +from exertion the blood is determined to the surface, the sweat glands +are thus excited to increased action, and perspiration is thrown off in +abundance, which, passing off in steam, carries with it--in obedience to +a law too well known to need explanation--all the extra caloric. In hot +weather, a great deal of heat is thus expended through the skin; in cold +weather the kidneys are more active, and they excrete the water which +otherwise would have passed through the pores, and by storing it for a +time in a reservoir designed for the purpose, conserve the heat of the +system, and prevent lowering of the animal temperature. + +By means of these same sweat glands with their ducts or pores, an +immense amount of effete matter is carried off from the body in the +course of twenty-four hours, which, as already stated, if retained in +the system, would tend to lower vitality by poisoning the blood. + +If the reader recollects that the lungs also perform a renovating +function on the blood, and thus on the body, that oxygen is inhaled, and +that air loaded with carbonic acid, water, etc, exhaled, he will readily +understand how much assistance the respiratory organs receive from a +healthy acting skin. + +Nor can the intelligent reader be unaware that the nutrient portion of +the food we eat, after undergoing the process of digestion performed in +the mouth--where it is masticated and mingled with the solvent saliva-- +in the stomach, where it is reduced by muscular action, and the gastric +juices to the pulp called chyme--in the upper portions of the +intestines--where it receives the secretions of liver and pancreas and +becomes chyle, is collected by a series of absorbent vessels which unite +at last to form the thoracic duct, or grand chyle canal, which empties +itself of its valuable contents directly into one of the largest veins +in the body, and is thus mingled with the general circulation. He +knows, too, that the pure life-giving arterial blood, which, rushing +onwards from that mighty force-pump, the heart, is distributed to every +atom of the system, returns at last laden with the used up particles of +the tissues; that, in fact, a constant change is going on in the system, +a constant deposit of new matter, a constant discharge of old. And that +the dark venous blood, containing the effete matter, rushes through the +lungs, therein to be spread out, and chemically united to the oxygen of +the air that we breathe, before it is again pumped out towards the +tissues to supply them with heat and life. But it must not be +forgotten, that not the lungs only, but the kidneys, the liver, and the +spleen have each and all of them their duties to perform towards the +blood; and last, but not least, that the skin, when in a state of +health, assists them in no small degree in performing their several +functions. + +But there are other glands which receive assistance from the skin in the +performance of their duties. We refer to those distributed here and +there in the frame-work of the body, notably in the axilla, the groin, +and under the skin of the neck, and whose functions are to purify, in +some way or other, the matter collected by a series of vessels called +the lymphatics, before it is again applied to the purposes of nutrition. + +"The amount of fluid," says a well-known physiologist, "exhaled from the +skin and lungs in twenty-four hours, averages about three or four +pounds. And there is good reason to think that this excretion is of the +greatest importance in carrying off certain substances that would prove +injurious if allowed to remain in the blood. + +"That which is called the Hydrophatic system, proceeds upon the plan of +increasing the cutaneous exhalation to a very large amount; and there +seems much evidence that certain deleterious matters, the presence of +which in the blood gives rise to gout, rheumatism, etc, are drawn off +from it more speedily and certainly in this way than in any other." + +If space permitted, the utility of the skin as one of the greatest +emunctories of the system might be much enlarged upon; we trust, +however, we have said quite enough to establish its importance in the +animal economy. + +CHAPTER TWO. + +HOW TO MAINTAIN THE SKIN IN HEALTH. + +If the skin then, is an emunctory of so much consequence, as we have +endeavoured to shew it to be, it stands to reason, that even the +impartial performance of its functions, is incompatible with healthful +existence. One might go farther and boldly aver, that a person who is a +stranger to the bath, is as much to be pitied as a being with only one +lung; both may exist, neither live. + +On the other hand, it cannot be denied that there are thousands of men +and women in these islands, who seem to enjoy a large share of robust +health, and who possess what assurance companies would call, "good +lives," but who never indulge in the luxury of either a bath or a +bedroom tub. But it will generally be found, that these people belong +to the out-door working classes, who take abundant exercise in the open +air, people whose pores are kept patent by the toil they undergo, and +who, moreover, possess capacious lungs, substantial livers and healthy +kidneys. Nevertheless, did these same persons make a practice of +constantly using some form of bath, they would throw far less strain +upon their internal organs, their blood would be purer, and their minds +consequently lighter, and they would stand far less chance of catching +cold, and succumbing to inflammation of some vital part. A person whose +skin is not in easy working order, and who depends upon exertion and +exercise alone, for keeping it up to the mark, must, if thrown on a bed +of sickness, have a harder struggle for life than one whose skin is, in +every sense of the word, a healthy one. + +Everything seems to point to the conclusion that the health of the skin +is a matter of paramount importance to the individual, we cannot +therefore be wrong if we devote this chapter to the consideration of the +best means within our reach, of maintaining it in a sound and vigorous +condition. + +So intimate is the connection between the skin and internal organs of +the body, and so constantly and incessantly do they act and re-act on +each other, that the state of the former may generally be taken as a key +to the condition of the whole system. If the skin be dry, harsh, hot or +in any way possessed of an uncomfortable feeling, the general health is, +for the time being, out of order, or if it be cold or rough and chilly, +the health must be below par, even although that state of being should +be but momentary. + +A feeling of warmth, comfort and geniality, pervades the skin of the man +who is well; deprived of this feeling he is deprived of health, he is +ill, acutely subacutely, or chronically ill. + +DIET:--The influence of diet on the skin is very great. + +This is a fact which should be borne in mind by all, but especially by +those who are subject to any kind of skin complaint, or to gout or +rheumatism. The latter disease, from which so many people suffer +periodically, is, with a good show of reason, believed to be caused by a +superabundance of acid in the blood. This acid is easily got rid of at +most times, by means of the sensible and insensible perspiration; but +if, through some error in diet, an irritable condition of the mucous +membrane of the alimentary canal is produced, and a larger proportion of +acid than usual is the result; and if at or about the same time +something--a cold, or chill, for instance--interferes with the free +action of the skin, it stands to reason that an attack of the old enemy, +gout, or rheumatic gout will supervene, and the character of the attack +will greatly depend on the condition of the patient's system at the +time. If he be full blooded and robust it may be acute or sub-acute. +Thus it often happens that at the very time when a man of rheumatic +diathesis is in finest form, he is suddenly laid prostrate by the return +of his foe. If, on the other hand, he be not of a full habit, the +disease will be less violent in its nature, and this probably