_It_ need not be imagined that because the daily application of cold water in the luxurious form of the _Soap-bath_ be strongly urged, it is desirable to inure the body in the manner advocated at the early part of this century, when bare-kneed little children—robust or weakly—were exposed insufficiently clothed to the inclemency of the weather under the mistaken idea of hardening them—hardening some, no doubt, but killing a great many more. The power to resist cold means the power to resist disease, and to be proof against intense cold, one must not only be well fed, and warmly clad, but thoroughly warm before exposure to the cold atmosphere out of doors. Protected by sufficient clothing, the body acts as a sort of store-house of heat, and a sufficiently large stock of warmth absorbed in the morning will last all day, and fresh supplies will be drawn from the heat-producing food consumed. A shivering child sent out of doors for violent exercise may certainly get warm, but it does so at the expense of its own vital energy. _The_ essential that must not only be looked for, but positively and rapidly attained, is the reaction from the shock produced by the cold water: the heart is actively excited, and the blood propelled with unusual force through the system; the temperature of the body rapidly rises, and a general glow supervenes, accompanied with mixed feelings of increased vitality, buoyancy and exhilaration, difficult to describe. With the non-robust the stay in the cold water can hardly be made too short: the principal shock is produced from the _first_ application, and the endeavour ought rather to be to get out as quickly as possible, than to stay in under the mistaken notion of deriving increased benefit. _Should_ the stay be even a trifle too prolonged, the reaction will be proportionately slow, and by no means so pleasant; or proper reaction may be made almost impossible, with the result of coldness, shivering, violent headache, slow pulse and probable sickness. It must, however, never be lost sight of that these unpleasantnesses are absolutely under the control of the bather, and never arise except with the very ignorant or very foolish: speedy reaction _must_ be attained and can invariably be secured, even by the most feeble, provided the unpardonable and suicidal sin of too long a stay in the cold water be avoided. _Should_ the reaction after a _Sponge-bath_ be very slow, it may be hastened by the previous addition to the water of a small wine-glassful of eau-de-cologne, spirits of wine, or spirits of any description, whiskey being perhaps best. _The Soap-bath_ may be commenced at any period of the year, and if children are induced to take it as a treat, rather than from any other point of view, they will soon become as partial to its use as their elders.