354 BERING, CONSTANTINE. 



HOME HYGIENE. 



HERING, Dr. CONSTANTINE, President of the 

 American Institute of Homoeopathy, was born 

 in Oschatz, Germany, January 1, 1800. He 

 was educated at the University of Leipsic and 

 at the Surgical Academy of Dresden. He was 

 engaged to write a book confuting homoe- 

 opatliy. In order to do this, he read Hahne- 

 mann's works, and he finally became a convert 

 to the doctrine " similia similibus curantur." 

 He sought out Hahnemann, studied under him, 

 and became his personal friend. He had filled 

 the position of Instructor in Mathematics and 

 Natural Sciences in Berckmann's Institute, 

 Dresden, and the King sent him to Surinam 

 to make a zoological collection. He practiced 

 medicine for a time in Paramaribo, and then 

 sailed to Philadelphia, arriving there in Janu- 

 ary, 1833. He was head of the Homoeopathic 

 School, the first of its kind established any- 

 where. From 1845 to 1869 he was Professor 

 of Institutes and Materia Medica in the Phila- 

 delphia College of Homoeopathy. He edited the 

 "American Journal of Homoeopathic Materia 

 Medica." He published many works, including 

 " Condensed Materia Medica," "Guiding Symp- 

 toms and Analytical Therapeutics," and " He- 

 ring's Domestic Physician." He developed 

 many of Hahnemann's theories, and ranks only 

 second to him with the members of his school. 

 He died in Philadelphia, July 23d. 



HOME HYGIENE. Baths and Bathing. 

 The use of the bath in some form has been 

 common to all races, in all ages. Homer, in 

 the " Odyssey," has left a vivid description 

 of the several baths taken by Ulysses at his 

 principal halting-places, while pursuing his 

 zigzag journey from the grotto of Calypso to 

 his native Ithaca, and from those descriptions 

 we may conclude that the method in use by 

 the ancient Greeks was not materially dif- 

 ferent from that in use at the present day. 

 The water was heated in a brass basin, upon 

 a tripod over a fire, and thence poured into 

 a larger basin or vase of brass or marble to 

 temper the water therein contained. Cold 

 water was rarely used, although sea-bathing 

 was common, not only as a means of cleansing 

 and refreshing the body after fatigue, but as a 

 remedy in disease, and persons who lived at a 

 distance from the sea were frequently removed 

 thither for the sake of recovering their health, 

 mainly to "the most pleasant city Ostia, to 

 enjoy the benefit of bathing in the sea, which is 

 an easy and expeditious method of drying up 

 the superfluous humors of the body." Hot 

 baths were long known, but were indulged in 

 only after great fatigue ; the tepid bath, pre- 

 pared as indicated above, being that usually 

 employed, the Greeks considering the hot bath 

 effeminate. During the last illness of Alexan- 

 der the Great, he was bathed very frequently, 

 having a greater reliance upon the curative 

 virtue of the bath than in that of medicine, and 

 finally he caused his bed to be brought near 

 the bath, that it might be more easy of access. 



The knowledge of the hot springs, or thermce, 



is not confined to the moderns, as Homer com- 

 mends the fountains of Scamander for their hot 

 water ; Pindar mentions " the hot baths of the 

 nymphs"; and Minerva or Vulcan is said to have 

 discovered to Hercules a hot spring, in which 

 to refresh himself after one of his labors ; the 

 famous pass of Thermopylae derives its name 

 from the warm springs in its vicinity ; the Ther- 

 ma of Sicily, near Selinus, have been known 

 for a long period, and the grammarian Solinus 

 in his "Polyhistor " has given a description of 

 Bath, England. Traditionary legends and myth- 

 ological lore weaved a potent spell about the 

 old thermce, and doubtless added to their other 

 beneficial effects upon invalids, that of power- 

 fully stimulating the imagination. Thus it is 

 said that the curative powers of the waters of 

 Bath were discovered by accident, during the 

 reign of Hudibras the son of Liel, who is al- 

 leged to have been contemporaneous with Sol- 

 omon. It is related, with superabundance of 

 detail, that the Prince Bladud, the son of Hudi- 

 bras, having been driven in disgrace from the 

 court in consequence of his leprosy, engaged 

 himself to a swineherd, and communicated the 

 disease to his swine. The amateur swineherd 

 and his herd wandered about until by accident 

 one of the animals wallowed in the warm spring 

 at Bath and was healed, whereupon the exam- 

 ple was followed by Prince Bladud, and the 

 resulting cure established the efficacy of the 

 waters for all succeeding time. 



The Romans, as might be expected from the 

 perfection of the water-supply of the city, 

 brought the practice of bathing to its highest 

 perfection; indeed, no modern essay upon bnl- 

 neology is deemed complete without a descrip- 

 tion of the Roman baths. By the term Roman 

 baths, the public baths are meant, although 

 bath-rooms in all grades of magnificence were 

 common in the houses of the wealthy. (A de- 

 scription of the public baths of ancient Rome 

 and Pompeii may be. seen in the "American 

 Cyclopedia," vol. ii, pages 382-384.) The 

 balnea pensilia (hanging-baths) introduced by 

 Sergius Orata, about which there has been 

 much dispute, appear, from the directions given 

 for their construction by the architect Vitru- 

 vius, to have been nothing more than baths 

 supported upon pillars or arches. All Roman 

 baths, of which there were upward of eight 

 hundred, included the cella frigidaria, the cold 

 bath-room ; the frigidarium (the cold bath) ; 

 the cella caldaria (the hot bath-room) ; the cal- 

 darium (the hot bath) ; the cella tepidaria, the 

 tepidarium ; the sudatoria, or sweating-rooms ; 

 apoditeria, or undressing-room ; and the unctua- 

 ria, or perfuming-rooms. The bath-keeper (bal- 

 neator) had slaves under his command (cap- 

 sarii), who took care of the garments of the 

 bathers, and other slaves (aliptce or unctores) 

 whose duty it was to rub the body of the bather 

 with the strigilis, a sort of curry-comb made 

 of horn, brass, silver, or gold, and at the conclu- 

 sion of the bath to apply the oil. Air-baths 

 were in most cases attached, statuary and bril- 