accounts +for the fact, that men of spare habit are, as a rule, capable of +weathering more rheumatic storms than men who have been cast in a larger +mould. + +No medical man now-a-days thinks of prescribing for a patient without at +the same time giving him advice as to what he should eat, drink, or +avoid. Some hundred years ago, physicians were, we may presume, not so +skilled as we are now-a-days, but neither were they so apt to lose +themselves in that labyrinth we may call _causae morborum_, and they +never lost sight of the state of the stomach and bowels. Indeed, the +exhibition of aperients was often a kind of sheet anchor with them, with +which they held on with determination when everything else failed them, +and we can scarcely doubt that they were often right in doing so. Nor +is the belief so common with the illiterate, that if a man can eat and +drink moderately well, there cannot be much the matter with him, so very +erroneous after all. Diet is of paramount importance with all of us, +for the simplest reason possible. Our blood is generated from the food +we eat, and as the blood is, so will the system be, which it has to +nourish. No matter how clever a mania, or how rich, or how eminent, if +he is guilty of errors in diet, he is but a golden calf with feet of +clay. + +But he who lives judiciously in the matter of diet, possesses a truly +marvellous advantage over his fellows who do not. A man in health +should begin the day early. He ought to have his morning tub by +half-past seven at the latest. He ought to dress leisurely, and have, +if possible, a five or ten minutes' walk in the open air, before he sits +down to breakfast. + +Well-made tea is probably the best beverage for breakfast, and if +between meals a man requires some refreshment, a cup of coffee or tea +will be found more sustaining and less dangerous than either beer or +wine. + +The breakfast maybe a moderately hearty one, and the dinner should be an +early one, and nothing ought to be partaken of which is known to +disagree. Supper should be early and light, but not necessarily sloppy. +Solid food is more likely to be quietly digested than slops. A biscuit +and glass of milk, or beer, may be partaken about half an hour before +retiring, if it is found that sounder sleep is acquired by such +indulgence. + +The errors in diet which should be avoided are:--First, eating too fast; +second, taking stimulants of any kind to provoke an appetite; third, the +use of rich sauces and peppers; fourth, eating too much; and fifth, +partaking of too many varieties at one meal. A man should eat with +_regularity_ and _moderation_, and _frequently change his diet_. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +DRINK.--Pure water is the best, but water that will not wash is unfit +for drinking or making food, withal. Cocoa, coffee, tea, and milk in +moderation, and in summer whey and buttermilk are healthful drinks. +Iced waters, cooling cups, and too many effervescing mixtures are to be +avoided. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Regularity in the times of going to bed and getting up should be +studied. + +PURE AIR.--One cannot have too much of this. The air in rooms ought to +be kept pure and sweet, and that of the bedroom moderately warm. +Bedrooms ought to be large, and not overfilled with furniture, +especially things likely to collect dust. Curtains about beds do more +harm than good. + +DRESS AND CLOTHING.--No more should be worn than is necessary to keep +the surface of the body agreeably comfortable. It should not be tight, +and mackintoshes and goloshes are injurious to health. Bed clothes +should be light and warm. People, as a rule, heap their beds with far +too much clothing, and sleep is thus often banished. + +SLEEP.--Secure it by natural means; _never_, unless under medical +advice, by taking draughts, or "night-caps." Regularity in living, +exercise, and the bath, are the best narcotics, but a pipe of mild +tobacco last thing may often do good. + +EXERCISE.--Exercise, to be beneficial, should be pleasant, the mind +should be free and happy. Exercise does little or no good unless +enjoyed, hence work is not exercise. It should never be carried to the +verge of fatigue, and if the under-clothing has been damped by +perspiration, it ought to be changed before sitting or lying down. As +to under-clothing, no one over thirty, who values his health and life, +should neglect to wear it in some form, wool is warmer than cotton, silk +better than either. The best form of exercise is that which maintains +the largest number of muscles in play, and does not over-sweat the body, +nor over-heat the head. It ought to be varied, too, but whether it be +walking, riding, driving, rowing, playing games, or those most +exhilarating exercises bicycling and tricycling, it ought to be taken +regularly, day after day, and we may add, all the year round. + +While taking exercise, the clothing ought to be as loose as possible, in +order to permit of the full play of the muscles, and avoid dangerous +contractions of the internal vital organs. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. See, "Tea, the Drink of Pleasure and of Health," by same +author, published by Messrs. Field and Tuer, Leadenhall Street. + +CHAPTER THREE. + +THE LUXURY OF THE TURKISH BATH--ITS USES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION--THE +AILMENTS IT TENDS TO CURE. + +Next to the pleasure of enjoying an Anglo-Turkish bath oneself, _in +propria persona_, is that of hearing some one dilate on its merits. + +And few who have ever tried it, will be found unwilling to expatiate +freely on the topic of Turkish bathing; of its great and manifold +advantages over all other systems of bathing, of the delights they +experienced while _in_ the bath, and of the feelings of lightness and +comfort, calmness of mind and positive happiness induced thereby. This +prince of baths would, we verily believe, change the dullest clodhopper +to a wit for a time, and convert the prosiest old antiquarian into a +poet. + +If it has such a transforming power on the brains of the by-no-means +brilliant, is it any wonder that men of bright intellect like Sir +Erasmus Wilson and David Urquhart, should write or talk so prettily +about this, their favourite mode of bathing. As a rule there is not +much room for poetry in the medical profession, albeit Dr Jenner, +carried away by a pardonable enthusiasm, described the vaccination +pustule of the ninth day, with its crimson areola as "the pearl upon the +rose." Yet we cannot read the glowing and graphic description given by +the great dermatologist, concerning his visit to the bath at Riverside, +without wishing that he had marshalled his thoughts, for once in a way, +in the splendid hexameters of a Longfellow. A bath like that of Mr +Urquhart's, from which one emerged with "the body shining like +alabaster, fragrant as the cistus, sleek as satin and soft as velvet," +is surely worthy of the high honours of blank verse. And this thermal +paradise is sketched by Sir Erasmus in language as brilliant and +beautiful, as any that ever the _other_ professor Wilson puts into the +month of the bard of Ettrick, in his inimitable Noctes Ambrosianae. + +We must be forgiven, if we pick a plum or two from the description, and +hand them round to our readers, there are plenty more on the tree which +they may cull for themselves [Note 1]. At the door of the Frigidarium +or cool room, the would-be bather loosens the latchets of his shoes, and +leaves them behind the lintel; the portal opens and he enters. This +apartment though not large is sunny and bright. It is a morning in +early summer, and, through the glass doors, can be seen a balcony +festooned with roses; beyond the parapet of the balcony are terraces of +which the rose is still the favoured flower, while further on can be +seen the rippling surface of a noisy stream, then meadows with grazing +herds and flocks, and beyond these the wooded hill arching like an +eyebrow around the bright spot in which as the apple of the eye, +sparkles the bath. By his side is a _dureta_ over against