Ordinary coarse salt is purer, contains from 97 to 98 per cent. of the chlorid of sodium, is cleaner, and makes a clearer solution, and it dissolves in about one-third of the time required for sea salt, and can be obtained for about one-third of the cost. As a cleansing agent, a 5 per cent. brine is equal or superior to soap. Further, the axilla and hairy parts remain clean and sweet for a much longer time than after the use of soap. These brine baths, taken three times a week, are followed by a great improvement in the general health. =The Rain Douche or Shower Bath.=—The shower is the most tonic of all the baths that can be taken at home, and no bath-room should be considered complete without it. In this form of douche the water is projected through a perforated disc, falling upon the bather in a number of fine streams. It is necessary for the bather to wear a rubber cap in order to keep the hair dry. In taking the shower bath the bather stands up; the disc is generally placed about 3 feet above the head. The water should be allowed to fall first upon the feet, then the hands, arms, shoulders, back, and, lastly, upon the chest and abdomen. The bather should keep in active motion during the application, flexing the limbs, and rubbing the chest with the hands. At the beginning of the shower the hands should be placed over the chest, in order to protect the precordial region from the impact of the water. The cold shower should be preceded by some kind of a heating process—either a hot plunge or a hot shower bath. A shower of from 100° to 104° F. may be applied for one to three minutes before the cold application. A cool shower of 75° to 65° F. is an excellent training for persons who are sensitive to cold. The neutral shower, 92° to 97° F., given for three to five minutes, is sedative in its effects. The cold shower, 60° to 70° F., duration from five to thirty seconds, is useful in phlegmatic neurasthenics and dyspeptics; sedentary people in whom the general metabolic activity is diminished; also in obesity and in all cases after a sweating process. By standing in hot water the bather is much more tolerant of cold. The neutral shower is one of the most effective measures for the relief of insomnia; especial attention should be given to the back and legs. The action is quicker than that of the neutral immersion bath. As a hygienic measure, the shower bath offers a most agreeable and rapid means of cleansing the whole surface of the body.