The Recreations of a Country ParsonBoyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison
General
The Recreations of a Country Parson
Boyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison
Clergy -- Anecdotes; Country life -- England; Rural clergy -- England
The soles of the feet and the palms of the hands are extremely
sensitive, having abundance of nerves, as we find if we tickle
them. If the feet are put often into hot water, they will become
habitually cold, and make one more or less delicate and nervous.
On the other hand, by rubbing the feet often in cold water, they
will become permanently warm. A cold foot-bath will stop a violent
fit of hysterics. Cold feet show defective circulation.
At half-past ten in the forenoon we were subjected to by far the
most trying agent in the water system--the often-mentioned douche.
No patient is allowed to have the douche till he has been acclimated
by at least a fortnight's treatment. Our readers will understand
that from this hour onward we are describing not our first Sudbrook
day, but a representative day, such as our days were when we had got
into the full play of the system. The douche consists of a stream
of water, as thick as one's arm, falling from a height of twenty-four
feet. A pipe, narrowing to the end, conducts the stream for the first
six feet of its fall, and gives it a somewhat slanting direction.
The water falls, we need hardly say, with a tremendous rush, and
is beaten to foam on the open wooden floor. There were two douches
at Sudbrook: one, of a somewhat milder nature, being intended for
the lady patients. Every one is a little nervous at first taking
this bath. One cannot be too warm before having it: we always took
a rapid walk of half an hour, and came up to the ordeal glowing
like a furnace. The faithful William was waiting our arrival, and
ushered us into a little dressing-room, where we disrobed. William
then pulled a cord, which let loose the formidable torrent, and
we hastened to place ourselves under it. The course is to back
gradually till it falls upon the shoulders, then to sway about till
every part of the back and limbs has been played upon: but great
care must be taken not to let the stream fall upon the head, where
its force would probably be dangerous. The patient takes this bath
at first for one-minute; the time is lengthened daily till it
reaches four minutes, and there it stops. The sensation is that
of a violent continuous force assailing one; we are persuaded that
were a man blindfolded, and so deaf as not to hear the splash of the
falling stream, he could not for his life tell what was the cause
of the terrible shock he was enduring. It is not in the least like
the result of water: indeed it is unlike any sensation we ever
experienced elsewhere. At the end of our four minutes the current
ceases; we enter the dressing-room, and are rubbed as after the
plunge-bath. The reaction is instantaneous: the blood is at once
called to the surface. 'Red as a rose were we:' we were more than
warm; we were absolutely hot.
Mr. Lane records some proofs of the force with which the douche
falls:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account