him a +reclining chair, around the sides of the apartment are cushioned divans; +books, and chibouques, and many a Turkish ornament are around, and the +floor is spread with carpets of Persia, and the clean fresh mattings of +India. + +Opposite the glass doors is an immense sheet of plate glass; through it +are seen marble steps, and in the aqueous depths to which these steps +descend, is the reflection of the morning sun. Here he may court the +rays of Phoebus, smiling through festoons of roses to visit the deepest +pool of his bath. Here he can swim while the sun glistens in the +crystal drops that linger on his skin, or makes mimic rainbows in the +spray that he dashes before him in his plunging revel. + +The author passes on through a door by the side of the immense barrier +of glass. This door closes behind him, then onwards through a second +door to be greeted by a delightful atmosphere, and experience tells him +that no place of terrestrial existence save _the_ bath can yield that +warm, soft and balmy aether. Two steps down and then a platform. Two +steps more, the heat increases, and he has reached the tropical line of +the bath. But the hottest room was enveloped in scarlet hangings, a +fiery tent, where the temperature stood at from 240 to 250 degrees. + +On a divan at a later stage of the hath, under a less degree of heat, he +spends many minutes of genuine enjoyment. Just overhead is a plug to +withdraw in order to admit a breath of fresh air if desired, and this +delicious gush of ambrosial air comes to him, perfumed with the sweet +breath of flowers over which it has been contrived that it shall pass. + +Then comes a deeper descent of four steps, with a still warm but lower +temperature, where on the clear marble edge of the Lavatorina he seats +himself, while his host plies the soft pad of _gazul_ over his head and +back and sides. Then basin after basin of warm water, rinses the gazul +and the loosened epidermis from the surface, and he rises from the bath +to recommence his observations, visiting in turn all the soft, the warm, +the perfumed, the hot, the cool and the cold nooks he can find, and thus +the time flies by and the breakfast hour draws near; but before he can +quit the bath, it is necessary that the pores of the body, which all +this time have been filtering the waste fluids of the body through their +numberless apertures, should be made to close, and with this intent he +descends into the marble pool or _piscina_, whose waters in summer are +cooled with ice, and crouches under the tap, and lets the cold current +encircle him, then a pail of hot water rushes on him like an avalanche, +followed immediately by one of cold, and this is many times repeated. + +Upward now, to the Frigidarium, with a mantle round his shoulders after +being rubbed down with soft Turkish towels, therein, reclined on a +softly cushioned sofa, to enjoy half-an-hour's suggestive and +instructive conversation, before going to breakfast with an appetite +like--like a man. + +Sir Erasmus does not tell us how much he enjoyed that breakfast, but we +can easily fancy that part of the performance. We can easily believe, +that his manly onslaught upon the viands set before him, would have been +highly appreciated by Christopher North himself, with Tickler and the +Shepherd "settling down to serious eating." + +But it is not merely as a luxury that, in this little work of ours, we +venture to recommend the Anglo-Turkish bath to our readers although +taken simply for the sake of enjoyment, a man never fails to cherish the +memory of his first bath, as does a maiden that of her first ball. But +our recommendation has a far wider scope than this. We look upon the +bath as the best means mankind has:-- + +ONE.--For maintaining the body in a state of perfect health. + +TWO.--For averting the many ailments incidental to life and-- + +THREE.--For the cure of not a few diseases. + +Few there are in our own country, or probably in any other, who enjoy +really good and robust health, constantly. Apart from inherited +illnesses, the wear and tear of life, end the worry that naturally +attends the struggle for existence is very hard upon most of us, and if +it were not for weekly periods of rest, the average span of our +existence would be a much shorter one than it really is. And, alas! as +a rule, our periods of rest seem far too short, our one day's toil seems +hardly well over, until another one begins, and thus our existences are +fretted away. To many amongst us life seems one long drawn-out +weariness; from year's end to year's end the back must ache, and the +temples throb, till the very heart grows "tired of its own sad beat, and +yearns for rest." But to live like this, or in any way akin to it, is +not to be in a state of health. If a man be really healthy, he is +reasonably happy, if he does not feel reasonably happy, he is not in a +condition of health. In health there is a complete freedom from ache or +pain, from bruise or blemish, from heat or cold; every joint is supple, +every muscle capable of contraction and extension. And the mind should +feel as light and buoyant as the body, a healthy man should feel a +pleasure in merely living, he should be capable of taking an interest in +everything that goes on around him, in all he sees, in all he hears, in +all he reads, and in all that concerns the well-being of his fellow +creatures, and honest toil itself should be an enjoyment to him, and not +a worry, not a penance. + +It is the custom in England, and a terribly wrong and fatal one it is, +to fly to stimulants for the relief of temporary-exhaustion; that is, at +the very time when our bodies are tired, and nature courts a brief rest, +we dig in the spur, we wield the whip, and keep her at it invariably to +her detriment. The very fact that the amount of stimulant taken +requires to be increased after a time proves how deleterious is this +plan, the modest glass of sherry, or mildest ale, needs after a time to +be replaced by fiery brandy or heart-corroding gin. This last is +putting an extra thong on the whip, and it is no wonder if, after a +time, some important internal organ gives way, and one more is added to +the list of incurable invalids. + +How much better would it be if tea and coffee took the place of +dangerous stimulants, and the balance of health was sought to be +retained by the daily use of the morning tub, and a bi-weekly indulgence +in an Anglo-Turkish Bath. It is not too much to hope for, and it +certainly is not too much to pray for, that public baths upheld in a +great measure by Government, may yet be one of the institutions of our +beloved land. What a blessing these would be to hard working men, and +to the tired and weary among all classes. I venture to predict, that if +people were to make a habit of using the Turkish Bath, say on the +Saturday afternoons only, gin palaces and dram saloons that now reek +with filth and disease would lose many a customer. Persons would find +out that there was no real way consonant with the acknowledged rules of +health and hygiene of banishing fatigue, of dispelling aches and pains, +of calming the nervous system, and preparing the mind for the perfect +enjoyment of that day of blessed rest called Sunday. + +As a prophylactic against innumerable diseases, we have recommended the +use of the Anglo-Turkish Bath. It is almost unnecessary to enlarge upon +this head, but a word or two may not be thrown away. Two, then, of the +great _causae norborum_, or disease inducers in this country are cold +and indigestion. Now, so long as the skin is a healthy one, and in good +working order, it is next to impossible for any one to catch cold +through it, if he only takes care to clothe it not heavily but +judiciously in warm woollens or light soft silks. It stands to reason +that an organ, an instrument or machine--call it what we may--which is +perfect in workings, is not so easily thrown out of gear or out of order +as one not so perfect. We could fill a volume with cases of people who +are constantly in the habit of using Baths, who can stand exposure to +both cold and wet with