The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English: or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred; and Fifty Thousand
John Stuart Mill · en
TEMPERATE BATH, at a temperature of from 75° to 80° Fahr. The time of
remaining in the bath should be regulated by the strength of the
invalid. As a rule, it should not exceed three _minutes_, and the colder
the water the less time should the patient be immersed. Immediately
after emerging from any bath, the body should be thoroughly dried and
rubbed with a moderately coarse towel until a glow is experienced and
reaction is fully established. The attempt to toughen children by
exposing them to low temperatures of either air or water, cannot be too
emphatically condemned. This caution, however, does not apply to the
employment of moderately cool water for ablutions. The cold or cool bath
should be taken in the early part of the day, but _never during
digestion_. Whenever reaction does not follow bathing, artificial means
must be resorted to, as stimulating drinks, dry warmth, or exercise.
THE TEPID BATH, the temperature of which is from 85° to 92° Fahr., is
generally used for cleansing the body. It is prescribed in fevers and
inflammatory affections for its cooling effects. It is usually medicated
with some acid or alkali. The latter unites with the oily secretion of
the skin and forms a soapy compound easily removed by the water. The
temperature should be regulated according to the vitality of the
patient; and the bath may be repeated two or three times a day. It
removes superfluous heat, and keeps the skin in a condition favorable
for excretion.
THE WARM BATH, at a temperature varying from 92° to 98° Fahr., is always
agreeable and refreshing. It equalizes the circulation and softens the
skin, by removing all impurities. It moderates pain and soothes the
whole system. It does not weaken or debilitate the person, but is in
every way beneficial. It is an efficient, remedial agent in many chronic
diseases, convulsions, spasmodic affections of the bowels, rupture,
rheumatism, and derangement of the urino-genital organs. It should be
employed immediately before going to bed unless urgent symptoms demand
it at other times. It may be medicated or not, as circumstances require,
but should always be taken in a warm room.
THE HOT BATH at a temperature of from 98° to 110° Fahr. is a powerful
stimulant. It excites the nerves, and through them the entire system. It
causes a sense of heat and a constriction of the secretory organs; but
perspiration, languor, and torpor soon follow. In the sudden
retrocession of cutaneous diseases, it restores the eruptions to the
surface and gives speedy relief. The hot bath may be applied locally
when circumstances require.