Take the patient's pulse occasionally during the bath, and stop the bath at once if the patient's pulse grows weaker, if she shivers violently, or if her face, fingers, or toes turn a bluish color. Babies react rapidly to cool sponging; for a baby use tepid water, sponge for five minutes only, and watch the child closely during the bath. EXERCISES 1. What may a bath be expected to accomplish in addition to cleansing? 2. In giving a tub bath, what precautions should be taken to avoid chilling the patient? to avoid tiring the patient? 3. What symptoms would lead you to think that a tub bath was not agreeing with a patient? What should you do in such a case? 4. Name six essentials of a skillfully given bed bath. 5. What preparations should be made and what articles assembled before beginning a bed bath? 6. Describe the method of bathing a patient in bed. 7. What care should the mouth and teeth of every sick person receive? How should such care be given to a patient who is helpless? 8. Describe the daily care of a patient's hair, and tell how a shampoo may be given to a patient in bed. 9. How should you give a mustard foot bath to a patient in bed? 10. When and how should you give a cool sponge bath? FOR FURTHER READING The Human Mechanism--Hough and Sedgwick, Chapter XI. CHAPTER VIII APPLIANCES AND METHODS FOR THE SICK-ROOM Patients who are confined to bed even for a few days often suffer acutely from muscular tension, from pressure, and from fatigue due to lack of exercise. Indeed, many a sick person is surprised to find that the bed which had seemed so infinitely desirable can change into a place of torment after a few short days of illness. "Bed-weariness" is hard to bear in any case of illness, but it is doubly hard for persons who are really helpless. Unless the patient is an experienced sufferer he often has no idea what should be done to make him comfortable; while an equally inexperienced helper, though full of good will, is often discouraged to find that the arrangement she had thought perfect soon fails to satisfy her restless patient. But if she is willing to devote thought and ingenuity to removing small annoyances, she can do many things to alleviate his misery. BED SORES, or pressure sores, are caused by continued pressure upon the skin. The weight of the body, or of a part of the body, if it comes for a long time upon one place finally interferes with the circulation in the tissues on which the part rests, and consequently interferes with the nutrition of the affected part. Any tissue to which the blood is not bringing all its necessary food supply tends to lose its tone, to become weak, and if the condition persists, to break down altogether.