but little inconvenience; and we also know a vast +number of votaries of the Bath who do at times catch cold like other +people, being probably constitutionally susceptible to its influence-- +but who get clear of their colds in quite a remarkably short time. The +reason undoubtedly is that they have the power to "throw them off," as +the common saying is. + +Well, now, as to indigestion. As the reader knows, the whole internal +surface of the body is lined with a mucous membrane, which is analagous +to the skin or external covering, and as the one is so will the other +be; mucous indigestion, therefore, it may be clearly perceived is +averted by the use of the Bath. But indigestion may proceed from loss +of nerve power, or from a badly acting liver or spleen, or from weakness +of the heart, etc. And the Bath strengthens and tones the nervous +system far more than any tonic we wot of, moreover its constant use +makes the work which the liver and spleen have to perform, mere play, so +to speak; and if the Bath invigorates muscle--and we know it does--it +must act as a roborant or tonic to the heart itself, which is composed +for the most part of muscular tissues. + +Many people produce a species of irritable indigestion, by the use of +stimulants, for this the Anglo-Turkish bath is an almost certain cure, +as it relieves internal congestions, steadies the nerves and produces +refreshing sleep. + +Many poisons are generated in the system, to which if free vent be not +given by means of the pores of a healthily acting skin, mischief is sure +sooner or later to arise, such mischief for instance as gout and +rheumatism, to which reference has already been made. But the condition +of the kidneys is seldom or never studied by anyone and yet if they do +not act sufficiently well to expel urea from the blood, a more or less +injurious effect is caused upon the brain and nerve centres. This the +periodical use of the Anglo-Turkish bath, would tend to remove. + +We all know the demoralising effect that the first glass of spirits is +said to have upon a man inclined to the abuse of intoxicants; it so +affects his brain that he no longer knows, or he disregards right form +wrong as far as his health is concerned. But a similar demoralisation +of brain tissue, may be produced by poisons positively generated in the +system; at least this is our opinion. Those, for example, who have been +given to alcohol, often keep "steady" as they phrase it for a month or +months, then suddenly or gradually, as the case may be, break out again. +This is doubtless caused by the play of some accumulated +system-propagated poison on the brain and nerves. This poison may be +urea, or it may be some acid, it matters not, it is in the blood and it +ought to be eliminated and we earnestly advise those, who would be +abstainers but who find it difficult to long remain so, to fly at once +for relief to the hot-air bath, whenever the "_tempter_," as platform +orators call it, seems to urge them to take once more to stimulants. + +We think it highly probable, that many inherited diseases such as +consumption, scrofula, etc, may be kept at bay by the constant use of +the bath under consideration, if only for the simple reason that the +blood poisoning is thus constantly being driven off, before it has power +to accumulate in quantities large enough to do mischief; not to mention +the fact that the bath causes healthful activity of all the secretions. + +The diseases which the Turkish bath may be the means of curing or +alleviating, are really too numerous to mention. Among them may be +enumerated gout, rheumatic gout, rheumatism, acute and chronic, colds +and coughs, indigestion in some of its worst forms, bowel affections, +piles, chronic liver and spleen ailments, kidney complaints, incipient +delirium tremens, melancholy and depression of spirits, nervousness, +irritability of temper, sleeplessness, _ennui_, the diseases of +sedentary and also of fashionable life, adiposity, etc. That condition +of body and mind generally caused by indiscretion of some kind, and +usually known by the expression "out of sorts," or "out of condition," +when weariness and depression are predominant, when sleep is unrest, and +every duty of life is performed with a feeling of extreme irksomeness, +and when the nerves seem given as a punishment, is almost invariably +cured by a course of Turkish Bathing taken in conjunction with some +nervine tonic, and an occasional well-chosen aperient. + +Diseases and debilities of the reproductive organs, are by the same +means equally benefited, but in these cases galvanism in some form is +often required to effect a complete cure. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. See--"The Eastern Bath," published by Messrs. J. and A. +Churchill, New Burlington Street. + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE TURKISH BATH: IN THEORY AND PRACTICE--THE PORTABLE TURKISH BATH. + +Let us now endeavour to explain the theory of the Turkish Bath, and the +why and wherefore of the different operations the bather subjects +himself to therein. If he be a person who has bathed many times and +oft, he steps across the threshold of the great natural Sanatorium with +a light heart and a step as springy as though he were entering a +ball-room, for well he knows that all his care and trouble whether +mental or bodily, will melt away in the glorious atmosphere of the +_calidarium_ or hot room, and that when he comes out again he will feel +so new a man, that a giant refreshed would have no chance with him. + +He parts with his ticket or half-crown with pleasure, feeling in his +inmost heart that he has the best of the bargain. And so he enters his +little sanctum and begins to undress. He would fain hurry off his +garments: he longs to be free but he remembers that everything ought to +be done leisurely for his good. But now the last article of apparel is +laid carefully aside and he smiles to himself--a happy smile--as he dons +the cummerbund, or cotton pyjamas, and issues forth to enter the +calidarium. + +He will not have long remained here until beads of perspiration appear +on chest and brow, and arms, gradually extending downwards until limbs +and even feet are covered with a warm moisture. A mouthful or two of +cold water will cause the drops of perspiration to accumulate and +increase in size, until uniting, they trickle "in burns"--as the Scotch +call it, from the body. He has very likely assumed a reclining position +on a wooden cane-bottomed settee. Here he may read if so minded, he +will hardly care to talk, if he does he ought not to. A strange dreamy +kind of happiness steals over him, not wild exciting thoughts like those +of the opium-eater. No, his is now indeed the _dolce far niente_; he +has eaten the lotus leaf, all worldly cares, if he has any, are for the +time being forgotten, he even wonders that he permitted anything +sublunary to worry him. + +And so the time passes all too quickly away. Perhaps the attendant now +warns him it is time to retire, or to enter even a hotter room in which +he will stay a shorter time, then thence to the lavatory. How pleasant +the trickling of the warm shower bath, how delightful the soap shampoo, +that removes every bit from top to toe of the unhealthy, or at least +superfluous scarf skin. + +Every particle of impurity may be said to have exuded from the blood, +which is now pure as the constitution of the bather can permit it to be, +and every particle of impurity has been washed by shampooing from the +outer surface. The warm shower completes the cleansing. But now the +gaping pores must be made to contract, their fibres are relaxed they +must be closed. But however cold the water douche may be, by which this +operation is performed, to the bather it seems most pleasant and +delicious. + +Wrapped in a sheet from head to heel he once more passes through the +calidarium, on his way to the cooling room. He may linger here for a +few moments if so minded but not for long, only just to restore a gentle +warmth to the surface of the body. In the cool room he will remain +reclining and