In this place I cannot help mentioning also, that in case of great extremity it has been found that the blood may be diluted, and thirst removed, by wetting the surface of the body even with sea water, the vapour of which is always fresh, and is inhaled by those pores of the skin whose natural function it is to imbibe moisture, of which there is always more or less in the common air of the atmosphere. [83] When we consider that linen was not in use among the ancient Romans, we might be apt to wonder that they were not more unhealthy; but their substitute for this was frequent bathing, which not only served to remove the _sordes_ adhering to the surface of the body, but to air that part of the clothing which was usually in contact with the skin. The washing of the bodies of men suspected of infection upon their first entrance into a ship, has already been mentioned, and I have known some commanders who made their men frequently bathe themselves with great seeming advantage. [84] A coarse woollen stuff so called. [85] He makes the following computation of the additional expence for each man in some of the articles that have been mentioned: £. _s._ _d._ For 3 handkerchiefs, at 1s. 6d. 0 4 6 12 pounds of sope, at 6d. 0 6 0 1 knife, at 1s. 0 1 0 1 pair of buckles, at 9d. 0 0 9 ------------- 0 12 3 Suppose 3 shirts a year, the difference 0 2 3 3 pair of trowsers, ditto 0 2 3 1 milled cap 0 2 0 ---------- Total £. 0 18 9 [86] See Part I. [87] Had I then known the salutary effects of porter and spruce beer, of which I have since been convinced, I should have proposed them as substitutes for rum. [88] The authenticity of this fact, as well as every other assertion in this work relating to the mortality in the fleet, may be proved from the ship’s books, deposited at the Navy Office. [89] I fancied that my reasoning on this subject was in a great measure new; but I lately met with the following passages in Celsus and Hippocrates, which seem to be illustrative of the same idea:--Quibus causa doloris, neque sensus ejus est, his mens laborat. Celsus, Lib. ii. cap. vii. which is nearly a translation of the following aphorism of Hippocrates:--[Greek hOkosoi poneontes ti tou sômatos, ta polla tôn ponôn ouk a sthanontai, touteoisin hê gnômê noseei]. Hippoc. Aphor. Lib. ii. Aphor. 6. The same principle is ingeniously explained by Mr. Hunter in his Lectures. [90] See page 181. [91] See pages 125 and 126.