_Packing with the wet sheet_ is a mode of applying water to the body which is the very reverse of some of the methods which we have been considering, since the stimulating action of the water is reduced to a minimum, and we get the refrigerating action only. It makes very little difference whether the sheet used be moistened with hot or cold water, since the temperature of the skin and the sheet very rapidly approximate in any case, and the more rapid evaporation of the hot water speedily induces a degree of cold quite equal to that of the cold sheet. The patient should be stripped naked and should lie upon a single blanket, the bed being protected by a mackintosh sheet placed between the blanket and the mattress. He is then enveloped in the wet sheet. If a maximum amount of refrigeration is desired he is left uncovered so that evaporation may be encouraged. If, on the other hand, we wish to encourage the action of the skin, several blankets are placed over the sheet. Having discussed the various methods of using water as such for the purposes of bathing, we may next turn our attention to the _vapour bath_, which is a favourite method of making use of warmth and moisture. Here and there throughout the world there are to be found natural vapour baths; but, as generally employed, the vapour bath is a very simple contrivance indeed, merely consisting of an apparatus for conducting the steam of a kettle into a confined space in which the patient sits. The head of the patient may be either placed in the bath or not, and the effects of the bath may be expected to differ according as the steam is inhaled into the lungs or not. The domestic vapour bath may consist of a flannel steam-proof cloak, which is worn by the patient, while beneath the chair on which he sits is placed a small portable kettle heated by spirits of wine for the formation of the steam. If the bather is unable to sit up, the steam may, with very great ease, be conducted beneath the blankets of a bed. The vapour bath can be borne much hotter than the water bath, the temperature varying between 120° Fahr. and 150° Fahr. The loading of the atmosphere with vapour, checks, or rather prevents, the natural evaporation of the perspiration, so that while the body is very strongly heated by the steam, the natural methods of cooling the body are arrested. From this it will be gathered that the power of the vapour bath to raise the body heat is very considerable, and indeed the temperature of the blood has been known to rise as much as 5° Fahr. during a bath. This power of raising the temperature of the body causes a very profuse perspiration, so that the vapour bath is recognised as one of the quickest and most effectual means of producing a copious action of the skin. The vapour bath can be locally applied in a very manageable way, and there is no difficulty in contriving an apparatus, by means of which the legs alone, or one arm, or one leg, may be subjected to the action of the vapour.