enwrapped in his sheet for about a quarter of an hour and +probably the attendant will come and knead every muscle of the body +getting back the lagging blood, if indeed it does lag, heart-wards and +rendering the whole body as supple and pliant and elastic as life. + +Then to dress most slowly. And while dressing, to leisurely imbibe a +cup of warm, not hot, tea or coffee. + +When he emerges at last from the Sanatorium and goes bounding along the +street, he--well he does not feel inclined to change places with anyone +he meets, not even if the Lord Mayor's carriage rolls past him. + +We have thus stated briefly, the various operations a bather goes +through in the ordinary Turkish bath of our towns and cities. Leisurely +undressing, especially necessary if there has previously been a brisk +walk, (thus the heart has time to tone down ere subjected to the +excitement of the calidarium) the repose in the hot room with frequent +small draughts of cold water to encourage the flow of the perspiration, +the gradual softening of the scarf skin and thorough opening of every +pore, the warm shower and shampoo by which every obnoxious particle is +removed from the outer surface as it has already been from the inner, +the cold douche to contract the pores, and thus prevent subsequent +danger from cold. The gradual cooling down, the leisurely resumption of +ordinary wearing apparel lest perspiration should again be induced, and +last, but not least, the calm and comforting cup of coffee or tea. + +And after all what is this Turkish bathing? Is it something so very +new? Nay, new in its processes probably, but it is but carrying out an +old, old law, old as the days of Moses himself, the law of perfect +cleanliness and perfect cleansing. + +We have visited a large number of the hydropathic establishments and +Turkish bathing sanatoria, and there is much to be praised in all we +have seen and little to be blamed. Some are of course, far more +luxuriantly fitted up than others, and these are the baths we prefer to +visit. Could we, however, have such a splendid thermal temple as that +of Riverside attached to our own home, we would certainly never wander +away from it to worship at another shrine. + +We ourselves may be over fastidious, but we think the following are +among some of the drawbacks to the general run of Turkish bathing +places. They are usually in out of the way places, so that one is not +always able to find the time to get there when he wants to. The weekly +expenditure incurred by taking a course of baths would certainly be a +consideration with many; and on the other hand, there is a lack of +privacy which renders such establishments distasteful as a rule. But +the benefits that accrue from a course of Turkish baths, depend in a +great measure upon the regularity with which they are taken. And it is +this regularity which is often so difficult to keep up. The Sanatorium +is at a distance. Something intervenes to prevent the intended visit,-- +business--a call from home in another direction--bad weather, or any one +of fifty other things. And so a visit comes to be omitted, or may be +two, there is accordingly a hole in the hygienic ballad, a step or two +wanting in the ladder that would have led upwards to health. + +It is some two or three years now since we first came to realise the +fact, that one might enjoy the luxury and reap the benefits of a Turkish +bath, without going a step beyond the confines of the bedroom and +dressing-room. We had received by the railway carrier a box. + +A box! Whatever could it be, we wondered. It was not the season for +sending anything particular from the country. Christmas was a long way +ahead, and grouse shooting not begun. We undid the outer covering and +exposed it to view. It was shaped liked a spirit-case, but it could not +be that. "That box may contain," we mused, as we gazed on it, "untold +luxury in the shape of tea, or a new patent photographic apparatus, or a +magic lantern, or an English concertina, or--yes--or--or--or a land +torpedo sent by a Fenian, that will explode when we lift the lid, blow +the roof off the house, and send us sailing away skywards, accompanied +by the furniture and things." + +We clapped a cautious ear to the lid and listened. There was no +suspicious ticking audible within, so we summoned up courage and--opened +the box, and lo! and behold, Allen's portable Turkish bath. + +Since then we have visited public baths but seldom. We are content, for +the portable bath as we use it, serves every useful purpose. + +As the Messrs. Allen have lent the blocks to embellish this chapter, it +will be nothing more than courteous to let them describe it in their own +way. + +Referring to (Plate One) they say:-- + +"This illustrates our Apparatus as used under the chair, for giving a +hot-air bath only, or hot-air and vapour combined, also for either a +Medicated or Mercurial bath. + +"At the back of the top rail of chair is fixed a socket, with a set +screw, a square rod slides up and down this socket, and a folding ring +fits into the top of the rod. + +"By this arrangement the hoop for keeping the cloak extended, can be +raised or lowered to be either level with the shoulders leaving the head +exposed, or, if preferred, raised sufficient to cover the head. + +"The person about to take the bath puts the apparatus ready for use +under the chair, and placing the cloak lightly over the hoop, sits down, +slips the two ends of the hoop together, draws the cloak round, tying it +down the front with the strings provided, and adjusting it round the +neck, may take the bath comfortably from fifteen to forty minutes, +according to inclination." + +But it is possible that the bather may prefer to recline while enjoying +this calming and luxuriant bath. This is easily done, and if the reader +will glance at Plate Two, he will see the modus operandi. Nothing could +be more simple, nothing more effective. + +We are not, however, the first to have discovered the merits of Messrs. +Allen's luxurious invention. It is in general use now all over the +country, and medical men are constantly in the habit of recommending the +bath to their patients. So also is the professional press, and among +these such well-known Journals as "The London Medical Record"; "The +Medical Times and Gazette"; "The Medical Examiner"; "The Medical Press +and Circular"; "The Lancet"; and "The British Medical Journal" are loud +in their praises of the apparatus. + +It will be especially observed by the intelligent reader that Allen's +bath may be used entirely as a dry hot air bath, or as a mixed hot air +and vapour bath. Well, this in our opinion is a capital idea, because +one can use it as either. We, ourselves, perspire freely, and therefore +use only the hot air, but as Sir Erasmus says: "The great purpose to be +arrived at, so far as temperature is concerned, is to obtain one which +shall be agreeable to the sensations." + +The following is what Messrs. Allen and Sons write me themselves +concerning their bath:-- + +"Our idea is, that the hot air and vapour bath combined is the truest +approach to the Eastern Turkish bath, in which, after the bather has +been in the heated room some little time, and begins to feel somewhat +oppressed, they (the attendants) come round, sprinkle the heated floor +with water; this produces a vapour, and it is almost immediately after +this that the body begins to perspire freely, the vapour also relieves +the breathing very much with some. There are those who will not +perspire in the hot-air bath at all, but do with the hot-air and vapour +bath, which, mingling with the hot-air, produces a moist heat, softens +the skin, and produces perspiration much more quickly." + +There is one advantage which the portable bath possesses over the +regular sanatorium Turkish:--the head is not covered, it is not in the +heated atmosphere, and therefore purer air can be breathed, although +both face and scalp perspire as freely as any other part of the body. + +The head, however, may be covered if this is thought more pleasant. + +Dr L.E. Turner, it would seem believes in having the head