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
THE SITZ BATH. A tub is so arranged that the patient can sit down in it
while bathing. In this manner the lower part of the abdomen, hips, and
upper part of the thighs, are immersed in whatever fluid the bath is
composed of. It is applicable in diseases of the pelvic organs, and may
be hot, warm, cool, cold, or medicated, according to the effect desired.
The bath tub should be large enough to permit a thorough rubbing and
kneading of the diseased parts, and the patient may remain in it from
ten to thirty minutes. The clothing may be wholly or partially removed,
as agreeable to the individual. A _warm_, sitz bath is an effective,
remedial adjunct in menstrual suppression and in painful menstruation,
gravel, spasmodic and acute inflammatory affections generally. The
_cold_, sitz bath is used as a tonic in cases of relaxed tissues of the
pelvis, in debility of the urino-genital organs, in piles, prolapsus of
the rectum, and in constipation.
THE HEAD BATH. A shallow basin contains the fluid for the bath; and the
patient, assuming a recumbent position, immerses a portion of the head,
generally the back part. The temperature may be warm, cool, or cold, as
desired.
MEDICATED BATHS are infusions of vegetable or other substances in water.
They are sometimes applied with the sponge, though generally the patient
is immersed. The temperature at which they are usually employed is that
of the tepid bath. The nature and strength of the medication depends
upon the character of the disease for which it is employed.
THE ALKALINE BATH is prepared by dissolving half a pound of carbonate of
soda in sixty gallons of water. It is useful in those diseases in which
the fluids of the body are abnormally acid, as in rheumatism.
THE ACID BATH is prepared by adding two pounds of muriatic or
hydrochloric acid to sixty gallons of water. A much smaller quantity of
the acid is sometimes used, and in some instances vinegar is
substituted.
_Scott's Acid Bath_ is composed of nitro-muriatic acid (aqua regia) and
water. It should be prepared in a wooden tub, and a sufficient quantity
of acid used to give the water a sour taste. It is extensively used in
India as a remedy for disorders of the liver.
THE IODINE BATH is composed of the following ingredients: tincture of
iodine, two drachms; iodide of potassium, four drachms; water, forty
gallons. It should be prepared in a wooden tub. It reddens the skin. For
children, a much weaker solution must be employed. Its use is generally
restricted to scrofulous and tubercular affections.
THE SULPHUR BATH is prepared by dissolving eight ounces of sulphuret of
potassium and two ounces of dilute sulphuric acid in sixty gallons of
water. The acid may be omitted.