HYDROPATHY. 257 



Thus it has been with what is denominated Hydropathy, or the water 

 cure. Priessnitz, a Silesian peasant, with but little education, suddenly 

 conceived the brilliant idea, that water is the panacea for man's ailments. 

 The enunciation of this simple view elicits a sympathetic response from 

 those kindred minds who suppose that truth would rather reward the 

 dreams of fanatical enthusiasts, than the patient and laborious investi- 

 gations of the thoughtful and scientific. To those who would with one 

 blow dissolve our present political organization, and render obsolete the 

 holy institution of matrimony, ultra opinions recommend themselves 

 with peculiar force. Thus among the disciples of Fourrier we find some 

 of the most ardent admirers of Hydropathy, who will tell you with the 

 utmost complacency, that the water-cure is destined to work as com- 

 plete a revolution in the science of medicine as their system will upon 

 the political and social opinions of the world. This is, I think, indis- 

 putably true. 



But in what does the hydropathic treatment consist .' Premising that 

 there is little or no discrimination exercised in regard to the character of 

 the disease — this, however, is unnecessary, as the M'ater cures "every ill 

 to which flesh is heir" — the patient is subjected to a series of baths, 

 douches, sweatings, and in addition, he is required to drink a large quan- 

 tity of water. A lady informed me she drank twenty-three glasses-full 

 <laily. The sweating process is somewhat peculiar : the patient being 

 wrapped in a sheet wrung out of cold water, frequently ice-water, is 

 then covered with many blankets, so as to retain all the animal heat of 

 the body. After profuse perspiration for two or three hours, the patient 

 plunges into a bath varying in temperature from 45° to 55° Fah. The 

 sweating is frequently undergone twice and sometimes three times a day, 

 with various baths, douches, Stc. See, filling up the intermediate time, 

 and charmingly varying the monotony of the system. Such is the hy- 

 dropathic treatment proper. Let us examine the concomitant circum- 

 stances connected with the treatment, and see what effect tliey have had 

 in restoring to health those who have derived benefit from a residence 

 at a hydropathic institute. 



It is generally located in some healthy mountain region, where the 

 air is pure ; frequently some spring, to which valetudinarians have for 

 years been sent, by their physicians, to recruit their shattered health, is 

 turned into a hydropathic establishment. After having sweated, bathed 

 and drunk several glasses of water, the patient is made to walk a long 

 distance, frequently five or six miles, and then he breakfasts upon milk, 

 bread, and butter, with the fruits of the season : another bath and a walk 

 until dinner, which consists of vegetables, simply-cooked meat and fruit. — 