exposed +during the bath. + +"By the use of your bath," he says "the patients can breathe pure air +uncontaminated by the foetid humours pouring forth from the seven +millions of pores in your neighbour's skin as he sits by your side in +the ordinary Turkish or Russian bath. Besides there is no risk from +over expansion of the pulmonary tissues of the lungs; as when people are +compelled to breathe a heated atmosphere; nor risk from rupture of the +delicate blood vessels of the brain. There are many other advantages +which tend to make me, and not only myself but all other professional +men who have tried them, strong advocates for their use, in place of all +other kinds of Turkish, Russian, or herbal baths." + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE TURKISH BATH--CONTINUED. THE TRAVELLER'S BATH. + +In chapter third we enumerated briefly a few of the ailments likely to +be either entirely removed, or, at all events, alleviated, by the use of +the Turkish Bath. + +We think that Sir Erasmus Wilson mentions that terribly distressing +ailment eczema among those which yield to the emollient and cleansing +effects of the bath. + +Kidney ailments, and even dropsy itself, have succumbed to its power. + +"I have just," writes a medical man, "retired from the post of medical +officer of H.M. Convict Prison at Portland, and my late Assistant +Surgeon has kindly informed me how admirably it acts in kidney +affections, and I am anxious to have one as soon as possible." + +The following are the words of Sir Erasmus Wilson himself:-- + +"The bath is a preventative of disease, by hardening the individual +against the effects of variations and vicissitudes of temperature, by +giving him power to resist miasmatic and zymotic affections, and by +strengthening his system against scrofula, consumption, gout, +rheumatism; diseases of the digestive organs, cutaneous system, muscular +system, including the heart; nervous system including the brain; and +reproductive system." + +"The bath," he continues, "has the property of hardening and fortifying +the skin, so as to render it almost insusceptible to the influence of +the cold. A Doctor of Divinity told me, that during the winter time he +was scarcely ever free from cold, often so severe as to lay him up for +several weeks, and that he also suffered from attacks of neuralgia; but +that since he had adopted the use of the bath twice a week, all +disposition to colds and neuralgia had ceased; and for the first time in +sixteen years, he had passed the winter without a cold." + +Dr Wood writes as follows:-- + +"Dr Wood had a severe trial case to use Messrs. Allen and Son's. It +was a case of heart disease and kidney affections where it was dangerous +to give the patient a bath, or anything that would excite the +circulation, and yet essential to have copious sweating. The patient +was delirious. He has got well." + +A great sanitary authority, Dr Richardson, said the other evening at a +public meeting, that if it were possible to attain perfect cleanliness +of person and surroundings, disease would become an obsolete term. +These are not the exact words, but they convey the sense. + +But independent of the use the bath may be put to, for the purpose of +curing or alleviating disease, for thoroughly cleansing the body and +sweetening the system, or simply as a luxury, there are at least two +other uses to which it can be put. It is a means of banishing fatigue, +and also of producing refreshing sleep. And this fact may be turned to +good account on many occasions. A person may have been out all day on +the hill, or hunting, or he may have been on the river or lake rowing, +or by its banks fishing. He returns tired and weary, and very probably, +wet. + +A wash and change of clothes, followed by a stimulant, are the usual +remedies for such fatigues. How much better is it both for the comfort +and health if he can spare a short half-hour, and enjoy the advantageous +comforts of the Turkish Bath. Why, he feels double the individual +afterwards, and if he is not all throughout the evening after as bright +as a new florin, he must be a dullard at the very best, that is all. + +Well, but a person may be a mere guest at some country Squire's, how +about his Turkish Bath then? This is a difficulty that is easily +overcome. We have the Tourist's or Traveller's bath, handy, convenient, +useful and cheap. + +This little contrivance will be of great benefit in dispelling the +fatigue usually felt after a long journey in train or steamboat. While +out boating or touring in any way it will be found invaluable. Indeed +it is so small and compact that a tricyclist might easily take it in his +bag. + +Plate Three represents the apparatus set up ready for use for a hot-air +or vapour bath, to be placed under a chair, the body to be well +enveloped in blankets. The apparatus may also be used for boiling water +for making tea and coffee, as well as for frying bacon, chop, steak, or +cooking omelets, etc. + +The Turkish bath is a calmative to the nervous and the vascular systems, +and therefore of great utility in cases of sleeplessness. We advise +those who are troubled with this disagreeable complaint to give it a +fair trial. + +For female complaints, of nearly all kinds, unless especially forbidden +by the family physician, this bath may be also used with marked benefit. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +We earnestly hope that this little guide of ours will fall into the +hands of many sufferers, whose ailments are likely to be relieved, or +banished entirely, by the regular use of this prince of baths; we cannot +therefore do better, we believe, than finish this short chapter with +some useful advice to those who may intend to give it a fair trial. + +But first, let us endeavour to dispel a phantom that stands at the +threshold of every Turkish bathing establishment, and tries to prevent +those who have never bathed before from entering. We allude to the +phantom fear. This bogle stood at the doorway when we ourselves went to +have our first Turkish bath. "Oh!" he cried, "don't come in, don't come +in, you'll catch your death of cold from the douche, don't come in, +don't come in, I beseech you, I'm sure you have heart disease." + +"Bother!" was our curt reply. + +"Well," cried the bogle, extending his ghostly arms over his head, "_do_ +go and see a doctor first." But we pushed the bogle boldly aside. That +bogle looked very small indeed as we strode out again, about an hour +afterwards. + +Now, dear reader, the phantom will treat you precisely as it treats +everyone else. Are you to fear it? That is a question which must be +answered in no bantering mood. We honestly believe that ninety-five +people at least out of every hundred, can enter an ordinary Turkish +bathing establishment and go through all the processes with perfect +safety. + +Well, we will suppose that we are conversing in the consulting-room with +some one who means to try the Turkish bath. He will ask such questions +as:-- + +1. When should I begin to take the bath? + +2. How long should I stay in the heat? + +3. How often should I take it? + +4. What is the best time of the day to have the bath? + +5. Can you give me some general instructions to guide me in using it. + +To question Number 1 we should reply: Begin to-morrow. + +Question Number 2: Until you are in a glorious perspiration, and all +aches and pains, and all sense of weariness forgotten. From a quarter +of an hour to twenty minutes will be enough at first. + +Question Number 3: How often should you take it? Once or twice a week, +or even three times, or whenever required to banish ennui, fatigue, +aches or pains, or incipient cold, or biliousness, or lassitude, etc, +etc. + +To question 4, the reply is: The bath must not be taken on a full +stomach, about three hours after a meal is the best time. But those who +dine about six or seven in the evening should take the bath before +_dinner_. People who are engaged all day, may with advantage use it +either before retiring for the night, or after getting up in the +morning, following it by the usual cold sponge. If the cold bath is +forbidden, then the best time is going to bed. + +Now comes your last question, (but let me here say parenthetically that +we may be consulted about everything connected with the bath, and baths +of all kinds, or about any ailment, chronic or otherwise, that bathing +in some forms is likely to cure or alleviate.) + +What you want then, in order to enjoy the luxury of a bath in your own +room, is first, one of the portable baths; secondly a shallow bath like +the one here depicted; (Plate Four.) Thirdly a good big sponge; +fourthly, a small hand shower bath, cost I believe is 5 shillings from +Messrs. Allen and Sons, (Plate Five); fifthly, a flesh brush; sixthly a +piece of good soap (Pears' transparent tablet is by far and away the +best, and really least expensive in the long run,--it is _so_ well made, +and lasts so long); and seventhly, a few good rough towels. + +All being ready, you light your lamp and fix up the apparatus according +to instructions given with every portable bath. The shallow bath is to +be half filled with nice hot water, all ready. After you have perspired +enough, turn out and turn into the shallow bath. Here you are to lather +and sponge, and use the flesh brush well. + +Next use the hand shower, or the sponge if you prefer it, filled with +cold water, do not be afraid of this, it is life and luxury combined. +Then to dry, and dress leisurely, to loll on the sofa for a while, and +quietly sip your tea or coffee, while the fresh breeze from an open +window is playing around you. This is indeed enjoyment. + +People who use the bath for the purpose of gaining health and strength, +should live temperately, both as regards eating and drinking, take +abundant suitable exercise in the open air, and make use of some tonic, +with now and then a gentle aperient. + +Both the tonic and aperient must be carefully chosen to suit individual +idiosyncrasies and cases, but we have seen very much good indeed accrue +from this conjunction of tonics, with mild and suitable aperients while +taking a course of Turkish baths. + +CHAPTER SIX. + +ON THE USES OF THE VARIOUS MEDICATED BATHS. + +It will be as well for the generality of our readers, if we confine +ourselves in this chapter to a brief consideration of those medicated +baths only, which have been proved to be efficacious in the amelioration +and cure of illnesses, whether chronic or acute. We must preface our +remarks, however, by stating that no course of baths is likely to be of +the slightest avail to a sufferer, unless he first and foremost makes up +his mind to adhere to certain rules of living, and endeavours to conform +to the laws of health. + +Exercise must be taken in the open air, he must also be most careful to +study his diet and his clothing, and to secure sound sleep by every +natural means in his power, narcotics however being avoided as poisons +(see pages 21, 22, and 23). + +Tonics, taken with judgment, assist a patient to recover strength, but +they must be administered or prescribed by a medical man, who is +acquainted with the symptoms and nature of the case. + +It is really surprising the amount of good that can be done by a +well-regulated course of Turkish or other baths, combined with some +carefully adapted plan of constitutional treatment and regulation in +living. If this were only more generally known, thousands would soon be +enjoying all the blessings of health, who are now languishing on beds of +sickness, or confined to warm and stifling rooms, instead of breathing +the free fresh air of heaven. + +It would seem that Professor Lionel Beale is somewhat of the same +opinion as ourselves, and he even goes somewhat further, for he +deprecates foreign travel, or at least considers wandering abroad in +search of health, is, in many cases, a needless expense. + +"If," writes this learned authority, "patients could be induced to +retire to a pleasant part of the country where they would take moderate +exercise, and be free from mental anxiety, meet with agreeable society, +live regularly, take small doses of alkalies, and bathe themselves for +an hour or two a day in warm water, in which some carbonate of soda has +been dissolved, they would receive as much benefit as by travelling +hundreds of miles away; and at much less trouble and expense." + +There is a great deal in these words _free from mental anxiety_. It is +to obtain this very needful aid to the cure of chronic complaints, +especially those brought about by over-work or fast living, that we +ourselves are in the habit of recommending to our patients a short sea +voyage, such as that to America or Madeira and back. But very great +benefit results in numerous cases from a short residence at some of the +innumerable hydropathic establishments, which, like small terrestrial +paradises, are scattered here and there in our beautiful island home. +Those actually sick may go there, as well as the languishing invalid or +_the over-worked_ man of business, or worn-out pleasure hunter. To +those resorting to these sanatoria, we can confidently recommend a handy +and useful invention, recently brought out by Messrs. Allen and Son +(Plate Six). It is a portable electric bell, the cords can be passed +under or over the doors, from one room to another, and by this means the +nurse or attendant can be called immediately and _quietly_ at any hour +of the day or night. + +We do not mean here to say much about the mercurial bath, because it +must only be used under medical advice, but while reminding the reader +that there is provision made for this kind of bath in the portable +Turkish bath (page 44) there is (see Plate Seven) a nice handy little +apparatus which can be used for this purpose used for this purpose or +any other kind of fumigatory bath which the physician considers it right +to recommend. + +Some of the most efficacious medicated bath in common use are:-- + +1. THE BORAX BATH.--This is soothing and calmative in many irritable +forms of skin disease. It is made in the proportion of four ounces of +borax and three of glycerine, to thirty gallons of hot water. + +2. THE AMMONIA BATH, used as a skin stimulant and derivative. The +following is Mr Grantham's formula:--Two ounces of strong hartshorn in +two gallons of water, used in a hip bath. An excellent hip bath, very +useful for people to whom stooping is objectionable is that made by the +Messrs. Allen (Plate Eight). One glance at the figure will show its +many advantages, and we strongly recommend it. + +People who suffer from cutaneous eruptions ought to take skilled advice +before using a course of baths, but the following sentences excerpted +from E. Wilson's "Diseases of the Skin" may be read with profit by all. + +"Aqueous remedies," says the dermatologist, "present themselves in the +form of simple water in its various states of cold, tepid, warm, hot and +steam; water impregnated with saline matter as in the sea-bath, and +saline solutions; in lotions, fomentations and poultices. Water may be +sedative, emollient, or stimulant, according to the manner in which it +is employed. As a tepid bath or fomentation it is sedative, and its +sedative action is increased by the addition of various substances, such +as oatmeal, starch, gelatine, and soda in small quantities. It is +emollient when used as a water dressing or in the condition of steam, +and it is stimulant when cold or hot. When hot it is the best means +known of relieving pruritus (itching), and in its cold state it +refreshes and gives vigour to the skin; hence, the morning bath, the +sea-bath, and daily ablutions with soap. On this principle it is that +we advise daily cold ablutions with soap of the face in cases of acne +(pimples), and to other parts of the body, particularly the _axilla_ and +_perinaeum_ in chronic eczema or chronic pruritus. Aqueous lotions of +_liquor plumbi_ (sugar of lead) are refrigerant and sedative, while +lotions of carbolic acid, sulphurate of _potash, acetate_ of _ammonia_, +and _bicarbonate_ of _ammonia_ are anti-pruritic. Warm fomentations are +sedative and anodyne, and their properties are increased by the addition +of poppy heads. Poultices are emollient and sedative, but their +protracted use, as of all aqueous applications, macerates and weakens +the skin, and tends _to perpetuate_ the disease or cause boils. As a +rule, all aqueous applications except simple bathing, must be employed +with great caution in skin diseases. Saponaceous ablutions generally +aggravate eczematous affections; but certain forms and stages of that +disease are benefitted by their use." + +As a means of using the hip bath, whether medicated or otherwise, and +for female complaints and irregularities, there is nothing to equal the +bidet herewith figured (Plate Nine). + +3. FOMENTATIONS are simply local baths and are used to relieve pain and +reduce inflammation, as in the poppy head or laudanum fomentation to +painful swellings, or the turpentine fomentation to redden the chest in +severe colds. The water must be very hot, and two pieces of flannel +must be used, wrung from the water, time about. These may be sprinkled +with laudanum or turpentine as the case may demand. + +4. THE MUSTARD FOOT-BATH is useful in cases of incipient colds, +headaches, or languor and listlessness with restless nights. A +bucketful of hot water with a handful of mustard in it is all that is +wanted; in this the legs are to be bathed for twenty minutes before +going to bed. + +5. THE OAK BATH is made by adding a pound of bruised oak bark to a +quart of cold water and boiling for half an hour; the half of this maybe +put in the morning tub as a tonic bath. + +6. THE PINE BALSAM BATH is good in cases of rheumatism and great +nervousness. The balsam is a distillation front the leaves of pines, +and is simply added to the bath. + +7. THE ALKALINE BATH may be used twice or three times a week by gouty +or rheumatic subjects. Two ounces of the bicarbonate of soda are added +to three gallons of warm water, and the bath is ready. + +8. THE PEAT WATER Bath is a German invention, and seems to be of great +value to sufferers from gout and rheumatism, swelling of the joints, +congestion of the liver, etc. Why the peat of this country should not +be as efficacious as that from German bogs we fail to understand. + +9. THE ELECTRIC BATH is a good deal used at seaside places, and often +with advantage, especially in cases where the tone of the system has +been much lowered. + +10. THE VINEGAR SPONGE BATH consists of one part of vinegar to three of +cold water, the body or hands and arms, feet and legs, are then sponged +with it. + +11. THE IRON BATH is sometimes used as a tonic, and is of considerable +efficacy, especially to delicate females and children. It is composed +of half an ounce of sulphate of iron, in four gallons of cold or tepid +water. + +12. SULPHUR BATHS, CREASOTE BATHS, and NITRO-HYDROCHLORIC BATHS are all +good in their way, but must only be used under medical advice. + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE ORDINARY HOME BATHS--SEASIDE BATHING. + +The morning tub is a bath that people in ordinary health should take +every morning. It is not only invigorating but it so tones the skin and +nerves as to render catching cold all but impossible. A far better +tonic for those who can bear it, is the shower bath. + +A cheaper sort of Shower Bath is that represented underneath. (Plate +NINE.) + +From a recent Magazine Article of ours, we cull the following hints +which may be found of use. In speaking of House Baths we say:-- + +1.--Then you must consult your own feelings as to whether or not you +ought to continue the bath through the livelong winter. We should say, +"Try to do so." + +2.--Let the first spongeful of cold water be applied to the head and +shoulders and adown the spine. + +3.--If you feel too much exhausted in the morning for a cold bath, from +having been up late, raise the temperature of the cold bath several +degrees. + +4.--Be guided by your own feelings as to the temperature of hot and cold +water. From 32 to 60 degrees would be right for the cold bath, and +about 90 degrees for the water in the basin. + +5--A cold bath may be taken with advantage when the body is heated, from +whatever cause, so long as there is no exhaustion or fatigue; but never +go into the water if there be the slightest feeling of chilliness, nor +after a full meal. + +Plate Twelve represents a useful kind of bed bath which has been a +source of comfort to many an invalid. (All these baths are manufactured +by Messrs. Allen and Son.) + +In bathing at home, after lathering the whole body with warm water and +soap, a cold sponge bath containing a handful or two of either Tidman's +or Brill's Sea Salt will be found very invigorating. + +We have before us a splendidly got up work entitled "Luxurious Bathing," +published by Messrs. Field and Tuer, Leadenhall Street, E.C. The book +is beyond praise, its well-executed etchings entitle it to a place on +the drawing-room table, and its advice to those who value health, is +simply invaluable. + +Those who suffer from weakness, or who dread the winter's cold, would do +well to combine a course of bathing, with one of tonics and cod liver +oil. De Jongh's light brown is the only oil we ever use. + +Those who wish to regain health in a month, "by the sad sea waves," +cannot err by taking the following rules as a guide. They are from a +Magazine article of ours:-- + +_Simple Rules for Seaside Enjoyment_. + +1.--Before leaving home, study your trains, pack trunks the day before, +don't forget anything, and avoid hurry and excitement. + +2.--Look for rooms quietly, in a clean, quiet street or suburb, and see +that the rooms are clean and airy. + +3.--Rise early every morning, soap down and tub from head to heel, eat a +biscuit, and go for a walk. + +4.--Regular hours, regular exercise, regular meals, and regular medicine +(if you need it). + +6.--Enjoy yourself all you can, but 'ware excitement and fatigue. + +6.--Strong men may bathe before breakfast, but the best average time is +about three hours after breakfast. + +7.--Walk at a moderate pace to the bathing ground, so as to be neither +too hot nor too cold, and undress as speedily as possible. + +8.--It is better to plunge at once into deep water; don't unless you can +swim, however, but after bending down and laving the face and both arms, +drop right underneath the first wavelet. + +9.--If you can swim, swim and nothing else; if you cannot, you can at +least tumble about and keep moving, and also rub your limbs with the +hands. + +10.--Come out before you have actually ceased to enjoy yourself. + +11.--It is better to have your own towel, one at least, and let it be +moderately rough. + +12.--Rub your face, shoulders, limbs, and body, using moderate friction, +and finish drying with a smoother towel. + +13.--When quite dry, dress, and it ought not to be at all necessary to +dress quickly. + +11.--If faintness or sickness comes on, which must be looked upon as +quite an accident, lie down for a few minutes. + +15.--After dressing, a brisk walk should be taken; and now a lunch +biscuit will do you service. + +16.--Remember that the glow after the bath is the grand event to be +looked for. + +17.--If instead of this glow a decided chill takes place, and is not +removed by a brisk walk, a small drop of brandy taken along with a +biscuit becomes a necessity, or for ladies a glass of some cordial. + +18.--If you are an invalid, try to forget it; if a Hercules or a Webb, +forget that. + +19.--Don't forget flannel under-clothing if at all delicate. + +There are various other kinds of baths which we have not mentioned, but +trust we have said enough to prove that the baths in some form--and more +especially the Turkish--should be taken constantly by all who value good +health and hope for longevity. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Turkish and Other Baths, by Gordon Stables + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURKISH AND OTHER BATHS *** + +***** This file should be named 37326.txt or 37326.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/3/2/37326/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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